View Of Firm Research Articles

Knowledge spillovers and innovation performance of the originator: The moderating effect of technological alliances

Under what conditions do originators of innovation benefit from knowledge spillover by learning from knowledge recipients, and when do they not? This study examines how originator firms’ learning from recipients differs depending on their spillover characteristics. These characteristics were captured using the Spillover Knowledge Pool (SKP). It also examines how technological alliances moderate the relationship between SKP characteristics and originator follow-on innovations. An analysis of 62 firms over 10 years confirms that while the technological diversity of the SKP has a positive impact on the originator's innovation, the technological overlap of the SKP relative to the originator's knowledge has a negative impact. Furthermore, technological alliances enhance the positive effect of technological diversity while exacerbating the adverse effects of technological overlap. This study contributes to the literature on knowledge spillover, particularly within the knowledge-based view of firms, by providing a balanced perspective that addresses the dual impact of knowledge spillover on originator firms. Furthermore, this research highlights the contingent effects of knowledge spillover by examining the interplay between spillover phenomena and strategic factors, specifically technological alliances. The findings have concrete managerial and policy implications conducive to enhancing firms’ innovation performance in the context of knowledge spillover.

Establishing New Links Between HRM Practices and Knowledge Workers’ Retention in Healthcare Sector: Knowledge Sharing Generating Moderating Effects

Knowledge sharing is the fundamental measure through which knowledge workers can significantly contribute to innovation and eventually the competitive advantage of the organization. Drawing upon the knowledge-based view of firms, the present study aims to examine the moderating role of knowledge sharing on the relationship between HRM practices and knowledge workers’ retention in the healthcare sector. After the COVID impact, healthcare knowledge workers have become a point for wide scholarly discussion and appropriate HRM practices should be implemented to amplify their probability of a longer stay in the organization. Hence, this research has incorporated PLS-SEM for empirical investigation which is based on prior discussions with some healthcare experts. The results propagate that knowledge sharing moderates HRM practices-retention linkage except training and development which is found to be statistically insignificant. The empirical evidence generated could be crucial for researchers and practitioners within the healthcare sector, thereby, extending assistance in establishing world-wide recognition.

The moderating role of design innovation in the relationship between technology complexity and firm performance

ABSTRACT In today’s highly competitive markets, firms can no longer ensure competitive advantage through the development of highly complex technologies or differentiation based solely on technological and functional factors. Simultaneously, there is growing recognition that design and aesthetic factors can contribute to firms’ competitive advantage. Hence, this study examines the relationship between technology complexity, design innovation, and firm performance to uncover the role of design innovation in exploiting complex technologies. Our main hypothesis is that design innovation positively moderates the negative effect that technology complexity has on firm performance. We used a unique dataset that aggregates all patent data published by US-headquartered publicly-traded firms to the parent company level. We combined this dataset with the Computat and PATSTAT databases based on their matching firm identifier. Focusing on 1,743 firms from 1980 to 2015, the results support our hypotheses. This study contributes to the resource-based view of firms by recognising design as a strategic resource that firms can utilise to gain a competitive advantage, especially in the presence of high technology complexity.

The inverted U-shaped association between digital economy and corporate total factor productivity: A knowledge-based perspective

This study aims to explore the association between the digital economy (DE) and corporate total factor productivity (TFP), as well as to analyzing the potential moderating influence of industry environment. The sample comprises Chinese A-share listed manufacturing enterprises, and the analysis utilizes the knowledge-based view of firms. The results reveal an inverted U-shaped association between the digital economy and corporate total factor productivity, with the industry environment playing a moderating role in this association. Specifically, the inverted U-shaped association is flatter in industries with higher levels of munificence and dynamism, while it is steeper in the higher complexity industries. These findings underscore the impact of the digital economy on firm productivity and provide guidance on how to effectively utilize the digital economy to improve productivity and competitiveness under different industry environments.

Adaptive governance and resilience of global value chains: A framework for sustaining the performance of developing-country suppliers during exogenous shocks

We draw from the composition-based view of firms to develop and test a framework of the influence of adaptive governance and resilience on the performance of a sample (n = 292) of Bangladeshi suppliers embedded in apparel global value chains (GVCs) at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results confirm that adaptive governance provides the necessary conditions for suppliers to strengthen their resilience and sustain their performance during exogenous shocks. Results also show that suppliers disruption orientation and resource reconfiguration capabilities play important contingency roles on the extent to which resilience transforms adaptive governance into performance. The implications of our findings and directions for future research on GVC governance and performance in the context of exogenous shocks are fully discussed.

