Knowledge-intensive Firms Research Articles

Trust Development in Inter-organizational Relations of Knowledge-intensive Firms

The paper reveals the factors behind the development of trust in the inter-organizational relations of knowledge intensive firms and their implications for building trust in low trust environment. The theoretical framework is based on 5 types of factors: institutional, social, personal, professional and educational. The empirical research was carried out in the Science Park ‘Technopolis’ and covered 14 technological firms. The research has shown that knowledge intensive firms possessed high levels of inter-organizational trust, while at the same time placing emphasis on personal and professional characteristics of their partners, supported by clear contract obligations. They find themselves more vulnerable in their economic transactions than in the knowledge exchange. Trust in business relations of knowledge-intensive firms are primarily based on the professional competence, personal moral qualities of partners, their mutual interest in business transaction and contract obligations. Personal friendships and social concerns play a positive, but secondary role in business transactions. Respondents regard trust primarily as a moral issue, which is based on individual moral qualities. Institutional and educational factors are regarded as key to building high trust on the society level. Empirical findings show that strategies for trust development on inter-organizational and societal levels are likely to be focused on different sets of factors. Professional and personal (some legal) factors play the key role in enabling trust between the knowledge-intensive firms, whereas institutional and educational factors appear to be the key in promoting trust on society level. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ss.78.4.3230

A simulation tool for talent management in knowledge-intense firms. An opportunity for HR managers?

This article reviews the consequences of introducing certain policies in consulting firms, from the point of maintaining intellectual capital. Consultancies base the competitive edge of their offering on the knowledge of their professionals, despite the difficulties inherent in depending internally on a resource which may of its own volition choose to leave the company, and depending externally on demand for services. Devising a dynamic simulation tool to aid in decision-making, we found that, while the demand for consultancy services determines the number of consultants required, the knowledge management policies of each organization determine its internal capacity to maintain its intellectual capital within the sector.

Patterns of Organizational Flexibility in Knowledge-intensive Firms – Going Beyond Existing Concepts

We analyze patterns of flexible employment among the highly qualified workforce in knowledge-intensive firms. Our conceptual starting point is the Flexible Firm that can be traced back to Atkinson. On the basis of a qualitative field study in ten organizations, we show different patterns in employment policy and highlight phenomena that go beyond Atkinson’s concept. It becomes obvious that flexible contracting with an external workforce is a function of allocating expertise instead of gaining numerical flexibility and is furthermore rather driven by knowledge workers than by firms. For systemizing the results of our explorative field work we propose the model of an Amoebic Organization as an alternative flexibility concept.

Human Capital Contribution to Company Performance: HR Practices Effects and Human Capital Emergence

This research draws on the human capital emergence process and is based on a multilevel perspective. Using a sample of 383 employees from 60 business units from KIFs (Knowledge-Intensive Firms), it...

Developing Organizational Commitment Via ‘Employee-driven HRM’ in a Knowledge-Intensive Firm

Employee turnover is a serious issue for all firms, but especially critical for knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) that depend exclusively on their human capital to survive and prosper. The literature recognizes that characteristics of knowledge workers differ from those of the general workforce population, yet theories and models aimed at ensuring employee retention do not fully account for these differences. In this paper, we present data from a longitudinal study in a Danish KIF in which employees were both highly satisfied with and deeply engaged in their work, yet lacked organizational commitment. We demonstrate through an action research based process how providing knowledge workers with opportunities to become involved in developing and implementing an “Employee driven HRM system” engendered high levels of organizational commitment that effectively resolve the turnover issue. These findings contribute to the literature focusing on relationships between job satisfaction, employee engagement, organizat...

The Role of HRM Practices in Building Intellectual Capital in Knowledge-based Teams

In this paper, we investigate the ways HRM systems support development of intellectual capital in teams in three case studies of knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) in Denmark. By focusing on team com...

The role of service innovativeness in the relationship between market orientation and innovative performance: moderator or mediator?

This paper makes an empirical investigation into the influence of service innovativeness on the relationship between market orientation and innovative performance, first as a moderator with specified interaction effects, and secondly as a mediator in the path from market orientation to innovative performance. A sample of 169 new service development (NSD) projects in Chinese knowledge-intensive business service firms provides the data for an empirical test of these issues. The results indicate that service innovativeness does not play a moderating role in the relationship between market orientation and innovative performance, but a mediating role in this relationship. For NSD, project, innovativeness is only a temporary trait. The impact of market orientation is to spur innovativeness, which, in turn, affects innovative performance.

