Important Organizational Capability Research Articles

Strategic Flexibility and Organizational Performance: Mediating Role of Innovation

Strategic flexibility is deemed to be an important organizational capability for enhancing innovation and improving organizational performance (OP) in uncertain, turbulent, and ever-changing business environments. Many studies have investigated the impact of strategic flexibility on innovation and OP in various contexts and found that strategic flexibility enhances innovation and improves OP. Other studies have found negative association or no association between strategic flexibility and OP. Therefore, it is not much clear whether strategic flexibility improves OP directly or through innovation. Especially, the mediating role of innovation in the association between strategic flexibility and OP in engineering project-based organizations has not been fully grabbed in prior literature and Pakistan remained unexplored. This study has strived to examine the mediating role of innovation in the association between strategic flexibility and OP in this context. Drawing upon resource based and dynamic capability views, an explanatory model was developed and tested by applying PLS-SEM higher order component modeling approach using sample data from 184 organizations in Pakistan. The results revealed that strategic flexibility is positively associated with innovation and OP. Innovation is positively associated with OP. The association between strategic flexibility and OP is partially mediated by innovation. The study promotes academic rigor and provides a new theoretical model. Mangers, decision-makers, and policy-makers can utilize the results to update their plans to achieve sustainable OP. The other organizations in various countries operating under similar conditions can also take the advantage of this study.

RESEARCH ON THE IMPACT OF BIG DATA APPLICATION ABILITY ON ENTERPRISE INNOVATION PERFORMANCE

Big data application capability has the cooperation between the upstream, midstream and downstream enterprises of the service supply chain. Big data application capability is regarded as one of the main sources of important organizational capabilities and value creation. It is an important tool to identify the right market positioning, optimize resource allocation, promote the integration of service supply chain, and promote enterprise innovation. It affects the enterprise innovation performance from two ways: the internal and external service supply chain of the organization. This study, based on thetheory of resource basis and IT ability theory, attempts to analyze the mechanism of big data application ability of enterprise innovation performance, reveals the intermediary effect of service supply chain integration, added in the model of strategic flexible adjustment, from the dynamic perspective of the ability of big data applications to influence efficiency of enterprise innovation.

China's non-ferrous metal recycling technology convergence and driving factors: A quadratic assignment procedure analysis based on patent collaboration-based network structural hole.

Technological convergence is an important organizational innovation capability, essential for improving the core competitiveness of green and sustainable industries. However, studies have mainly focused on measuring technological convergence and have ignored the factors that affect the capabilities of such convergence capabilities. Thus, this study attempts to bridge this gap by providing an in-depth analysis of the impact of structural holes in inter-organizational technical cooperation networks. This technological convergence is studied from the perspective of a patent. It also considers the moderating effects of the degree of patent cooperation and the cooperation distance. It employs the social network theory to construct inter-organizational patent cooperation, and technological convergence networks, to facilitate the analysis of the effect of structural holes on such a convergence. It empirically examines 52 non-ferrous metal recycling organizations, with close patent cooperation. Accordingly, the structural hole constraint index by the inter-organizational patent cooperation network, shows a positive U-shaped curve relationship with technology convergence. Moreover, the degree of inter-organizational patent cooperation strengthens the positive U-shaped relationship, and the distance of cooperation weakens the influence of the structural hole constraint index on technology convergence. Therefore, managers and policymakers should encourage more industry-academia-research or patent alliances and designate policies to promote such cooperation.

The Influence of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions on Attitude Towards Change and Innovation in Oganizations

Abstract As the COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the business landscape in the last years, some organizations were able to adapt to the new environment and continue to function, some thrived, seeing unmatched growth, while others disappeared forever. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, adaptability had already been deemed to be an important organizational capability, which ensured an organization stayed relevant in the market. With the pandemic, the ability to adapt has become essential to the organizations’ survival. Additionally, a large body of research was dedicated to the importance of innovation, which has been shown to have a positive impact on organizations’ competitiveness, growth and overall results. While adaptability is a response to the changes in the external environment of an organization, innovation consists in the change being generated inside the organization. Thus, an organization reacts to change by being adaptable and generates change by being innovative. Given that both capabilities are of importance to an organization’s success, this paper performs a literature review of the factors influencing the organizations’ adaptability and innovativeness, specifically the cultural factors, based on the well-established Hofstede Cultural Model. The results show that both adaptability and innovativeness are influenced by the cultural dimensions in different ways. However, not all cultural dimensions can be influenced to the same extent, some being more malleable than others. This means that organizations must aim to influence the most malleable cultural dimensions in order to increase their adaptability and innovativeness, to improve their overall performance.