A Systematic Review of Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities of Firms and Future Research Avenues

A Systematic Review of Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities of Firms and Future Research Avenues

Resource configurations among digital academic spin-offs: finding the technology-market fit

PurposeManaging resources is crucial for firms to gain competitive advantages and succeed, particularly for startups with limited resources. It is important to understand how digital startups in general and digital academic spin-offs (ASOs) in particular may orchestrate their resources to optimize value. This paper integrates the resource-based perspective with digital entrepreneurship to analyze the resource configurations leading to success of digital ASOs.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts an inductive approach and applies qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) on a longitudinal dataset of digital ASOs to identify the resource configurations for a successful outcome.FindingsThe authors' paper identifies two main paths to success among digital ASOs, consisting of five distinct resource configurations. The first path is termed “market exploiters” that operate in favorable market conditions where specific technological resources and research collaboration resources are lacking. The second path involves “technology explorers” that combines both technological and commercial resources to achieve success.Research limitations/implicationsBy outlining distinct pathways to the success of digital ASOs, this paper contributes to the digital academic entrepreneurship literature and the resource-based view of entrepreneurial firms. The paper also suggests implications for policymakers and managers in managing resources for the success of digital ventures.Originality/valueBy exploring the resource configurations leading to the success of ASOs commercializing digital technologies, the paper shows that favorable market conditions and complementary resource configurations can be alternative pathways to success.

GREEN INNOVATION LAUNCH VERSUS EXPANSION: DO THE PUBLIC POLICY SUPPORTS NEEDED VARY BY FIRM SIZE?

Green innovation is garnering increasing attention in business, academic and policy circles as a route to sustainable growth and development. Governments have introduced a range of policies to encourage and enable firms to introduce and expand their offerings of environmental friendly goods and services. While environmental regulation has been shown to be an important driver of green innovation, little is known about whether other types of polices, such as financial incentives, technical and marketing supports, and assistance with identifying potential markets, are important to firms of all sizes at different stages of the green innovation process (i.e., at product/service launch vs. product/service expansion). Using data from the European Commission, the results show that policy support to identify markets or customers is deemed important by firms of all sizes to introduce green goods and services. However, this support is no longer perceived as important to expand firms’ green portfolio. This suggests firms capitalise by using their existing markets or customers. The results do not lend support to the view of small firms as the most resource constrained and hence needing the greatest policy supports. Overall, the results point to the need for a variety of policy supports targeted at (1) firms of different sizes and (2) by stage of the green innovation process.

Finance, technology, and values: A configurational approach to the analysis of rural entrepreneurship

The analysis of rural entrepreneurship (RE) at the local level requires further development. Its multidimensional nature demands theoretical and methodological approaches to navigate the complex and asymmetrical relationships that could exist between different conditioning factors. Analyses of specific contexts are also attractive for extracting more meaningful conclusions. This study takes the development of a specific type of religious tourism as reference context for the analysis of RE. Pilgrimage has shown a renewed capacity to mobilize people moved both by religious and secular motives in an interplay of values related to religion, nature, and culture. Some financial and technological factors are also relevant in this context. Integrating the Resource-Based View of firms and Resource Dependence Theory, and a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, different combinations of conditions representing values, finance, and technology are derived to explain high and low levels of entrepreneurship in two subsamples of rural municipalities. The results are relevant to preventing policymakers, researchers, and practitioners from making oversimplifying assumptions when analyzing RE. Investigating single factors in isolation lacks thoroughness, as relevant interdependencies exist between resources and agents that must be considered, which lead to diverse combinations of factors that can positively contribute to RE.

The role of Fintech in circular economy practices to improve sustainability performance: a two-staged SEM-ANN approach.

Coupling the practice-based view (PBV) of firms with dynamic capabilities theory (DCT), we assess the effect of Fintech adoption (FA) on organizational sustainability performance (SP) through circular economy practices (CEP). Additionally, this research examines the moderating roles of a firm's access to finance (AF) and absorptive capacity (AC) in the interplays between the constructs. Three hundred responses were collected from Bangladeshi manufacturing SMEs using a structured questionnaire. We examined our conceptual model using a two-staged structural equation modeling-artificial neural network (SEM-ANN) approach. The empirical findings unveiled that Fintech adoption significantly drives organizational CEP and SP and that CEP acts as a mediator between the FA and SP linkage. Furthermore, the findings also confirmed the moderating effect of AF on the FA and CEP association and the impact of AC on the CEP and SP association. Hence, this scholarship adds pivotal insights to the extant literature by establishing the roles of multiple mediators and moderators in the interplay of FA and firms' SP. Given the paucity of primary-data-based research, this empirical study addresses the gaps in the Fintech, CE, and sustainability literature and yields crucial implications for theory and practice.

