EXPLORING CALL CENTER ENABLED MECHANISMS FOR FIRM\u27S COMBINATIVE CAPABILITIES

The knowledge mechanisms of call centers have been emphasized by many pervious studies. Yet there is little empirical research that examines the call centers\u27 influence on firms\u27 combinative capabilities. To address this gap, this study examines call center enabled organizational mechanisms that contribute to the firms\u27 combinative capabilities. The study identifies differential effects from three types of combinative capabilities including system capabilities, coordination capabilities, and socialization capabilities. Through in-depth case studies of four Taiwanese call centers, this study finds seven organizational mechanisms including centralized information deployment and knowledge encapsulation, institution changing and foolproof, information hub and relationship management, decision making ladder, training center, network configuration, and job embeddedness . The findings provide practical implications to industry managers engaged in call center implementations from a combinative capabilities perspective. Future research directions are also discussed

Internationalization in the information age: a new era for places, firms and international business networks?

The new techno-economic paradigm of the information age has brought about new structures and processes in international business (IB). In this article, we examine the changing nature of the competitive advantages of places, the competitive advantages and strategies of firms, and the governance structure of IB networks in what has also been called the third industrial revolution. These three areas of change in IB activities can be mapped respectively to the location (L), ownership (O) and internalization (I) advantages of the eclectic paradigm. We interpret these OLI factors as dynamic constructs in order to depict analytically the shifts in the IB environment and their implications for IB

Dynamics and architectures of innovation systems

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-103).Innovation processes are multifaceted. Different studies usually focus on different facets of innovations without being integrated into a complete innovation system. In this thesis, system dynamics and system architecture approaches are adopted to integrate different studies in innovations and to develop a more holistic view of innovation systems. Three key elements, knowledge diversity, spatial proximity, and strategic relatedness, are found to be fundamental to innovations after analyzing and comparing different studies. However, these three factors derived from resource-based view and knowledge-based view do not seem sufficient to explain the evolutionary behaviors of innovations. Therefore, another two factors, mutation mechanisms and dynamic capabilities, are proposed to supplement the original three factors in the analysis of innovation systems.by Po Chia Chen.S.M.in Engineering and Managemen

Revitalising the Outsourcing Discourse within the Boundaries of Firms Debate

Despite outsourcing has been at the core of managerial practice and literature for a long time, still authors do not agree on a clear understanding of the overall outsourcing process. This article answers two main questions, relevant to researchers and practitioners: 1.What are the main findings so far in outsourcing literature? 2. What do we still need to learn? Through a comprehensive review of the literature, we offer systematization of the existent body of knowledge on outsourcing, its implications on firms’ boundaries, and the theoretical challenges. In conclusion, implications for managers are drawn

What Makes Firms Innovative? The Role of External Social Networks and Internal Knowledge Capabilities for Innovation Success

In this PhD thesis the question “What makes firms innovative?” is evaluated. In particular, the thesis investigates the differential impact of inter-organizational social networks comprising various different corporate partners on the knowledge stock of a company, evaluates how and to what extent internal knowledge capabilities contribute to innovation success, and scrutinizes how both inter-organizational social networks and internal knowledge capabilities interact and thereby affect innovation success. Therefore, the thesis combines the social capital theory and the concept of absorptive capacity on an organizational level and applies survey data from the German manufacturing industry. Among others, the thesis shows that, first, innovativeness of external partners is contagious, second, that besides customers especially R&D partners can be valuable sources of different types of knowledge, and, third, how the usage of knowledge management systems fosters innovation success. Thereby the results contribute not only to the innovation literature and, in particular, to the open innovation literature, but also to the research fields of inter-organizational knowledge transfer, absorptive capacity, and social capital theory.Diese Dissertation geht der Frage nach, was Firmen innovativ macht. Im Einzelnen untersucht die Arbeit a) die Beeinflussung des unternehmerischen Wissensstandes durch ein mehrere Partnertypen umfassendes interorganisationales Netzwerk, b) analysiert, wie und in welchem Ausmaß unternehmensinterne Wissensverarbeitungsfähigkeiten zur Generierung von Innovationserfolg beitragen und c) betrachtet, wie interorganisationale Netzwerke und unternehmensinterne Wissensverarbeitungsfähigkeiten zur Generierung von Innovationserfolg zusammenspielen. Dazu kombiniert diese Arbeit die Sozialkapitaltheorie mit dem Konzept der Aufnahme- und Umsetzungsfähigkeit und zieht einen empirisch-quantitativen Ansatz heran. Die Ergebnisse zeigen unter anderem, dass die Innovationsfähigkeit von externen Partnern eine ansteckende Wirkung aufweist, dass neben den Kunden speziell die Forschungs- und Entwicklungspartner eine wertvolle Wissensressource darstellen und wie der Einsatz von Wissensmanagementsystemen den Innovationserfolg steigert. Dadurch trägt die Arbeit nicht nur zur Innovationsforschung - und hier im Speziellen zur Open-Innovation Forschung - bei, sondern erweitert ferner die Forschung auf den Gebieten des inter-organisationalen Wissenstransfers, der Aufnahme- und Umsetzungsfähigkeit sowie der Sozialkapitaltheorie

