Knowledge Absorption Research Articles

Social Intelligence and Its Relationship with School Administrators’ Knowledge Absorption Capability

The main objective of this study was to investigate administrators’ social intelligence and its relationship with knowledge absorption capability in Zahedan middle and high schools. This was a descriptive-correlational research. The population of the study consisted of all administrators (N=80) of girls’ middle and high schools in Zahedan. Among the questionnaires which were distributed, 68 copies were returned and then analyzed. In this study, Tromso’s Social Intelligence Questionnaire (2001), consisting of 21 items, and Knowledge absorption Inventory adopted from Sa’adatmand (2008) with 31 items were used. Face and content validity of the questionnaires was checked. Their reliability was estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient which was 0.87 and 0.94, respectively. Regarding the descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation were used. For inferential data analysis, statistical tests including the Pearson correlation coefficient, regression analysis, independent t-test and onesample t-test were applied. Findings suggested the desirability of social intelligence and knowledge absorption capability from administrators’ perspective. Moreover, a significant relationship was observed between social intelligence and ability to absorb knowledge. By investigating the dimensions of social intelligence in predicting administrators’ knowledge absorption capability, it was revealed that first social information processing and then social skills were best predictors of the ability to absorb knowledge. In addition, administrators’ social intelligence and knowledge absorption capability accorded with their field of study as well as educational level. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s6p333

Super-heróis em educação nutricional: o lúdico na promoção da saúde e prevenção da anemia em pré-escolares

This study measured the impact of the nutritional education’s intervention on the preschool children’s knowledge and ac‑tions, aiming both for a promotion of a healthy eating habits and for a prevention of iron deficiency anemia. There was a comparative evaluation before and after educational activities during 12 months in a kindergarten in the city of Fortaleza, CE. The education’s methodology was grounded on learning through modeling, with characters representing anemia and superheroes representing iron, vitamin C and health. Positive reinforcements aiming learning sedimentation were used. To measure the rate of the knowledge absorption and the acceptance of the recipes it was used tools such as an educational booklet along with sensory analysis of the new menu’s acceptance. The majority (62,74%) answered clearly about how to prevent anemia, referring about the approaches used during the intervention. The meals’ rejection significantly dropped (p < 0,05). The freestyle drawing about the encouraged food quintupled after the intervention (14,7% to 76%).It was concluded that the use of characters from children’s imagination and the positive reinforcements improved their learning, encouraging healthier eating habits.

Quality management and collective mind: investigating university R&D from a group focus

ABSTRACTThis article analyses how Quality Management (QM) practices moderate the relationship between collective mind (CM), and knowledge transfer (KT) and absorption in university research and development (R&D) groups. The data are taken from 257 R&D groups in different Spanish universities. The findings show that the relationship between CM and KT is significant when QM is included as a moderating variable because QM permits better communication and fosters stronger ties between group members. In the case of knowledge absorption (KA), however, QM does not have a significant effect. The final section presents the study's conclusions and implications. As no studies have tested these effects empirically, our conclusions are highly relevant for academics and researchers.

Linking knowledge management orientation to balanced scorecard outcomes

Purpose– This study aims to develops the decomposed model to examine the influence of knowledge management orientation (KMO) dimensions (organizational memory, knowledge sharing, knowledge absorption and knowledge receptivity) on balanced scorecard outcomes (learning and growth, internal process, customer satisfaction and financial performance).Design/methodology/approach– Survey data from 244 managers (in charge of KM projects in their companies) in large Taiwanese firms were collected and used to test the decomposed model using the structural equation modeling approach.Findings– This study finds that knowledge sharing is the strongest predictor of internal process performance, while knowledge absorption is pivotal in improving customer satisfaction. The results also show that non-financial performance measures (i.e. learning and growth, internal process and customer satisfaction) directly and indirectly affect financial performance through cause-and-effect relationships.Practical implications– In an increasingly dynamic environment, the building of internal knowledge stocks is likely insufficient, but knowledge must be moved between a firm and external entities (e.g. customers, business partners and education and research institutes) (i.e. building knowledge flows) to achieve increased customer satisfaction and financial performance.Originality/value– Theoretically, the findings of this study suggest that the decomposed approach helps to understand the complex relationships embodied in the KMO–performance link, which cannot be surmised using a composite model. From the managerial perspective, the findings of this study may help academics and managers design and sustain KMO implementation throughout the organization to achieve higher effectiveness, efficiency and profitability.