The Firm as a Subsociety: Purpose, Justice, and the Theory of the Firm

Research in the “theory of the firm” tradition has often characterized firms as subeconomies, in which economic exchange is shaped by a central authority. We propose an expanded view of firms as subsocieties, in which authority is also responsible for establishing principles that shape cooperation among members. We draw on insights from political theory, sociology, and, to a lesser degree, legal theory to discuss how employees become members of subsocieties by exchanging rights, such as formal control over their work, for the benefits of membership. With this rights exchange, subsociety members develop expectations that those in positions of authority will use their control to define and sustain principles of justice and common purpose consistent with members’ moral sentiments. This view suggests expanded roles for authority and firm boundaries from what are incorporated into standard theories of the firm. These expanded roles have implications both for internal governance and for the boundary itself: When considering boundary changes, leaders must weigh both the economic and the social consequences of their decision. Funding: C. Gartenberg recognizes financial support from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. T. Zenger recognizes the financial support of the Eccles School at the University of Utah.

Marketing resources, competitive advantage, and marketing performance: a modified TISM and MICMAC approach

ABSTRACT Market-based resources and marketing capabilities are considered the critical elements of competitive advantage in a marketplace. However, extant literature is scant in identifying market-based resources and defining inter-linkages among them. We address this research gap with the help of the M-TISM (Modified Total Interpretive Structural Modelling) methodology. M-TISM establishes a hierarchical framework that integrates a wide range of marketing resources to explain their influence in leading competitive advantage and superior marketing performance. The study follows a systematic review approach to identify the critical factors and their inter-relationships. Considering the Resource-based View (RBV) of firms, a total of nine factors have been utilized to create the M-TISM model. The results suggest that market orientation and managerial capabilities have high driving power. Therefore, they are positioned at the lowest level of the hierarchy. Marketing performance was placed at the topmost level of the hierarchy because it has a high dependence power. However, no linkage factor has been found in our MICMAC analysis.

Digital services and competitive advantage: Strengthening the links between RBV, KBV, and innovation

Research into the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Knowledge-Based View (KBV) of firms has evolved over the last 30 years from being focused on the control of physical resources, through knowledge-based digital resources, to innovation. This paper considers a service perspective of RBV-KBV to help explain differences in the competitive advantage attributable to digital and physical resources. Such an understanding helps explain the evolution of RBV-KBV research over the last 30 years and strengthens the links between the established research themes of RBV, KBV, and innovation. Competitive advantage can be created and retained through digital resources but sustainable competitive advantage for digital service firms relies on those physical resources that provide the dynamic capabilities to innovate, and so continually develop the digital resources.

Reconstructing firm-level interactions in the Dutch input–output network from production constraints

Recent crises have shown that the knowledge of the structure of input–output networks, at the firm level, is crucial when studying economic resilience from the microscopic point of view of firms that try to rewire their connections under supply and demand constraints. Unfortunately, empirical inter-firm network data are protected by confidentiality, hence rarely accessible. The available methods for network reconstruction from partial information treat all pairs of nodes as potentially interacting, thereby overestimating the rewiring capabilities of the system and the implied resilience. Here, we use two big data sets of transactions in the Netherlands to represent a large portion of the Dutch inter-firm network and document its properties. We, then, introduce a generalized maximum-entropy reconstruction method that preserves the production function of each firm in the data, i.e. the input and output flows of each node for each product type. We confirm that the new method becomes increasingly more reliable in reconstructing the empirical network as a finer product resolution is considered and can, therefore, be used as a realistic generative model of inter-firm networks with fine production constraints. Moreover, the likelihood of the model directly enumerates the number of alternative network configurations that leave each firm in its current production state, thereby estimating the reduction in the rewiring capability of the system implied by the observed input–output constraints.