The Management Consulting Firm – A Knowledge-Intensive Firm? – Building an Assessment Model and Application on a Case Study

The research is designed as a case study. Peter Drucker (1993:45) acknowledged that ’Knowledge has become the resource, rather than a resource’. Based on this premise, the aim of this research is to see if a certain type of organizations - the management consulting firm, is a knowledge-intensive firm or not. This study analyses the intensity in which the features of knowledge-intensive firms exist in the analysed organization, characteristics that can show if the firm fits in the category of knowledge-intensive firms or not. The research comprises two main aspects: the development of an assessment instrument for the management consulting firm so that the potential of being a knowledge-intensive firm can be determined and the application of this model on the organization on which the study is conducted. Based on the idea that addressing a specific problem or aspect should be realized taking into account the specific organizational context (idea adaptated after Cruywagen et al, 2008:101), an approach that takes into consideration the specific organizational context was taken into account. More precisely, there was developed a research instrument – a questionnaire that contains items taking into consideration the type of organizations that we are interested in this research – management consulting firms. The instrument can be used for small and medium management consulting firms. The research hypothesis is that the management consulting firm is a knowledge-intensive firm. Two questionnaires were developed – one for the company’s employees and a synthetical questionnaire for the company’s management team. The items are grouped in seven dimensions, or levels that are taken into consideration for analyzing an organization: organizational culture, specificity of the activity in the organization and work environment, management and structure of the organization, value creation, human resources, image of the organization and identity of the employees, knowledge transfer. The research results have shown that the analyzed company is a knowledge-intensive firm but the intensity of the presence of some characteristics that are specific to knowledge-intensive firms are not very high, so improvements are necessary in some areas. The research conclusions contain a series of recommendations for the analyzed firm that could be taken into consideration in order to improve its activity in the future.

Providing knowledge recommendations: an approach for informal electronic mentoring

The use of Web 2.0 technologies for knowledge management is invading the corporate sphere. The Web 2.0 is the most adopted knowledge transfer tool within knowledge intensive firms and is starting to be used for mentoring. This paper presents IM-TAG, a Web 2.0 tool, based on semantic technologies, for informal mentoring. The tool offers recommendations of mentoring contents built upon personal competencies of the mentee, combined with content and opinion tagging. To validate the tool, a case study comparing recommendations from the IM-TAG and a group of experts was conducted. Results show that the accuracy of IM-TAG's recommendations is notable and satisfactory. The main conclusions of this research may be valuable to organizations immersed in mentoring programs.

Knowledge work: gender-blind or gender-biased?

Knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) have been the subject of growing interest from researchers. However, investigations into the comparative experiences of men and women in KIFs remain sparse, and little is known about women’s participation in the processes of innovation and knowledge exchange and combination that are core features of KIFs. The article reports on the findings of a study in the UK and Ireland involving 498 male and female knowledge workers in KIFs. Despite equal levels of qualification and experience, women are more likely to be in lower status and less secure jobs. They also predominantly occupy roles featuring less variety and autonomy than men and, despite comparable levels of knowledge exchange and combination, are less likely to be in a position to translate this into the innovative work behaviours necessary for career advancement. The findings suggest that women’s experiences of and participation in knowledge processes within KIFs differ fundamentally from men’s.

The resource dynamics of early internationalising Indian IT firms

Building on the resource-based view of the firm, this study explores how firms entering into early internationalisation combine different resources to discover the international market opportunities. Based on an in-depth analysis of case studies of five knowledge-intensive firms from India, this study suggests that the differences in the extent of resources available and their combinations influence the early stage of the internationalisation process and pace of learning in the foreign markets. This study contributes to the existing research on international entrepreneurship by explaining how new international ventures overcome the challenges of internationalisation by wisely utilising a broad set of available and potential resources during their early internationalisation efforts and gradually shift the focus on the internalisation of resources. Moreover, this study suggests that the effects of the combination of resources vary across different ventures. A strong combination can increase internationalisation and minimise the risks of failure in new international ventures.

Knowledge creation in German agglomerations and accessibility – An approach involving non-physical connectivity

Knowledge production is a complex process in which implicit and explicit knowledge are interwoven. Therefore, knowledge-intensive firms require access to information and the ability to acquire experienced-based knowledge through face-to-face contacts. Network economies and agglomeration economies form a strong theoretical background which explains the externalities within knowledge production. Although relations between networks of cities and agglomeration effects are widely discussed, physical infrastructure and spatial accessibility are still not adequately integrated into the concept of externalities within knowledge production. Nevertheless, physical interaction fosters knowledge creation by making labour forces, greater market areas and remote locations more accessible. This paper introduces a combined framework of physical and non-physical accessibility. Interaction between firms – connectivity – is calculated using the Interlocking Network Model. Physical accessibility is defined by the potential to reach as much of the population as possible within a certain area by air, rail and road transportation. Thus, we quantitatively assess the interrelatedness of modes of transport and the non-physical connectivity of firms. This quantitative framework shows that physical infrastructure, spatial accessibility and the ability of firms to form networks are mutually reinforcing. First results indicate that on the regional scale, access by rail and road are far more important than air access, which in turn is the dominant mode of access for business activities on the global scale. Nevertheless, when taking account of the impact on regional added value, critical mass of population and employment outweighs accessibility and connectivity.