Direct and mediated ties to universities: “Scientific” absorptive capacity and innovation performance of pharmaceutical firms

Extant literature on firm–university collaboration has emphasized two different strategies that firms in science-based industries adopt to source scientific knowledge and expertise. On one hand, firms engage in direct research collaborations with universities. On the other hand, firms establish indirect, mediated, ties to universities by engaging in research collaborations with dedicated biotech firms that are themselves strongly linked to universities—with the dedicated biotech firm taking the role of “broker.” We argue that the relative benefits of direct and mediated ties depend on the extent to which firms have organized their research and development to facilitate the absorption, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation of scientific knowledge, which we coin “scientific absorptive capacity.” Drawing on patent and publication data in a panel of 33 vertically integrated pharmaceutical firms, we find that direct university collaboration is more beneficial for firms with relatively high scientific absorptive capacity, while only mediated ties are associated with greater innovative performance for firms with relatively low scientific absorptive capacity. The latter association is reduced if the mediated ties are with top universities. Our findings are suggestive of the importance of a “fit” between the nature of a firm’s research and development organization and its strategy to access scientific knowledge.

The role of organizational and social capital in the firm’s absorptive capacity

Purpose– This paper aims to ask the question of the contingency of a firm’s absorptive capacity upon the type of expected outcome. Thus, this paper looks at different expected outputs in terms of more or less radical innovations and sees if there are consequences on the absorptive process underpinning cognitive structures and processes, as embodied in its organizational and social capital.Design/methodology/approach– To do so, a qualitative study was conducted. In total, 23 persons in three French industrial firms were interviewed about their firm’s absorptive capacity. One of these firms aims at “new-to-the-firm” innovations, while the other two aim at “new-to-the-world” innovations.Findings– Results suggest that while “new-to-the-firm” innovations tend to favor the use of social capital, “new-to-the-world” innovations tend to rely more on organizational capital. These rather counterintuitive results are interpreted by the necessity to take into account other variables than knowledge distance in the absorption of new knowledge. In particular, complexity and time-length would call for greater use of organizational capital, while speed and reactivity would instead require greater use of social capital.Originality/value– This is to the best of the authors’ knowledge that one of the first study evidencing the contingent nature of the absorptive process. Further, results tend to show the form absorptive capacity takes depends not only on cognitive aspects but also on the particular environment the firm evolves in.

Motivações do P&amp;D transnacional em Brasil e efeitos locais de absorção de conhecimento

Este trabalho tem como objetivo discutir as características do P&amp;D transacional em países emergentes, a partir do ponto de vista das estratégias globais das grandes corporações transnacionais (GCTs) e das vantagens oferecidas pelos receptores, fazendo uma especial referência ao caso brasileiro. As tradicionais motivações para a internacionalização tecnológica baseadas na visão home-base tiveram que ser ampliadas para explicar a nova geografia da inovação voltada para países emergentes sob uma visão host-base. Os principais atrativos destes países são o tamanho de seus mercados, as especificidades de suas demandas e menores custos relativos de P&amp;D compatíveis com níveis aceitáveis de qualidade de seus recursos tecnológicos. Indicadores recentes colocam o Brasil como receptor de investimentos líquidos em P&amp;D, embora o direcionamento seja assimétrico entre setores e tecnologias. As potencialidades locais que o Brasil oferece poderiam representar uma fonte de criação de capacitação local, a partir da combinação de esforços internos e externos com políticas públicas de absorção de conhecimento.