Big data analytics capability and firm performance: The moderator role of firm size

In recent times, big data analytics (BDA) technologies have provided firms new opportunities and perspectives with the ability to quickly acquire large amounts of data from various source. BDA capability is defined as a firm’s ability to aggregate, integrate, and deploy big data-specific resources. As a knowledge-based dynamic capability, BDA capability is an important organizational capability that provides sustainable competitive advantage in the big data environment. While research suggests a positive relationship between BDA capability and firm performance, studies on how this relationship manifests in different contexts are limited. For example, the role of an intra-organizational factor such as firm size, which has the potential to affect firms’ decisions and behaviors, in this relationship has not been sufficiently explored. In this context, the aim of this study is to investigate the moderating role of firm size in the relationship between BDA capability and firm performance, through the lens of the Knowledge-Based Dynamic Capabilities View. To this end, a cross-sectional field study was conducted on 252 SMEs and large-scale companies in Turkey. Results indicate that firm size plays a moderating role in the relationship between BDA capability and firm performance, with the effect of BDA capability on firm performance increasing as firm size increases. The study concludes with suggestions for theorists and practitioners, and a discussion on how companies can evaluate the potential of BDA.

Managing Interfaces in Large-Scale Projects: The Roles of Formal Governance and Partnering

AbstractInterface management has been viewed as one of the important organizational capabilities to promote coordination and integration among stakeholders in construction project delivery, especia...

Developing process and product innovation through internal and external knowledge sources in manufacturing Malaysian firms: the role of absorptive capacity

PurposeFirms' knowledge-processing capabilities have a central role in achieving innovation performance and competitive advantage. Absorptive capacity capabilities and innovation are viewed as essential for enterprise success. Absorptive capacity is deemed as a highly important organizational capability to recognize value and assimilate both external and internal knowledge in order to enhance firm innovation. The aim of this study is to determine if innovation performance can be improved through absorptive capacity (knowledge acquisition, dissemination and utilization), when it is supported by internal (firm experience) and external knowledge sources (R&D cooperation and contracted R&D).Design/methodology/approachA quantitative methodology based on employing a structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The proposed research model and its associated hypotheses are tested by using Partial Least Squares (PLS) structural equation modelling (SEM) on a data set of 248 manufacturing companies located in the Northern Region of Malaysia.FindingsResults showed that firms' experience is significantly related to absorptive capacity, while for R&D cooperation and contracted R&D findings were mixed. In addition, absorptive capacity was found as a strong predictor of innovation performance.Originality/valueOne of the defining features of competition in many industries has been the extremely rapid pace of technological change, marked by a continuous stream of innovations. Manufacturing firms, therefore, face the challenge of nurturing existing knowledge and developing novel knowledge in order to create new business opportunities. This study makes valuable contributions with regard to understanding the behavioural of manufacturing firms towards process and product innovation.

Dynamic marketing capability – refining the concept and applying it to company innovations