The impact of professional service firms’ expansion challenges on internationalization processes and performance

In making the distinctions in the internationalization of capital-intensive service firms (CISFs) vs. knowledge-intensive service firms (KIFs), KIFs were found to realize financial gains in earlier stages of internationalization than CISFs. Should not this make them more likely to internationalize? Still, service firms are significantly more ‘home oriented’ than manufacturing firms. This paper explains why professional service firms (PSFs), a subcategory of KIFs, are likely to follow a more cautious internationalization process and proposes a spider web-like expansion process. Then, it explains how PSFs’ characteristics of (1) clients’ dependence (2) knowledge commoditization, and (3) executives’ hubris moderate the internationalization to performance relationship.

Professional Patent Management: Literature Review and Exploratory Study

This paper examines professional patent management in knowledge intensive firms. In consideration of the nascent state of patent related journal literature the guiding research question is how pate...

Entrepreneurs’ Knowledge and Network: What Matters the Most? The Case of Knowledge-Intensive Firms

The increasing importance of knowledge for the development of firms and territories has enhanced the interest in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). Drawing on the intrinsic features of KIBS (a strong knowledge base and an extended network of partners and clients), this paper aims to contribute to the literature on entrepreneurship by examining the extent to which entrepreneurs’ human and social capital support their KIBS firms’ performance at different stages of their organizational life-cycle. Based on a sample of Italian KIBS companies, human capital was found to affect a firm’s performance during its early development, whereas social capital took the fore during its expansion. We discuss the implications for research on entrepreneurship and KIBS development policies.

Designing Management Control Systems to Foster Knowledge Transfer in Knowledge-Intensive Firms: A Network-Based Approach

Research on management control has emphasised the relevance of controls for knowledge integration on a project-by-project basis. This work contributes to this field by proposing a framework to explain how management control systems foster knowledge transfer between organisational units in knowledge-intensive firms. By combining network theory and knowledge network research, this study suggests that the design of management control systems should consider various forms of relationships between individuals (strong/weak, direct/indirect) that these systems activate and that are necessary to transfer various forms of knowledge (process, outcome, technology or opportunities) characterised by different levels of causal ambiguity and relatedness. An in-depth empirical analysis of a software firm and three of its projects shows that management controls may act as important mechanisms of knowledge circulation and that some principles reinforce this function. In particular, to achieve organisational knowledge transfer, enforceability of manuals and procedures, scalability of reviews and decisions, mobility induction of individuals, and multiplicity of roles and accountabilities are indicated as desirable design properties of control systems in knowledge-intensive firms.

Communicating Expertise: Knowledge Performances in Professional-Service Firms

Researchers in many disciplines treat expertise as an individually held attribute that allows for consistently superior performance in a specific domain. However, in knowledge-intensive environments, where work practices are ill-defined, invisible, and their outputs are ambiguous, attributions of expertise are not likely to emerge solely from objective criteria such as task performance or professional standing. This study offers an alternative communicative view of expertise arguing that attributions of expertise are developed from visible performances of knowledge in the practice of work. Using qualitative data collected from fieldwork at two public relations organizations, this work develops themes regarding the attribution of expertise in knowledge-intensive firms and then shows that experts are more likely than nonexperts to perform behaviors reflective of those themes. Findings suggest that attributions of expertise in knowledge-intensive organizations emerge through social interactions and are produced by and a product of communicative acts.

Local Entrepreneurship within Global Value Chains: A Case Study in the Mexican Automotive Industry

Summary Since the 1980s, Mexico became an attractive location for global automobile assemblers. Geographical proximity and low production costs were associated with high productivity. As this industry became highly concentrated, benefits for the host localities turned into a controversial issue. Taking this controversy as a background, a case study was designed to gather evidence from new local knowledge-intensive firms within the supplier network in the automotive cluster led by Ford Motor Company in Hermosillo, Mexico. Our findings revealed that a new trend of knowledge-intensive small local companies emerged, providing higher value services and playing more important roles in the supply chain.

Social intelligence and top management team: an exploratory study of external knowledge acquisition for strategic change in global IT service providers in India

This paper focuses on the processes by which firms, particularly knowledge intensive firms, can augment their overall knowledge stock by tapping into external sources of knowledge. It is argued that Top Management Teams' (TMTs') social intelligence is a critical learning capability in acquiring external knowledge that leads to strategic change. Social intelligence involves social awareness, social understanding and social skills. The study draws from the experience of 11 of the largest Information Technology Service Providers (ITSPs) in India and based on in-depth interviews. The findings show that TMTs' learning capability in the context of social intelligence to interact with external stakeholders is important to ITSPs in facilitating external knowledge acquisition and allowing new knowledge emerge within and across networks. The findings provide significant insights into ITSPs emerging in other developing countries such as in China. Research limitation and future research direction are also provided.

Exploring the effects of human capital loss on relationships with clients in knowledge-intensive service firms and the moderating effect of knowledge management

This study aims to examine the effects of human capital loss on relationships with clients in knowledge-intensive born global firms, and explain how firms address the challenges resulting from empl ...