Knowledge Integration Capability Research Articles

How the digital empowerment of mobile social platforms improves Chinese traditional retail enterprises’ operational performance: from the knowledge management capabilities perspective

Purpose Based on the perspective of knowledge management capability, this paper aims to reveal the internal mechanism of the digital empowerment of mobile social platforms to improve the operational performance of Chinese traditional retail enterprises. Such improvements have crucial theoretical value and practical implications for Chinese traditional retail enterprises to achieve transformation and sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach This study applied the typical analysis method, selected China’s leading mobile social platform, WeChat, as a typical case, and observed and analyzed the public data of the traditional retail industry and social platforms and interviews with relevant enterprises. On this basis, this study used the inductive and deductive methods of qualitative research to conduct an in-depth analysis of the mechanism by which WeChat’s digital empowerment improves the operational performance of Chinese traditional retail enterprises. It also discussed the critical role and path knowledge management capabilities play in this mechanism. Findings This research demonstrated that mobile social platforms empower Chinese traditional retail enterprises to build diversified digital channels, enhance the knowledge acquisition capability of enterprises and thus improve their performance; empower Chinese traditional retail enterprises to build digital community networks, enhance the knowledge diffusion capability of enterprises and thus improve their performance; and empower Chinese traditional retail enterprises to integrate online and offline businesses, enhance the knowledge integration capability of enterprises and thus improve their performance. Research limitations/implications This study clarifies the internal mechanism of how the digital empowerment of mobile social platforms can improve the performance of Chinese traditional retail enterprises. This mechanism implies that knowledge management capabilities (knowledge acquisition, diffusion and integration capability) are the underlying logic for Chinese traditional retail enterprises to achieve higher performance levels. This has important practical implications for managers of Chinese traditional retail enterprises to leverage the digital infrastructure of mobile social platforms to achieve the sustainable development of enterprises. Originality/value This study provides an in-depth analysis of how the traditional retail industry uses digital social platforms to improve operational performance from the perspective of knowledge management capabilities, which can further promote the theoretical research and practical development of digitalization and knowledge management. At the same time, this study explored the research on the operational performance of Chinese traditional retail enterprises from the perspective of knowledge management capabilities and expanded the research on knowledge management in related fields. The authors have initially sorted out the impact of knowledge management capabilities on the operational performance of Chinese traditional retail enterprises in the digital era. This will help better understand the role and function of knowledge management in strategic transformation and expand the application of knowledge management theory.

Promoting enterprise eco-innovation through traditional ecological knowledge: the role of knowledge integration capability and knowledge-oriented leadership

Knowledge is a strategic resource that is required for eco-innovation. Although past research has examined different types of knowledge on enterprise eco-innovation, how traditional ecological knowledge influences enterprise eco-innovation remains understudied. This study seeks to investigate traditional ecological knowledge on eco-innovation in order to bridge the aforementioned research gap. The study also considers knowledge integrative capability as a mediator variable and knowledge-oriented leadership as a moderator variable. The proposed conceptual model was empirically tested on 294 Botswana enterprises. The study used a quantitative approach to collect and analyze data. Our results indicate that traditional ecological knowledge positively influences eco-innovation. Additionally, the study found that knowledge integrative capability mediates the relationship between traditional ecological knowledge and positively influences eco-innovation. While knowledge-oriented leadership positively moderates traditional ecological knowledge, knowledge integrative capability and eco-innovation. On the basis of our findings, we emphasize the need for businesses to harvest traditional ecological knowledge by forming strong partnerships with local communities. Further discussion is devoted to implications and future research directions.

Adapting to discontinuous technological change from the perspective of knowledge management: a case study from the lighting industry in Lin’an, China

