Search results for "KNOWLEDGE"
showing 10 items of 3108 documents
How to create international business competences and their impact on firm performance
2014
[EN] This work aims to analyse the effect of the holistic view, continuous learning and information technology infrastructure on the creation of international business competences. The study also investigates whether the creation of this type of competence significantly affects firm performance using the structural equation modelling method of hypothesis testing. A survey of 257 companies from the biotechnology and telecommunications industries verifies the mediating role of international business competences. These findings suggest that managers should emphasise the creation of a holistic view, promote continuous learning and improve the information technology infrastructure in order to de…
The role of entrepreneurs in transferring knowledge through human resource management and joint venture
2011
PurposeThe transfer of knowledge is a source of competitive advantage, and in particular, transfer between organisations through cooperation between firms via a joint venture. This paper aims to discuss some of the issuesDesign/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were contrasted via a structural equation model using a sample of 74 firms, 51 of which were Spanish and 23 from the rest of the world, which had recently cooperated.FindingsThe authors address the question of the positive influence of employees on knowledge transfer. They do not influence the process. Second, the authors propose the influence of intermediate management on knowledge transfer. These managers play a very relevant role…
Key levels for knowledge creation and management: which is the ontological locus for learning in Spanish manufacturing firms?
2013
This paper aims to highlight two core issues related to knowledge management and organisational learning. First deals with the ontological support-knowledge creation relationship. Secondly, the comparison between Crossan et al. (1999) and Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) models: on what ontological supports knowledge is created? Individuals, groups and organisation: are they independent or do they interact with each other? Is individual level swallowed up by the group [as Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) seems to suggest], leading to groups and organisation as unique ontological levels? The empirical study draws those ontological levels in large manufacturing Spanish firms. It identifies (via explorato…
High involvement work practices and firm performance
2009
During the past two decades the chain of three links organizational strategy – human resources practices – organizational performance has been deeply analysed. However, the mediator role of organizational structure in the first link of this chain remains relatively uninvestigated. In this article we analyse a model of relationships among organizational strategy, organizational structure, human resources practices, and organizational performance. Through a structural equation methodology applied to a sample of 183 Spanish companies, we will try to confirm that organizations with differentiation strategies are more likely to implement high involvement work practices. As a novelty we will intr…
Towards a methodology to assess organizational learning capability
2011
PurposeThe present study aims to revalidate a measurement scale for organizational learning capability in the context of university faculty members. This is a particularly relevant context because it deals with knowledge‐intensive services. Following Chiva et al., organizational learning capability was conceptualized as a second factor construct including five dimensions: experimentation, risk taking, interaction with the external environment, dialogue and participative decision making.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, a leading university in Costa Rica. The survey was addressed to faculty members. A total of 795 valid questionnaire…
Measuring organisational learning capability among the workforce
2007
PurposeThe present study sets out to propose and validate a measurement scale that aims to capture the organisational capability to learn, based on a comprehensive analysis of the facilitating factors for learning. The organisational learning capability scale consists of 14 items grouped into five dimensions: experimentation, risk taking, interaction with the external environment, dialogue, and participative decision making.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from eight Spanish ceramic tile manufacturers. The survey was addressed to shop floor workers. A total of 157 valid questionnaires were obtained, representing a response rate of 61 per cent. Using confirmatory factor analysi…
Differentiation in knowledge‐creating organizations
2007
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the analysis of the influence of organizational design variables on the creation of knowledge within the organization. The impact that enablers have on knowledge creation has been widely demonstrated and established in the relevant literature. Using this assumption as a starting‐point, the main aim of this study is to consider and explore the role of differentiation – horizontal and vertical – in knowledge creation using enablers as mediator variables.Design/methodology/approachThe paper has created a model of relations of the design variables that correspond to differentiation – horizontal job specialization, vertical job specialization and n…
Integrating theory and practice? Employees’ and students’ experiences of learning at work
2003
The integration of theory and practice has been recognised as one of the key questions in the development of professional expertise and vocational competence. In this study the question of how theory and practice meet each other during professional development was approached from the point of view of two different groups of learners: employees with varying length of work experience and university students taking a working life project course. Altogether 18 employees and 51 students were interviewed, after which transcribed interviews were qualitatively categorised. The opinions expressed by the informants indicate that work‐based learning is not a unified phenomenon but varies in different …
Experience, competence and workplace learning
2006
PurposeThis paper aims to examine employees' conceptions of the meaning of experience in job‐competence and its development in workplace context. The aim is to bring out the variety of conceptions related to experience, competence and workplace learning.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on interview data from six Finnish small and medium sized enterprises. The data were collected as a part of a larger European Union research project, Working Life Changes and Training of Older Workers (WORKTOW) during spring 1999. The approach chosen for the analysis presented in this paper was phenomenography.FindingsThe findings in the paper show the importance accorded to experience in compete…
Boosting organizational learning through team-based talent management: what is the evidence from large Spanish firms?
2013
Talent management (TM) can crucially help optimize organizational learning (OL) processes. The aim of this article is to study whether certain TM practices related to teamwork design and dynamics stimulate and develop learning (i.e. knowledge creation) processes within the organization and across the different ontological levels (individual, group and organizational–institutional). A model linking team-based TM and OL is tested in a sample of large Spanish companies. Our empirical results emphasize the distinction between individual–group and institutional levels of learning as the two pillars of OL. The results also highlight the role of team autonomy and creativity as crucial factors for …