A Study of the Effects of Knowledge Transfer on the Franchisee’s Satisfaction in Restaurant Industry: focusing on the mediating effect of willingness to acquire knowledge and the moderating effect of franchise duration

Knowledge transfer, which is a form of knowledge management, plays an important role for enhancing competitiveness of a company. This is particularly true in restaurant franchise business because a franchisee can usually gain fast and instant competitive advantages against its competitors by receiving precious knowledge such as patented technology and management know-hows from franchisor when signing a franchise contract. In order for knowledge transfer to be successful, there are a few issues involved in the knowledge transfer process. First is whether the recipient has the capability to absorb and to utilize the new knowledge. Second is whether they have an intention to receive the knowledge. Last issue is whether the franchise duration affects the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. This study aims to investigate the relationships among the several factors that are involved in the knowledge transfer between franchisor and franchisee in restaurant industry. Data was collected by using a survey questionnaire on the 119 respondents. The results show that the franchisee’s knowledge absorption capability alone is not very effective to make knowledge transfer successful. More important is that the franchisee’s satisfaction level is affected by the organizational intention for knowledge transfer. The franchise duration, however, does not seem to affect the effectiveness of knowledge transfer.

DESIGNING ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY? AN ANALYSIS OF KNOWLEDGE ABSORPTION PRACTICES IN GERMAN HIGH-TECH FIRMS

The concept of absorptive capacity was introduced by Cohen and Levinthal in 1989 as an important condition for high innovativeness. Since then it has been enhanced through reconceptualisations and extended by various empirical studies. Despite the growing interest in the concept, the processes and practices of absorptive capacity have largely remained a "black box". To fill this gap, the paper develops a practice-based approach of absorptive capacity and provides an in-depth empirical investigation to shed more light on the practice of knowledge absorption. Drawing on the case studies of two German high-tech firms, the paper focusses on practices designed by the management to facilitate knowledge absorption and shows how these practices were actually enacted. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the complex construction of absorptive capacity and gives useful insights for a successful management of knowledge absorption.

Dengue Vaccines: A Perspective from the Point of View of Intellectual Property.

Dengue is a serious infectious disease and a growing public health problem in many tropical and sub-tropical countries. To control this neglected tropical disease (NTD), vaccines are likely to be the most cost-effective solution. This study analyzed dengue vaccines from both a historical and longitudinal perspective by using patent data, evaluating the geographic and time coverage of innovations, the primary patent holders, the network of cooperation and partnership for vaccine research and development (R & D), the flow of knowledge and the technological domain involved. This study can be seen as an example of the use of patent information to inform policy discussions, strategic research planning, and technology transfer. The results show that 93% of patents were granted since 2000, the majority belonging to the United States and Europe, although the share of patents from developing countries has increased. Unlike another NTDs, there is great participation of private companies in R & D of dengue vaccines and partnerships and collaboration between public and private companies. Finally, in this study, the main holders showed high knowledge absorption and generated capabilities. Therefore, this issue suggests that to overcome the difficulty of translational R & D it is necessary to stimulate the generation of knowledge and relevant scientific research, to enable the productive sector to have the capacity to absorb knowledge, to turn it into innovation, and to articulate partnerships and collaboration.

Does incremental and radical innovation performance depend on different types of knowledge accumulation capabilities and organizational size?

While prior studies recognize the importance of knowledge accumulation capabilities in innovation performance, current research has still failed to empirically identify its role with regard to different types of innovation performance. The objective of this paper is to address this knowledge gap and to explore the relationships between internal knowledge creation and absorptive capabilities, and incremental and radical innovation performance. The study also contributes to analyzing the complex effect that organizational size has in the whole innovation process, influencing its antecedents (internal knowledge creation capability and absorptive capability) as well as its outputs (incremental and radical innovation performance), as the literature has produced inconsistent results and the issue is subject to continuing debate. This study demonstrates that incremental innovation performance is positively affected by both knowledge accumulation capabilities and size. However, results show that only absorptive capability has a positive direct effect on radical innovation performance, whereas size has a negative non-significant effect on it. The effect of size on knowledge accumulation capabilities also turns out to be mixed. It appears to increase internal knowledge creation capability, but it does not affect the absorption of new external knowledge.

Insurance Companies’ Responses to Climate Change: Adaptation, Dynamic Capabilities and Competitive Advantage

Drawing on the dynamic capability view, we analyse how insurers adapt to climate change impacts and how adaptation relates to corporate financial performance. Based on a comprehensive literature review, we deduce seven categories of adaptation measures associated with three dynamic capability dimensions of climate change adaptation (i.e. climate knowledge absorption, climate-related operational flexibility and strategic climate integration). Using this framework, we conduct a content analysis of insurers’ adaptation efforts as reported to the Carbon Disclosure Project. Regression analysis reveals positive relationships between climate knowledge absorption and return on assets (ROA), climate-related operational flexibility and ROA, and between the total number of adaptation measures and ROA.