Purpose This study aims to answer the question of how incumbent firms cultivate dynamic capabilities through knowledge management so that they can efficiently adapt to the changing external environment. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a case study approach and collects data through interviews and secondary public information on the lighting industry and two lighting firms in Lin'an, China. It qualitatively examines the challenges and strategic recommendations for incumbent firms in the context of discontinuous technological change from a knowledge management perspective. Findings Incumbent firms often face a variety of challenges when responding to discontinuous technological change. These challenges include identifying opportunities, overcoming path dependence and dealing with employee resistance to change. To overcome these difficulties, three strategies have been proposed to enhance the dynamic capabilities of incumbent firms through knowledge management: cross-border search helps firms improve their knowledge acquisition capabilities and better understand their environment to identify opportunities; building strategic leadership overcomes path dependence and improves knowledge integration capabilities; organizational learning deepens employees’ understanding of change and enhances organizational knowledge application capabilities. Research limitations/implications Previous research attributes a firm's ability to cope with discontinuous technological change solely to its general resources, which weakens the importance of knowledge management in this context. This study emphasizes the importance of knowledge as a crucial strategic resource in developing the essential dynamic capabilities for incumbent firms to cope with discontinuous technological change. Practical implications This study provides an in-depth analysis of incumbent firms' coping strategies in the new context of discontinuous technological change and further promotes cross-disciplinary research. Originality/value This study provides an in-depth analysis of coping strategies in the new context of discontinuous technological change, furthermore theoretically advancing the interdisciplinary research of firm transformation and knowledge management. Meanwhile, it is crucial to identify the preconditions for cultivating dynamic capabilities, especially from a knowledge-based view, which enhances the depth of knowledge management research.

The Construction of Urban Rainstorm Disaster Event Knowledge Graph Considering Evolutionary Processes

Rainstorm disasters pose a significant threat to the sustainable development of urban areas, and effectively organizing diverse information sources about them is crucial for emergency management. In light of recent advances in knowledge graph theory and application technology, their notable knowledge integration and representation capabilities may offer support for dynamic monitoring and decision-making processes concerning urban rainstorm disaster events. However, conventional models do not adequately capture the spatiotemporal characteristics of these events. To fill this gap, we analyze the essence of urban rainstorm disaster events and divide their evolution into four stages, namely, pregnant, development, continuous, and decline stages. On this basis, a multilevel knowledge representation model is proposed from four layers, which are event, object–state, feature, and relationship layers, by analyzing the components and dynamic characteristics from the mechanism of urban rainstorm disaster events. The proposed model can not only express the comprehensive structure and relationships within urban rainstorm events, but also emphasize the evolution of disaster events through a series of ordered states. Moreover, we test the utility of the constructed knowledge graph through a case study of the Zhengzhou 720 rainstorm. The case study first validates that the selected machine learning models can extract the urban rainstorm disaster event information accurately by comparing them with some mainstream models. Then, it demonstrates that the knowledge graph is practical in the field of disaster knowledge representation, and disaster condition retrieval. Additionally, since the knowledge graph can show the evolution of a disaster event throughout its full life cycle, it can promote the understanding of the mechanisms of urban rainstorm disasters and pave the way for future applications of disaster prevention and reduction.

Limits of open innovation during the organizational change: a case study of a Partner Campus

The literature on open innovation (OI) has mainly been focused on the ‘bright side’ of OI, thus neglecting the limits of OI implementation influencing innovation processes during organizational change. It requires to develop a better understanding about the limits of OI. Therefore, this study explores the limits of OI during organizational change and provides approaches that drive firms to offset these limits. The empirical analysis is based on an in‐depth single case study and data was collected through semi‐structured interviews with the representatives engaged with Partner Campus – an OI initiative developed by a multinational manufacturing company. We have found that during the change process of adapting collaborative and absorptive capabilities, and developing organizational readiness, several internal and external challenges limit the company's drive to open up. Internal challenges arise when organizations start the change process in unfreezing stage. The traditional organizational culture and structure challenge incumbent firms to break the existing silos and utilize knowledge and resources effectively for OI implementation, hindering intra‐organizational collaboration. While external challenges arise when organizations transform their endeavors across organizational boundaries and collaborate with external stakeholders. When firms lack knowledge integration and technological capabilities, OI creates collaborative complexity given the magnitude of involved diverse actors and activities at different levels, which challenges the organizations to maintain the longevity of OI practices, resulting in several risks that limit firms to open up. However, we have identified the capabilities and actions that firms can take to strengthen a collaborative environment by counterbalancing these challenges. We contribute to the literature on OI by identifying and assessing the limits of OI, embedded in the organizational change process, that hinder organizational drive for OI. We also contribute to organizational change literature by identifying specific changes related to organizational processes, structure, and culture, and outlining approaches that can support a smooth transition.