PurposeThis paper aims to introduce dynamic marketing capability (DMC) as a construct relevant for business research and business practice, and to test its validity in relation to company product innovations and company agility.Design/methodology/approachThis study tests a hypothesized model using partial least squares structural equation modeling on data from a survey conducted with 155 companies based in Poland.FindingsThis study provides evidence that DMC facilitates company innovations in terms of their speed and market success. Thus, DMC complements other organizational capabilities that were previously found effective for new product development (NPD) with regard to intra- and inter-organizational processes. However, the influence of DMC on company innovation success is stronger in the case of companies that operate without the pressure to customize. Thus, this approach is more relevant for companies that provide standardized offerings and which target various customer segments, rather than companies that operate in customer niches or when their NPD processes are strongly orchestrated by their customers, e.g. in B2B sales within hierarchical supply chains.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited by the cross-sectional empirical setting in that one country is used to test the research hypotheses. Further studies may focus on the combined effects of DMC and other important organizational capabilities, for example, flexible manufacturing, and may provide a detailed picture of DMC development by applying a longitudinal approach and case studies.Practical implicationsGenerally, managers can use this research to rethink their corporate strategies. The study proposes a specific strategic approach to corporate innovativeness: companies may acquire meaningful market benefits through systematic reconfiguration of their marketing assets, combined with the introduction of new products. However, managers should analyze their business model and industrial setting to verify to what extent their companies operate in a context relevant for reconfiguring marketing resources. If the pressure for strong customization is high in the existing customer base, investing in DMC may not be relevant, as new offerings are rather customer tailored, i.e. designed by “big fish” buyers. On the other hand, many companies may leverage their innovations with DMC in both B2B and B2C settings, as long as they can provide standard solutions as their market offerings.Originality/valueThe study contributes to marketing theory in three ways. Firstly, the study conceptualizes DMC as a distinct dynamic capability aligned with dynamic capabilities view (from which DMC logically originates), and proposes how DMC is linked nomologically with company innovativeness and agility. Secondly, a measurement instrument for DMC and an empirical test for the model are both provided. Thirdly, the paper presents evidence that the link between DMC and product innovations becomes restricted in the presence of certain contingencies, specifically with regard to the so-called customization norm.

A framework of practices supporting the reuse of technological knowledge

Technology-intensive companies invest considerable of resources in product development to bring competitive products to market. Since market demand is continuously changing, the capability to renew offerings quickly and at low cost is an important source of competitive advantage. Even if components and designs may need to be updated when releasing new products, their underlying technologies and designs can usually be reused to enable fast and cost-efficient development. To be proficient in practices that support reuse of technologies thus constitutes an important organizational capability, but identifying and assessing these practices has not been a straightforward task for technology developers and managers. This paper presents a literature review regarding technology reuse in four main dimensions; Strategy, Process, Culture, and Information Technology. The dimensions are further decomposed into a framework with twelve principles that supports this technology reuse capability, including technology platform strategy and reusability assessment. Besides providing a theoretical overview of practices supporting the reuse of technology, the framework can also be used in practice to facilitate the assessment of the current reuse capability of an organization. Industrial cases, illustrating real technology development issues, are used to highlight the principles of the framework. Further, a self-assessment scorecard is demonstrated with data from two companies that develop and manufacture high-tech products.

Optimal levels of (de)centralization for resilient supply chains

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate how centralization and decentralization of supply chains (SCs) play a major role in creating organizational resilience.Design/methodology/approachStarting with the basic tenets of contingency theory and applying a grounded theory approach, results from exploratory qualitative and quantitative studies are combined to investigate the impact of (de)centralization on SC resilience capabilities.FindingsThe findings from a comprehensive literature review combined with two empirical surveys indicate that four important organizational capabilities are needed in order to cope with internal and external disruptions: fast reactions to unforeseen disturbances, reducing the number of negative external forces, reducing the impact of negative external forces and the quick return to normal operating processes. Furthermore, it is illustrated how (de)centralization activities can support these capabilities and thus maximize the SC resilience.Originality/valueThis paper presents 12 measures for (de)centralization and shows how they can support the four major capabilities of resilient companies. The results from qualitative and quantitative surveys allow for a holistic understanding of the organization and provide a basis for future SC resilience research.

Innovation performance and organizational capabilities in the Swedish hybrid electric vehicle technology: A study of 40 SMEs

Abstract This study identifies the important organizational capabilities for innovation performance in the hybrid electric vehicle technology sector. Specifically, we focus on small and medium-sized technology-based firms in Sweden. The empirical data, collected by using a questionnaire, cover 40 technology-based firms from eight industrial branches. We use eighteen variables to identify the important organizational capabilities related to markets and business competition by including indicators for each of these capabilities in two regression models. The results offer empirical evidence that these organizational capabilities are important for mainly radical innovation in the hybrid electric vehicle technology industry. This study thus contributes by exploring how businesses can link organizational capabilities in a competitive business environment. Both patent (radical innovation) and product development require firm development and R&D; however, patent development also requires internationalization. These results offer useful implications for policy-makers and firm managers, who can manage firms based on R&D and business dimensions to support their development in this sector.