Corporate sustainability and firm performance in small and medium enterprises in Ghana: Mediating role of green innovation

This study examined green innovation influences on the relationship between business organisation corporate sustainability and its performance related to market share, profitability, and market positioning. Participants (n = 432) were from the hospitality (n = 138), agribusiness (n = 74), manufacturing (n = 105) and professional services (n = 115) industries of Ghana (female = 38%; mean age = 34.6 years, SD = 0.897 years, age range = 18–60 years). Data analysis using partial least square structural equation modelling indicated environmental, social, and economic sustainability were associated with firm market performance through the offering of value-added green products and services that satisfy market needs, demands, and expectations. Green innovation practices of the organisation had an indirect effect on the relationship between corporate sustainability practices and firm performance through the conversion and utilisation of novel green knowledge and resources to commercialise new improved green products and services. The findings offer support for the natural resource-based view of firms’ competitive edge using eco-innovation for sustainable market and operational performance.

The role of knowledge management processes in leveraging competitive strategies to achieve firm innovativeness

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the role of knowledge management (KM) processes in enhancing competitive strategies of differentiation and cost-effectiveness and its impact on innovativeness in knowledge-intensive service organizations (KISOs) in India.Design/methodology/approachThis study collected data from 293 employees working in Indian KISOs through a questionnaire survey. After checking for reliability and validity of data, this study tested the hypotheses by structural equation modeling using AMOS 26.FindingsThe results show that KM processes have a significant and positive relationship with competitive strategy and innovativeness. Competitive strategy partially mediates the relationship between KM processes and innovativeness. These KM processes promote differentiation and cost-effectiveness, which in turn enhances innovativeness. A differentiation strategy has a stronger positive relationship with KM processes and innovativeness than a cost-effective strategy.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's cross-sectional design limits its ability to establish a general cause–effect relationship. Even so, theoretically, the results corroborate the contingent view of KM in emerging economies such as India. The findings show the mediating role of competitive strategy on the relationship between KM and its processes with innovation and competitiveness – providing a better cost-effectiveness relationship and organizational differentiation capacity.Practical implicationsThis study suggests managers to adopt KM processes such as creation-sharing, acquisition and knowledge base enabling firms to be different and cost-effective than their competitors. This study provides evidence on how KISOs can leverage their innovativeness by using KM processes in congruence with its competitive strategy and gain competitive advantage.Social implicationsThis study emphasizes the development of KM processes in the management of KISOs, which contributes substantially to India’s economic growth via Gross domestic product and employment. On the social side, this study suggests to manage cultural issues in KM processes, arising because of presence of multi-cultural workforce and a high-power distance society.Originality/valueThis study bridges a research gap of previous studies providing empirical evidence regarding the mediating effect of competitive strategies in the relationship between KM processes and innovativeness. This study adds proof to the KM contingency view of firms, suggesting when KM processes are formulated to achieve competitive strategy; substantial benefits such as innovativeness can be realized. This study adds evidence from the emerging economy of India, where KISOs are increasingly creating value and employment.

The View of IT-Consuming Firms on the Key Digital Service Capabilities of IT-Producing Firms

Aim/Purpose: This study focuses on the connection between IT-producing firms’ digital service capabilities and the digital service performance of IT-consuming firms, especially online shop operators. Background: The acquisition and integration of knowledge regarding digital service capabilities and performance can increase the level at which employees assimilate information, organize with IT-consuming firms, and cooperate with them to develop the delivery of services and customize services to fill their needs. Exploring capabilities that may enable this process is a prerequisite for all businesses offering digital services and, thus, an engrossing and ongoing interest of practitioners and scholars. However, there is a lack of research on the relationship between IT-producing firms’ digital service capabilities and the digital service performance of IT-consuming firms in the business-to-business (B2B) context. Methodology: The study builds on a survey conducted among small firms that have an online shop in use and are located in Finland. Contribution: The study offers empirical evidence for the capabilities valued by IT-consuming firms, providing a model for IT-producing firms to use when deciding on a future focus. The study was executed in a B2B setting from the viewpoint of online shop operators, presenting a novel understanding of influential digital service capabilities. Findings: Adaptability, determined by capabilities related to utilizing information gained via the integration of a digital product into other digital tools (e.g., marketing, personalization, and analytics), statistically significantly affects all three aspects of an IT-consuming firm’s digital service performance (financial, operational, and sales). Another product capability, availability, which includes aspects such as security, different aspects of functioning, and mobile adaptation, affects one aspect of digital performance, namely operational. The results also suggest that the role of service process-related capabilities in determining service comprehensiveness significantly influences two aspects of IT-consuming firms’ digital service performance: financial (negative effect) and operational (positive effect). The results show that the capabilities associated with the relationship between the producing firm and the consuming firm do not affect IT-consuming firms’ performance to the same extent. Recommendations for Practitioners: The study results suggest that IT-producing firms should concentrate on leveraging service comprehensiveness, as there has been a shift in the B2B context from merely selling a digital product and associated services. It seems that usability-related issues are now taken for granted, and the emphasis is on features that support the use of information to create value. Recommendation for Researchers: The results contribute to the capabilities literature by showing that the shift in focus from technical product-related capabilities to relationship-related capabilities is not yet evident among small online store operators. Impact on Society: In addition to offering tools with different integration possibilities, supporting IT-consuming firms in making the most of the possibilities would be very helpful. Future Research: The comprehension of the relationship between digital service capabilities and digital service performance would benefit from future research that takes into account additional control variables. The theoretical model of this study can be further studied by using other performance measures, such as market performance, as dependent variables.