How the Effects of IT Capability and Knowledge Capability on Organizational Agility are Contingent on Environmental Uncertainty and Information Intensity

Although the relationship of information technology (IT) capability and knowledge capability with organizational agility has been documented, limited information is available on the extent to which these two capabilities affect organizational agility. Attempts to understand the effect of IT and knowledge capability on organizational agility in the presence of contextual factors have also been few. Based on data collected from 123 organizations in China, we examine the moderating effects of two contextual factors (environmental uncertainty and information intensity) on the relationship of IT and knowledge capability with organizational agility. We contribute to current knowledge by showing that environmental uncertainty positively moderates the effects of IT capability and knowledge capability on organizational agility and that information intensity positively moderates the effects of knowledge capability on organizational agility. While we find that both IT and knowledge capabilities have positive effects on organizational agility, knowledge capability is more effective than IT capability

Aligning Performance Management Systems for Lasting Outcomes in Humanitarian Operations

Logistics is dynamic, expansive, and critical to organizational success. While it is generally believed that effective logistics management is associated with positive performance outcomes, the links between organizational practice and performance are understudied. This dissertation leverages resource-based theory and organizational learning theory to examine organizational practice and performance in non-traditional logistics settings, with particular focus on military organizations and humanitarian operational settings. First, a meta-analytical study establishes generalizable associations between various operations management practices and performance outcomes. Then, this is applied to dynamic humanitarian logistics settings, exploring how practitioners perceive practice and performance, and how this is reported and documented for organizational performance improvement. A cumulative case study provides actionable recommendations for humanitarian practitioners and insights into an understudied area of performance management and organizational learning, which are then examined in-depth in a humanitarian field exercise. This dissertation demonstrates the importance of deliberate resource alignment, collaboration and learning for lasting logistics operations management success

The Merits of Playing It by the Book: Routine versus Deliberate Learning and the Development of Dynamic Capabilities

In this study, we investigate the nature of dynamic capabilities and use a fine-grained measurement to test how centralization, routinization, and formalization relate to the underlying learning components of dynamic capabilities. We find that the effects of our three dimensions of managerial practices are broadly similar for almost all components of dynamic capabilities, and that only a few show a different pattern. Centralization and routinization are negatively related to dynamic capabilities, formalization is shown to have a significantly positive effect. We provide insights into the role of three dimensions of managerial practice by explaining variation among the learning components of dynamic capabilities. This has implications for the nature and development of dynamic capabilities as well as for the routine versus deliberate learning debate

Strategic IT Partnerships in Transformational Outsourcing as a Distinctive Source of IT Value: A Social Capital Perspective

Firms increasingly acquire needed information technology (IT) products and services from external sources through the formation of partnerships. In spite of the ubiquity of IT outsourcing practice in today's organizations however, theoretical understanding of IT partnerships in outsourcing is limited. Extant research has largely focused on the economic or strategic aspects of IT outsourcing, using transaction cost economics (TCE) and the resource-based view (RBV) as dominant theoretical frameworks. This dissertation adopts a social perspective to examine the IT outsourcing phenomenon. It focuses on IT partnerships in transformational outsourcing relationships that are interorganizational engagements formed to rapidly and substantially improve performance at the organizational level. By synthesizing the knowledge based view of the firm with the concept of social capital, I attempt to explain how IT outsourcing relationships generate value for organizations. I argue that IT outsourcing partnerships constitute a form of social capital for the firm that chooses to outsource, that facilitates knowledge exchange and transfer. The increased knowledge stock as a result of knowledge exchange and transfer, in turn, forms the foundation for IT value, which is manifested as success in business operations and IT-enabled innovation. To empirically test the theoretical model, I surveyed 151 client firms and 79 outsourcing service providers in China. Results suggest that both social capital and knowledge acquisition are crucial to the success of IT outsourcing. Evidence from the survey responses also indicates that different aspects of social capital play different roles in the process of IT value creation. Specifically, the structural dimension (partner resource endowment) and the cognitive dimension of social capital (shared vision and shared cognition) have a strong impact on knowledge acquisition; whereas the relational dimensions of social capital (social interaction and trust) has strong direct effects on successful outcomes of IT outsourcing. This study presented evidence that helps further our understanding of the IT outsourcing phenomenon through an alternative theoretical lens, and emphasizes the value other than immediate cost-related benefits that organizations may garner through IT outsourcing partnerships