Research on cross-city emergency management collaboration mechanism in major emergencies: insights from a knowledge management perspective

Purpose Based on the perspective of knowledge management, this study aims to discuss how to build cross-city emergency management collaboration mechanism in major emergencies and explore the important role of knowledge management in emergency management collaboration. Design/methodology/approach Based on the theoretical analysis of knowledge management and the typical case study of cross-city emergency management collaborative rescue, this study provides an in-depth analysis of how these cities achieve high emergency management performance through multidimensional and multilevel knowledge collaboration, thus revealing the mechanism of knowledge transfer, integration and sharing in achieving high emergency management performance. Findings Through analyzing typical cases, this study finds that building a smooth mechanism for multichannel emergency rescue information can promote the diversification of knowledge transfer methods, building a platform-based integration mechanism for emergency rescue information can enhance knowledge integration capabilities and building a linkage mechanism for emergency rescue materials between cities can promote knowledge-sharing level, thereby improving emergency management performance level. Research limitations/implications This study has great significance for how to build cross-city emergency management collaboration mechanism in the digital era. In the future, the authors need to further discuss the following two aspects in depth: research on the impact of cross-city emergency management collaboration mechanism on improving the knowledge management capabilities of government emergency management departments; and research on the impact mechanism of knowledge management capabilities on city resilience. Originality/value Through case analysis of cross-city emergency management collaborative rescue for major emergencies in China in recent years, this study proposes three specific strategies for cross-city emergency management (smooth, integration and linkage mechanisms) and reveals that these three strategies are essentially aimed at improving the government’s knowledge management level.

Evaluation of strategic orientation-led competitive advantage: the role of knowledge integration and service innovation

Purpose This paper aims to derive a model that explores how the interplay between knowledge integration capability and innovation impacts strategic orientation, leading to the attainment of sustainable competitive advantage. The study considers the constituents of strategic orientation, namely, customer orientation, competitor orientation and technology orientation, as the basis for achieving sustainable competitive advantage. The study suggests that the firm’s capacity for integrating external and internal knowledge shapes how strategic orientation influences sustainable competitive advantage through service innovation. Design/methodology/approach This empirical research relies on qualitative and quantitative data gathered from telecom professionals to assess how knowledge integration and service innovation influence sustained competitive advantage. Structured equation modeling is used to examine the model and its interrelationships. Findings The research establishes significant relationships between strategic orientations, knowledge integration capability, service innovation and sustainable competitive advantage. Knowledge integration capability and service innovation are found to mediate the relationship between strategic orientations and the achievement of sustainable competitive advantage. Practical implications The study highlights the significant contribution of a firm’s knowledge integration capability in driving service innovation, especially in technology-intensive service industries facing hypercompetition. It also advocates prioritizing technology orientation and integrating knowledge from internal and external sources for competitive advantage. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to model the effect of knowledge integration capability and service innovation on strategic orientation-led sustainable competitive advantage.

Effects of Domestic and International External Collaboration on New Product Development Performance in SMEs: Evidence from China

This study attempts to examine the influences of domestic and international external collaboration on new product development (NPD) performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and further explores the mediating mechanism of knowledge integration capability and the moderating effects of the innovation climate and organizational legitimacy. In this study, we collected data from 236 manufacturing SMEs in China by means of questionnaires, and multiple hierarchical regression analysis was used to test hypotheses. The results reveal that both domestic and international external collaboration are positively associated with SMEs’ NPD performance. Knowledge integration capability mediates domestic and international external collaboration–SMEs’ NPD performance relationships. Innovation climate positively moderates domestic external collaboration–SMEs’ NPD performance relationship and organizational legitimacy positively moderates domestic and international external collaboration–SMEs’ NPD performance relationships. This study expands the research on the relationship between external collaboration and NPD performance by categorizing external collaboration into two dimensions, domestic and international, and examining their direct influences on SMEs’ NPD performance. Moreover, through examining the mediating effect of knowledge integration capabilities and moderating effects of innovation climate and organizational legitimacy, this paper explains how, and under what conditions, domestic and international external collaboration facilitates the improvement of NPD performance in SMEs.