Performance Improvement in Health Care Organizations

Performance improvement is an important organizational capability that is essential for health care organizations to achieve excellence on the three components of the Triple Aim: patient experience, health, and cost. In this monograph, we present a framework for performance improvement in health care organizations: the Model of Transformational Performance Improvement. This model takes a system-level approach to performance improvement and comprises six key components: (1) determining and communicating a system-level goal; (2) developing and using system-level performance measures; (3) understanding and managing interdependencies; (4) selecting a portfolio of projects aligned with system-level goals; (5) creating an organizational engine for improvement; and (6) implementing, spreading, and sustaining improvements. In addition to presenting this model, we review the operations management literature on performance improvement with a special focus on operations management tools and principles that may help with successful implementation of these six components. Though work has already been done in these areas, much remains unknown and many opportunities for future research exist. This monograph seeks to inform the research of operations management scholars and to equip clinicians and health care leaders with techniques that may be leveraged to improve performance in health care organizations.

Beyond invention: the additive impact of incubation capabilities to firm value

Incubation is a process whereby the firm nurtures breakthrough discoveries and inventions to test their potential as new business platforms. The recent emergence of organizational roles associated with innovation incubation shows that internal incubation is becoming recognized as an important organizational capability. This development also suggests that firms that invest in discovery for competitive advantage recognize a need to leverage that investment more fully. While case studies describe incubation activities and note their importance, empirical research linking this capability to firm performance is limited. The current study represents an initial attempt at exploring the relationship empirically. Our main finding is that financial markets have difficulty valuing a firm's exploratory discovery investments and that the presence of an incubation capability positively moderates the impact of such investments on firm market valuation. The implication of this result is that investments in certain types of R&D may be suboptimized if there is not a parallel investment in a capability to incubate the opportunities that arise from potentially breakthrough inventions.

An empirical investigation of network-oriented behaviors in business-to-business markets

This study is concerned with the extent to which network-oriented behaviors directly and/or indirectly affect firm performance. It argues that a firm's interaction behaviors in relation to an embedded network structure are key mechanisms that facilitate the development of important organizational capabilities in dealing with business partners. Such network-oriented behaviors, which are aimed at affecting the position of a company in the network, are consequently important drivers of firm performance, rather than the network structure alone. We develop a conceptual model that captures network-oriented behaviors as a driving force of firm performance in relation to three other key organizational behaviors, i.e., customer-oriented, competitor-oriented and relationship-oriented behaviors. We test the hypothesized model using a dataset of 354 responses collected via an on-line questionnaire from UK managers, whose organizations operate in business-to-business markets in either the manufacturing or services sectors. This study provides four key findings. First, a firm's network-oriented behaviors positively affect the development of customer-oriented and competitor-oriented behaviors. Secondly, they also foster relationship coordination with its important business partners within the network. Thirdly, the effective management of the firm's portfolio of relationships is found to mediate the positive impact of network-oriented behaviors on firm profitability. Lastly, closeness to end-users amplifies the positive effect of network-oriented behaviors on relationship portfolio effectiveness.

The Business Value of Information System-Enabled E-Collaboration Capabilities

This study aims to understand how firms in developing countries can effectively use their Information System (IS) resources to develop valuable e-collaboration capabilities that in turn improve business performance. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect data from 408 Iranian and Malaysian manufacturing firms. Findings revealed that Supply Chain-Wide Process Integration (SCPI) and Collaborative Knowledge Management (CKM) are key IS-enabled capabilities that enhance performance gain of manufacturing firms. The work found that these capabilities serve as catalysts in transforming the value of IS resources controlled by firms into business performance improvement. The results suggest that SCPI, as a determinant of a highly integrated and dynamic supply chain, is an important intermediate organizational capability through which value of IS resources can be materialized. Likewise, the findings imply that CKM across a given supply network, as a valuable intermediate organizational capability, converts the benefits of both technical and human IS resources into performance gain at the corporate level.