Linking corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and organizational performance in the construction industry: A resource collaboration network

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been touted as an important agenda among construction practitioners. Hitherto, the nexus between CSR and organizational performance is still a lack of investigation in the CSR in construction knowledge. This study explores the capabilities of various CSR practices toward achieving productive business benefits among construction firms. Firstly, a two-stage variable formulation procedure results in a list of practices and the perceived benefits of CSR. Then, we collected data from ninety extra-grade construction firms through an online questionnaire survey and analyzed data using a two-mode social network analysis approach. The results of the centrality analysis show that, with the highest centrality scores in the network, (i) the most influential CSR practices include such as “implement safety production management system” and “constrain consumption of materials and reduce material waste”; and (ii) the top key perceived benefits of CSR include such as “local and overseas business opportunities,” “brand, image, and reputation,” and “reduction of supply risk of building materials.” The developed CSR practice-perceived benefit network presents a core-periphery structure, with 26 practices and five perceived benefits situate in the core positions and have intensive relationships. Drawing upon the integrated stakeholder theory and the contingency resource-based view of firms, the demystified novel CSR resource collaboration network enriches the theoretical discourses of CSR by recognizing stakeholder salience and the need for relationship management. Practically, the findings of this study provide a helpful reference for practitioners to collaborate corporate resources, optimize their current CSR strategies, and improve business performance for sustainable development.

Place-specific product relatedness and the environmental performance of non-polluting exports in China.

Does the growth of non-polluting exports lead to better environmental performance? The answer depends on how these exports rest on local comparative advantages. The more exports rely on polluting inputs, the worse their environmental performance would be. In practice, it is difficult to directly measure the polluting inputs for exporting products at the local level. This study proposes an approach to measure the reliance of exports on local polluting inputs, based on the product relatedness theories and the resource-based view of firms. This approach applies the locational quotient to indicate local resource advantages. Then, it uses the co-occurrence probability to measure the product relatedness of one export to local resource advantages. Finally, it distinguishes the product relatedness to polluting resource advantages from non-polluting ones. A higher level of polluting product relatedness is expected to depress the environmental performance of exports. Using 30 sectors in 281 Chinese cities as a case, this study applies the fixed effect model and the threshold regression model to examine the effects of product relatedness on environmental performance. Empirical results support the efficiency of using product relatedness to predict the environmental performance of exports. A higher level of polluting product relatedness leads to poorer environmental performance and more adverse effects of export growth on the environment.

How and when does relational governance impact lead-time performance of developing-country suppliers in global value chains?

PurposeThis study aims to integrate social capital theory and the knowledge-based view of firms to develop and test a theoretical framework of the mechanisms that explain the influence of relational governance (RG) on lead-time performance (LTP) of developing-country suppliers in global value chains (GVCs). The authors distinguish between the relational and structural dimensions of RG to explain how they interact to create knowledge and leaning opportunities that transform into performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses were tested using data collected from a sample of 321 Bangladeshi suppliers embedded in apparel GVCs by using structural equation modeling.FindingsRG creates knowledge and learning opportunities that transform into LTP. Relationship quality (RQ) is found to contribute positively to knowledge learned (KL) contingent on relationship structure. KL is found to fully mediate the influence of buyer-supplier RQ on LTP of suppliers.Research limitations/implicationsThe dyadic nature of buyer-supplier interactions calls for multisource approaches in measuring buyer-supplier RQ. The authors also recommend future research to test the model in other industries for greater generalizability.Practical implicationsDeveloping-country suppliers in low-technology labor-intensive GVCs can improve their LTP by strengthening their capabilities for internalizing external knowledge and developing and maintaining high quality relationships with wide networks of buyers.Originality/valueThe conceptualization of RG that explicitly distinguishes between the relational and structural dimensions is novel and should inspire future theoretical and empirical research on GVC governance and performance.