Green innovation for sustainable development: leveraging green knowledge integration, blockchain technology and green supply chain integration

Purpose Despite the importance of green supply chain integration (GSCI) in advancing green innovation (GI) is recognized, it remains unclear how firms can translate their GSCI efforts into GI. Therefore, this study aims to understand how GSCI affects GI, with its dimensions (exploitative GI and exploratory GI), as well as to investigate the mediating role of green knowledge integration capability (GKIC) and the moderating role of blockchain technology (BCT) adoption. Design/methodology/approach On the basis of data collected from 247 managers working in Indian firms in the automotive industry, the authors tested the proposed model using the PROCESS macro tool via SPSS software. Findings The empirical results indicate that GSCI is positively associated with both exploitative and exploratory GI, with a higher effect on exploitative GI. In addition, GKIC mediates the link between GSCI and exploitative GI in contrast to exploratory GI. Notably, the relationship between GSCI and GKIC is stronger when BCT adoption is high. Originality/value This study opens the black box of how GSCI affects exploitative and exploratory GI by revealing the mediating role of GKIC and the moderating role of BCT adoption. It provides valuable insights for practitioners to translate GSCI efforts into GI through developing GKIC and adopting BCT.

Corporate social capital and enterprise performance of technology-based SMEs: The mediating role of knowledge integration ability

How to improve enterprise performance has been a research topic widely studied by scholars for a long time. As economic globalization deepens, the business competition becomes increasingly harsh. Technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the rapid development of the country’s economy, especially in China. This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of knowledge integration capability in the relationship between corporate social capital and enterprise performance. The sample group used in this study were 300 technology-based SMEs in China. The research tool was a questionnaire adapted from previous scholars, which passed assessment in terms of content validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. The results show that: 1) corporate social capital has a positive impact on enterprise performance, but the impact differs between well-performing and poor-performing enterprises; and 2) knowledge integration ability plays a mediating role in the relationship between corporate social capital and enterprise performance, and the mediating role is the same for both well-performing and poor-performing enterprises. But it played a partial mediating role in the good-performance comparison group and a complete mediating role in the poor-performance comparison group. This study is useful for enterprise management in cultivating and developing the abundant social capital of enterprises and expanding channels for knowledge integration ability to increase enterprise performance.

Untangling the knowledge creation in the cross-project organisations

ABSTRACT This study aims to untangle the knowledge creation in the cross-project organisations. Drawing on knowledge creation theory, this study developed a theoretical model and hypotheses, and examined them with 402 samples in China. The results indicate that knowledge sharing mediates the relationship between innovation climate and knowledge creation. The mediation is further moderated by knowledge integration capability. By the comparison, marketing knowledge is the easiest to create, while managerial knowledge is the most difficult to create. This study contributes to knowledge creation theory by making an in-depth discussion on the differences of specific types of knowledge creation.

Integrating external stakeholders for improvement in green innovation performance: role of green knowledge integration capability and regulatory pressure

Purpose Green innovation, particularly in manufacturing firms, is one of the most advocated methods to curb the effects of climate change. This study aims to investigate the impact of the integration of green customers and suppliers on the green innovation performance of food manufacturing firms in Pakistan. The institutional and resource-based view theories determine the moderating role of regulatory pressure and the mediating role of green knowledge integration capability (GKIC). Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from 511 middle management-level employees of food manufacturing firms in Pakistan. The questionnaire was tested for reliability and validity. Hierarchical regression is used to test the proposed hypothesis. Findings A marginal improvement in integration with green customers can increase the green innovation performance (GIP) of a firm by 23.6%. Green supplier integration can improve the GIP by 14.2%, whereas the GKIC mediates the relationship between Green Customers Integration (GCI) and GIP but not for green suppliers integration (GSI). The moderating effect of regulatory pressure was significant for the relationship between GCI and GIP but insignificant for GSI. Originality/value Food manufacturing accounts for approximately 16% of global green house gases (GHG) emissions. Sustainable development goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved without a significant decrease in GHG emissions by food manufacturing companies. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate firms' green innovation performance in this sector. The findings of this study can help policymakers develop policies for achieving SDGs.

The impact of value co-creation orientation on radical service innovation: Exploring a serial mediation mechanism

By integrating the dynamic capability perspective and service-dominant logic (SDL), this study empirically investigates the distinct roles of internal and external knowledge integration capabilities in the relationship between value co-creation orientation and radical service innovation. Based on survey data from a sample of 200 service innovation projects from IT and Internet-related industries in China, this study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) and a bootstrapping approach to test the hypothesized relationships in the conceptual model. The results show that external knowledge integration capability mediates the relationship between value co-creation orientation and radical service innovation. In addition, internal and external knowledge integration capability jointly play a serial mediating role between value co-creation orientation and radical service innovation. These findings contribute to the growing literature on value co-creation in radical service innovation, and offer service managers meaningful implications that reveal how to convert multiple sources of knowledge resources into superior radical service innovation.