Deterrents to knowledge-sharing in the pharmaceutical industry: a case study

Purpose– This study aims to explore deterrents to knowledge-sharing in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Effective knowledge-sharing is fundamental to stimulation of the process of knowledge absorption. The limited proximal communication between the employees in the pharmaceutical industry stifles their knowledge-sharing behaviour significantly.Design/methodology/approach– A cross-sectional case study, consisting of semi-structured interviews with managers and scientists, was conducted in a multinational pharmaceutical company in Australia. Respondents were asked to answer questions regarding their current knowledge-sharing practices and to identify organisational deterrents to knowledge-sharing. The data were condensed into themes according to the thematic analysis method.Findings– The pharmaceutical industry is extensively regulated and its excessive competitiveness is cultivating organisational reticence towards the development of a knowledge-sharing culture. Nine categories of deterrents to intra- (within) and inter-organisational (between organisations) knowledge-sharing have been identified. These categories include high cost of sharing knowledge, information technology limitations, knowledge-hiding, lack of socialisation, lack of trust culture, non-educational mindset, organisational politics, poor leadership and time pressure.Research limitations/implications– The population of this study consists of managers and practitioners working for a pharmaceutical company. Hence, the generalisability of the findings to other health-care settings is unknown.Practical implications– The findings have implications for leaders and managers who should be aware of these professional diversities, instigators as well as the ripple effects of limited knowledge-sharing to guide the organisation towards developing an optimal knowledge-sharing culture.Originality/value– A focussed investigation of knowledge-sharing behaviour within the pharmaceutical industry in Australia, considering the pressure applied to this industry over the past decade. This case study specifically focusses on the diversity of deterrents to knowledge-sharing in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

The Clash of Social and Knowledge Spaces: The Assumed Ismorphism Under the Hood

So far, the dominant literature that has studied knowledge creation, transfer or absorption using social networks as explanatory variable has produced conflicting results. This research line has exponentially expanded in the last years and it has been always based on the perspective of social ties as channels where knowledge flows through. Different analysis using network structures, ego networks, social positions or relational properties has always worked on an implicit idea: social proximity describes knowledge proximity. Since innovation can be conceptualized as novel combination of knowledge, social proximity should be capable of describing how social structures affect innovative outcomes. However, vague and incoherent results are found across the literature. This may be due to the generalized assumption of an isomorphism between two spaces: the knowledge space, where innovators or researchers are located according to what they know; and a social space, where people are located according to who they know. This paper attempts to explore both dimensions as independent and assess the possibility of an isomorphism among their distances. The knowledge space is built upon the manifested compatibilities between cited papers or patents as a measure of distance between their authors, while the social space is represented by the social network scholars belong to. The overlooked interaction of these two spaces determines the potentiality of innovating since it is necessary to combine knowledge and the people who have it. After a theoretical review and analysis, an empirical test is performed. The data set comes from the research activity of 3 research departments of a Spanish University: Economics, Statistics and Business. Given the particular characteristics of the research activity and the organizational structure, the email network is taken as a representation of social ties among scholars. On the other hand, published and working papers produced by these departments are used to describe the knowledge space. Social closeness ?measured by the intensity of email activity between two researchers? is contrasted with expertise proximity ?evaluated according to bibliometric techniques?. Due to the anonymity of the email database and the consequent complexity of detecting an isomorphism between two sets of different size and without a rule of identification, I designed and used a special algorithm capable of confirming the absence of the isomorphism. Afterwards, I conducted a sociometric survey for corroborating results. I found knowledge and social distances to be significantly different implying that social spaces

Knowledge utilisation drivers in technological M&As

Several contributions look at the effect of technological M&As on the acquirer's technological performance. The knowledge-based perspective highlights the critical role that the acquirer's target's knowledge absorption plays as the main driver in enhancing post-M&A technological performance. However, absorptive capacity is a rather complex construct, which includes assimilation, utilisation and transformation of the acquired knowledge. In this paper, we focus on knowledge utilisation and investigate two factors whose effects on post-M&A technological performance have been extensively highlighted: technological relatedness and managerial experience. We contribute to the existing literature with a better understanding of the factors underlying the utilisation of the knowledge acquired in M&As. This should help managers to enhance their capacity to manage integration process post-M&As. Our results are based on a cross-sectional data set of 152 biopharmaceutical acquirers that completed at least one M&A between 2001 and 2005.