The Limits of Systems Integration: Complementarity, Contingencies, and Solution Design Choices

Whereas systems integration is recognized as an important organizational capability, the mechanisms through which it creates value as well as the environmental contingencies that delimit its effectiveness remain unclear, particularly when firms deliver integrated solutions embodying products and services. Focusing on IT solution providers, we investigate the effectiveness of systems integration with respect to three specific approaches to solution design: breadth, modularity, and customization. We find a complementarity effect between systems integration and solution design approaches: if firms pursue customization or rely on a broad set of heterogeneous knowledge bases, systems integration becomes fundamental. Conversely, if firms adopt a modular design, systems integration is redundant and even counterproductive. We also find evidence of complementarity between breadth and customization, but not between breadth and modularity nor between customization and modularity.

Is Kamuzu central hospital management system a weak virus: Identifying and isolating free radicals in the fight against hospital (theatre) Infections in Malawi?

This research paper is aimed at identifying management gaps in preventing infectious diseases in high-risk areas such as operating theatres in Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Malawi. Like other authors, we support the view that leadership is an important organizational capability and is essential for quality and safety improvement in hospital settings. This does not seem to be the case in KCH. We contend that there are elements (which we call free radicals) that expose management to failure in providing quality healthcare. A two-way solution to the identified health management challenges in KCH is thus proposed.

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL CAPITAL ON QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN EUROPEAN HOSPITALS

IntroductionPrevious empirical studies found that strategic leadership is an important organizational capability, and is essential for quality and safety improvement in hospital settings. Moreover, the quality of leadership depends crucially...

The Relationship between Social Capital and Quality Management Systems in European Hospitals: A Quantitative Study

BackgroundStrategic leadership is an important organizational capability and is essential for quality improvement in hospital settings. Furthermore, the quality of leadership depends crucially on a common set of shared values and mutual trust between hospital management board members. According to the concept of social capital, these are essential requirements for successful cooperation and coordination within groups. ObjectivesWe assume that social capital within hospital management boards is an important factor in the development of effective organizational systems for overseeing health care quality. We hypothesized that the degree of social capital within the hospital management board is associated with the effectiveness and maturity of the quality management system in European hospitals.MethodsWe used a mixed-method approach to data collection and measurement in 188 hospitals in 7 European countries. For this analysis, we used responses from hospital managers. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a multilevel linear regression analysis of the association between social capital and the quality management system score at the hospital level, controlling for hospital ownership, teaching status, number of beds, number of board members, organizational culture, and country clustering. ResultsThe average social capital score within a hospital management board was 3.3 (standard deviation: 0.5; range: 1-4) and the average hospital score for the quality management index was 19.2 (standard deviation: 4.5; range: 0-27). Higher social capital was associated with higher quality management system scores (regression coefficient: 1.41; standard error: 0.64, p=0.029). ConclusionThe results suggest that a higher degree of social capital exists in hospitals that exhibit higher maturity in their quality management systems. Although uncontrolled confounding and reverse causation cannot be completely ruled out, our new findings, along with the results of previous research, could have important implications for the work of hospital managers and the design and evaluation of hospital quality management systems.

Strategies, technologies, and organizational learning for developing organizational innovativeness in emerging economies

Innovativeness is an important organizational capability for competitive advantage sustainability in the dynamic environment of Asia's emerging economies. Drawing upon dynamic capability theory, this study develops a research model of organizational innovativeness development for firms in emerging economies. The proactive strategic orientations reflected by entrepreneurship and technology oriented strategy provide important visions for organizational innovativeness. Further, the utilization of knowledge management systems and organizational learning are identified as intervention processes that translate these strategic orientations into real innovation capability. A survey involving 114 firms operating in China was conducted for hypothesis testing. The empirical results provide strong support and advance the knowledge of organizational innovativeness development for firms in Asia's emerging economies.