Determinants of Enterprise Risk Management: Empirical Evidence From Greater Bay Area of China

The problem of the enterprise risk management in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has become increasingly serious, especially in the face of the economic recession in the post-epidemic era and enterprises are constantly seeking a way out for sustainable development. Enterprise risk management is particularly important for this emerging Bay Area. On the basis of predecessors, this study empirically analyses the enterprise risk management of 708 listed companies in China's GBA. Through data processing and literature search, this paper focuses on the influence of the drive for executive support, research and development expenditure and knowledge integration capability of employees on ERM. In factor analysis, the principal component factor is used to reduce the dimension of many factors, and then regression analysis is used to model and analyse the relationship between variables. Through the use of SPSS analysis software, combined with factor analysis and regression analysis, it can be concluded that there is a positive correlation between enterprise risk management and the three influencing factors, which have a significant impact on ERM. Therefore, the attitude of senior executives to actively support and explore ERM, the experience and education of employees, and the expenditure of enterprise research and development expenses are all the exposure of enterprise risk. In order to keep the sum of exposure within the sustainable risk appetite of the enterprise, it is important to pay attention to the trends and strategic plans of these indicators. It is hoped that this will provide value for enterprises to continuously improve their own risk management system.

Evolutionary Analysis of Knowledge-Based Networks of the Electronic Information Industry from a Dual Innovation Perspective

It provides specific theoretical guidance to enhance the enterprise’s independent innovation capabilities by studying the knowledge utilization and the evolution of innovation under different innovation strategies and revealing the law of innovation path. Based on the data of invention patents of 579 electronic information enterprises from 2010 to 2019, this paper constructs a knowledge-based network based on social network analysis to study the evolution process of density, centrality, and structural holes of knowledge. The evolution analysis of 3360 knowledge-based networks shows that the electronic information industry’s overall knowledge integration capacity is in the middle and lower reaches. The widespread knowledge reliance in the electronic information industry is small, the industry is out of the ‘capacity traps’, and diversified development has gradually become a trend. At the same time, cross-domain knowledge reorganization is increasing. The results show that the overall knowledge reliance degree of enterprises applying an exploitative innovation strategy is deeper than that of enterprises applying an exploratory innovation strategy. The knowledge integration capabilities and cross-domain knowledge reorganization capabilities of enterprises applying exploratory innovation strategies are higher than those of enterprises applying exploitative innovation strategy.

Effect of integration capabilities with channel distributors on supply chain agility in emerging markets: an institution-based view perspective

PurposeWith emerging markets representing great growth opportunities and serving as indispensable components in the global supply chain, it is unclear how well modern supply chain management theories developed in advanced markets apply to emerging markets. This study integrates the institution-based view with supply chain management literature to examine how integration capabilities can be leveraged to achieve supply chain agility in emerging markets and how the efficacy of integration capabilities is shaped by internal and external institutional contexts.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines how firms in emerging markets can leverage their platform integration and knowledge integration capabilities with channel distributors to improve the supply chain agility and how such relationships are shaped by both the internal (proxy by ownership structure) and external (proxy by regional openness) institutional contexts in which firms operate. Survey and archival data collected from 207 firms operating in China, one of the largest emerging markets, were used to test the proposed research model.FindingsThe results reveal that platform integration and knowledge integration are two driving forces for supply chain agility in the emerging markets. Moreover, the results indicate that state-owned firms are able to achieve higher supply chain agility from their investments in knowledge integration with channel distributors than non-state-owned firms. While firms in regions with a high level of openness enjoy higher supply chain agility from knowledge integration, firms in regions with a low level of openness can catch up by investing in platform integration with their channel distributors.Originality/valueThe authors extend the extant study on supply chain integration (SCI) research to examine how operational and strategic integration with channel distributors can help the focal firm achieve supply chain agility in emerging markets. The study results also enrich the existing studies in emerging markets by revealing the importance of the institutional context in which firms operate on B2B channel management.