Predictive Modeling of Innovation Capability in a Regional Context

Development of the innovation capability represents activities that enable transformation of firms and the regional entity toward improved competitiveness. The main goal of the paper is to model situation with regard to innovation capability in a regional context. The research confirms positive relations between networking, marketing, and knowledge absorption capability, between knowledge absorption, development, and business renewal capability, and between marketing and development capability. Instead, relations between networking and development capability, and between marketing and knowledge absorption capability are not confirmed. Furthermore, the study supports usefulness of partial least squares structural equation modeling as a decision-making supporting tool.

The core‐peripheral structure of international knowledge flows: evidence from patent citation data

The importance of knowledge diffusion and external knowledge is generally acknowledged for their vital role to innovation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the international knowledge diffusion structure and its evolution using patent citation networks for three periods. The analyses are carried out from overall, active cluster as well as individual connection perspectives with the help of measures from social network analysis. Results show an obvious core‐peripheral structure of international knowledge diffusion. Most of the flows happen within core group. Knowledge flows between core and peripheral numbers also widely exist but not strong, while the flows among peripheral numbers are both sparse and weak. Significant improvements widely exist among Asian countries and regions according to their knowledge absorption and influence capacities, and Chinese Taiwan and South Korea are the most outstanding new stars among them with worthwhile experiences for other catch‐ups. It also suggests that BRICS and South–South knowledge linkages play an increased role in developing and emerging economy innovation systems as they gain momentum.

Knowledge management practices and absorptive capacity in small and medium‐sized enterprises: is there really a linkage?

Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are more vulnerable to globalization and rapid technological change due to their scarcity of resources. SMEs' absorptive capacity allows them to access knowledge and plays a key role in their ability to explore and exploit opportunities in their environment. Therefore, this study aims to identify and categorize knowledge management practices which SMEs can adopt to develop absorptive capacity. From a population of 4,534 Portuguese SMEs, 260 usable completed questionnaires were returned. We concluded that Portuguese SMEs are engaged in knowledge management practices, through collaboration with business partners, favoring learning processes based on experience, knowledge transfer to employees and knowledge absorption by employees, reflecting the importance given by SMEs to the tacit nature of knowledge which helps them in efficiency improvements, strategic adaptation, and the launch of new products and services. Our study contributes to advancing theory in the fields of knowledge management and absorptive capacity. We combine and extend previous research which allows us to reconcile the sometimes contradictory findings concerning knowledge management practices which SMEs can adopt to reinforce absorptive capacity. Some theoretical and practical implications are also presented.

The implications of organisational characteristics on the knowledge management process

This research develops a theoretical framework on the implications of the organisational characteristics on knowledge management (KM). The organisational characteristics are handled in this work as constructs, as they are complex concepts. We identified, from a broad theoretical-conceptual survey, five organisational constructs that support the KM process: human resources, team work, organisational culture, organisational structure and development and absorption of knowledge. The article presents the implications of these constructs in relation to the four phases of the KM process (acquisition, storage, distribution and use of knowledge).

Competitiveness Factors for China&amp;apos;s Online Game Industry Based on Diamond Model

At present, the online game has become one of the cultural and creative industries which is in the most rapidly growing, the huge market potential and the most far-reaching Internet industry.This paper, using the modified Porter's Diamond Model, in seven aspects to analyze the influencing factors of online game industry's competitiveness and they are the production elements, demand conditions, support industry and related industries, enterprise strategy and competition, the government, chances and the absorption and innovation of knowledge. There is a lack of innovativeness in china's online game industry. The market is facing an oligopoly monopoly development problem and the financing system is not perfect became the restrictions on the developing of the online game industry in china.On the basis of above, the corresponding countermeasures and suggestions are put forward.