2,203 research outputs found
The Effects of Enterprise Systems on the Absorptive Capacity of Greek Firms
In the highly dynamic, competitive, complex and âknowledge intensiveâ modern economy the exploitation and management of external knowledge has become of critical importance for the success of firms, and this has led to increasing interest of both researchers and practitioners in the concept of firmâs absorptive capacity (ACAP). It has been recognized that information and communication technologies (ICT) can be quite useful for the improvement of firmsâ ACAP. Some empirical research has been conducted in this direction, which however has not examined the role from this perspective of the most important ICT investments of firms: the different types of enterprise systems (ES) implemented by firms increasingly, which become critical infrastructures of their operation. This paper contributes to filling this research gap, by presenting an empirical investigation of the effects of the five most important and widely used types of enterprise systems (ERP, CRM, SCM, business intelligence/business analytics and collaboration support systems) on the ACAP of Greek firms. It is based on data collected through a survey from 122 Greek firms from both manufacturing and services sectors, which are used for the estimation of regression models of firmâs ACAP. It has been concluded that the use of three of the above types of ES, the ERP, the CRM and the business intelligence/business analytics ones, have positive effects on firmâs ACAP, which concern mainly two of its dimensions: the internal diffusion and analysis of external knowledge, and also the assimilation/integration in the knowledge base of the firm
Capacity-building barriers to S3 implementation: an empirical framework for catch-up regions
In this paper, we investigate the implementation challenge of Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) in catch-up regional environments, through the lens of capacity building. We analyse capacity building at two levels: micro-level (individual organisations) and meso-level (regional inter-organisational networks). We use empirical evidence from 50 interviews conducted in the period 2015â2017 from two Greek regions dramatically hit by the economic crisis (Crete and Central Macedonia). We argue that in the Cretan and Central Macedonian context, the difficulty of implementing S3 is directly linked with firmsâ lack of adsorptive capability to exploit university-generated knowledge, university knowledge that is too abstract for firmâs to easily acquire, as well as to the capability of regional actors to build inter-organisational networking that fits their strategic needs
Social Media and Absorptive Capacity of Greek Government Agencies
As the external environment of most organizations becomes increasingly dynamic and complex, the exploitation and management of external knowledge becomes of critical importance for their success. This has led to a growing interest of both researchers and practitioners in the study of their absorptive capacity (ACAP). However, the research that has been conducted in this area has focused on the private sector, while there is a lack of similar research for the public sector. This paper contributes to filling this research gap, by investigating the use of social media (SM) in the public sector from the ACAP perspective, examining to what extent SM are used by Greek government agencies for the enhancement of their ACAP. It has been based on interviews with the SM managers of ten Greek government agencies from the central, regional and municipal government. It is concluded that in the examined government agencies SM are used only to a small extent for enhancing their ACAP, making limited exploitation of the potential that SM have for this purpose. In particular, SM are used to some extent for enhancing one of the components of ACAP, the ability for external exploratory learning, but not at all for enhancing the other two critical components of it: the abilities for transformative and exploitative learning
Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns
Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse
R&D collaborations: Is diversity enhancing innovation performance?
We develop a theoretical framework which builds on the existence of a feedback loop relationship between internal innovation efforts and the diversity of types of R&D collaborations. Such a feedback loop allows for decomposing the total effects of both internal and external knowledge sources on innovation performance in direct and indirect effects. We argue that such feedback loop lies in the heart of the interplay between the benefits and costs associated with generating knowledge internally and accessing knowledge from diverse external knowledge sources. In particular we argue that anticipated benefits from accessing knowledge from diverse external knowledge sources may be outweighed by (i) costs associated with accessing increasingly diverse knowledge through collaboration and (ii) a negative network effect on firms' internal innovation efforts. We employ Structural Equation Modelling on a bespoke dataset of Greek R&D active manufacturing firms; empirical results confirm the existence of an idiosyncratic feedback loop relationship and show that internal innovation efforts positively influence firm innovation performance. On the other hand, diversity in external collaborations has a negative impact on internal innovation efforts, elevating the importance of the optimal balance between internal R&D investments and the diversity of R&D collaborations. The same picture emerges when examining the corresponding direct and indirect effects of internal and external knowledge sources on innovation performance
The impact of timing in innovation management
vital:17103An innovative idea launched in the wrong place at the wrong time may not deliver the outcomes hoped for. Based on 55 empirical studies, Bowen, Rostami and Steel (2010) suggest âtiming is everythingâ if innovation is to enhance organisational performance, but there is also a need to understand contextual factors. The paper presents a theoretical model representing the interaction of idea, place, resources and temporal factors that draws on the Ancient Greek notion of Kairos linking events in time and timely action. Longitudinal studies of four intermediary organisations intended to enhance SME innovation capabilities are compared at different stages in their evolution. The cases highlight the context-sensitive nature of innovation: an idea that has been successfully implemented in one place at one time may not be successful at another place or another time
The Measurement of Absorptive Capacity from an Economics Perspective: Definition, Measurement and Importance
This paper starts by recognizing that despite the importance of absorptive capacity, economists in particular have made only limited use of the concept. Most theoretical and empirical studies derive from other fields of research. Thus, the first task is to compare and contrast the different approaches taken in measuring absorptive capacity. The rest of the paper then sets out an example of how typically economists have proceeded, using nationally representative CIS data to measure absorptive capacity across a 10âyear period and investigating if it remains stable in the long term. This is followed by considering how firmsâ characteristics vary across lower to higher levels of absorptive capacity and whether such capacity determines firmsâ productivity performance across both goods and service industries. Our results show that relative to other influences, absorptive capacity as measured here â net of the impact of foreignâownership and human capital â has a substantial influence on exporting, innovation and undertaking R&D and thus consequently firmâlevel productivity. Finally, there is a discussion of why governments should consider helping firms to boost their levels of absorptive capacity
Hard And Soft ICT Capital And Cloud Computing Benefits
The Cloud Computing (CC) is a new innovative model of sourcing the information and communication technologies (ICT) services required by firms for supporting their activities, so it is necessary to investigate the level of benefits that CC offers to firms, as well as their determinants. However, limited empirical research has been conducted in this direction. Our paper contributes to filling this research gap. It formulates a set of research hypotheses concerning the effects of firmâs âhard ICT capitalâ, and also some types of firmâs âsoft ICT capitalâ, on the benefits offered by CC, having as theoretical foundation the âresource-based viewâ theory. These research hypotheses are tested using data collected through a survey from 115 Greek firms, from which CC benefits regression models are estimated. It has been concluded that the sophistication of firmâs ICT infrastructure (an overall measure of firmâs hard ICT capital) has a positive impact on CC benefits. Furthermore, three of the examined types of soft ICT capital have been found to impact positively CC benefits: the information systems (IS) inter- connection/integration capability, the ICT strategic planning and alignment capability, and the internal relationship between firmâs ICT unit and business units. Our findings reveal some aspects of firmâs ICT capital that affect the generation of value from this new innovative CC paradigm, which can be useful to CC service providers, and also management and ICT firmsâ practitioners and consultant
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