When Does External Knowledge Benefit Team Creativity? The Role of Internal Team Network Structure and Task Complexity

Creativity in teams is spurred by members’ access to diverse knowledge, often from interactions with external sources. However, not all teams that have the capabilities to acquire such external knowledge are equally creative. Integrating theories of absorptive capacity and creative synthesis in teams, we propose that teams’ external knowledge acquisition capabilities in securing a wide variety of knowledge resources need to be complemented by internal knowledge integration capabilities that facilitate balanced/equal participation of all team members in the creative problem-solving process. In turn, this combination enables effective information elaboration processes underlying the generation of truly creative team outcomes. We test these ideas in two field studies. First, in a sample of 81 research and development teams in three organizations in science and technology fields, we find that teams’ connections with a wide range of external parties—indicating their external knowledge acquisition capability—benefit their creativity, but only when the team’s internal team member problem-solving network structure—an indicator of the team’s knowledge integration capability—is less centralized (i.e., not controlled by one or few members). We further demonstrate that these effects are more salient when the team’s task is more complex. Replicating these findings in a second sample of 57 project teams in an energy manufacturing and services firm, we show that these effects are mediated by the team’s information elaboration processes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Funding: This research was supported by grants received by C. Tang and her colleagues at UCAS, from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Projects 71974178, 71932009], MOE Social Science Laboratory of Digital Economic Forecasts and Policy Simulation at UCAS, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [Project E2E40806X2]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.1661 .

The Impact of Team Learning Climate on Innovation Performance - Mediating role of knowledge integration capability.

To address the fierce competition for corporate innovation in the digital economy, this study introduces knowledge integration capability as a mediating variable in light of social information processing theory, and explores the mechanism of team learning climate on innovation performance. Data were collected from a sample of 184 team members for statistical analysis, and Statistical methods such as descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were used to verify the study hypotheses through SPSS and Amos software, and the results showed that: (1) Team learning climate has a significant positive effect on knowledge integration capability. (2) Team learning climate has a significant positive effect on innovation performance. (3) Knowledge integration capability has a significant positive effect on innovation performance. (4) Knowledge integration capability partially mediates the role between team learning climate and innovation performance. The results proved the perspective of knowledge integration capability for the mechanism of team learning climate on innovation performance from the perspective of knowledge integration capability, and provided theoretical references for creating a learning climate in companies to promote members' knowledge learning and enhance innovation performance.

Configuration research on innovation performance of digital enterprises: Based on an open innovation and knowledge perspective

This paper takes 36 unicorn enterprises in China as a sample case. Based on the perspective of open innovation and knowledge, combined with the background of the transformation and development of China’s digital economy, the antecedent conditions such as the three dimensions of knowledge integration ability, the two dimensions of open innovation and knowledge sharing are integrated by using configuration thinking and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method. The multiple concurrent factors and causal complex mechanisms affecting innovation performance are discussed. The results show that: 1) The different dimensions of knowledge integration capability, open innovation, and knowledge sharing have six configurations to achieve high-level firm performance; 2) Different knowledge integration capabilities can all promote innovation performance; 3) knowledge sharing improves the management and utilization of knowledge, which is an important guarantee for improving innovation performance. The conclusion expands the innovation perspective of the matching of knowledge and open innovation, helps to understand the mechanism of innovation performance, and provides theoretical reference and beneficial enlightenment for enterprises to effectively improve innovation performance.

The too-much-of-a-good-thing effect of digitalization capability on radical innovation: the role of knowledge accumulation and knowledge integration capability

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the complex relationship between digitalization capability (DC) and radical innovation performance (RIP). In particular, this study sheds new light on the results of previous studies on the effects of DC on firm innovation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors obtained questionnaire data from 271 IT managers of randomly selected high-tech Chinese firms. The data was used to empirically test the proposed hypotheses using hierarchical regression analysis.FindingsThe findings of this study reveal that DC has an inverted U-shaped effect on RIP. Knowledge accumulation (KA) has a partial mediating effect on the DC–RIP link. Knowledge integration capability (KIC) was found to moderate the DC–RIP relationship: the higher a firm’s KIC, the flatter the DC–RIP curve. Moreover, there is empirical evidence of the shape-flip phenomenon of the DC–RIP curve: when KIC > 1.82, the DC–RIP relationship is no longer an inverted U-shaped but presents as a U-shaped curve.Research limitations/implicationsThis study explores the DC–RIP relationship from the perspective of knowledge management, deepens the research scope of digitalization and lays the foundation for subsequent research.Originality/valueThis study provides potential explanations for contradictory views of the effect of DC on innovation in the existing literature by revealing the nonlinear relationship of DC and RIP and the important roles of KA and KIC in that relationship. The new insights into the role of KIC as a threshold for the DC–RIP link provide a direction for firms to control the pace of digital transformation.