Investigating innovation capability and organizational performance in service firms

In the service firm, innovation capability influences both financial and nonfinancial performance. It is crucial for businesses to address key challenges anticipated by the changes in socioeconomic and environmental issues. Innovation capability is largely seen as a vital source for generating sustainable competitive advantage. This article investigates the determinants of innovation capability and their relationship with organizational performance in the Jordanian banking sector

Distance to customers, absorptive capacity, and innovation in high-tech firms: the dark face of geographical proximity

This paper investigates the impact of both geographical and relational proximity on the innovative performance of the firm. We address the role of one firm characteristic—its absorptive capacity—as a specific contingency affecting the relationship between different proximities and innovation. Using data from 158 high-tech firms located in the Tiburtina Valley in Italy, we studied the relationship between these firms and their key customers. Our findings support the need to downplay the role of geographical proximity in promoting innovation. Our results also show that relational proximity to key customers has a complementary relationship with absorptive capacity, which positively moderates its influence on innovative performance

El rol mediador de la formación de la mano de obra entre la innovación y el rendimiento empresarial: evidencia en el sector farmacéutico alemán

JEL: O31, M539[EN] Purpose – The need for companies to become more innovative has never been greater, because innovation helps them deal with a turbulent environment by providing them a sustainable competitive advantage. In this sense, it has been generally accepted that a successful innovative environment requires a welltrained work force. Nevertheless, the literature showing how personnel training drives the innovationperformance relationship in industries where innovation is a key factor is scarce, especially in high-tech industries such as the pharmaceutical industry. Thus, we build upon existing studies to contribute to the innovation and training-related literature by considering the latter as a mediating variable between innovation and business performance. Hence, we aim to assess the impact of innovation on performance, and bring new insights into the innovation-performance link by including training as a variable that drives the aforementioned relationship. Design/methodology – We apply the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique to a sample of German pharmaceutical firms. The data were collected in mid-2014 by means of a computerassisted telephone interviewing (CATI) procedure. As a result, 200 valid responses were obtained from CEOs. Findings – First, this study demonstrates that both innovation and personnel training have a significant, positive impact on performance. Second, the results suggest that training personnel does indeed positively mediate the innovation-performance link. Hence, our study helps explain how innovation effectively translates into greater levels of performance. Originality / value – We answer calls to clarify about the innovation-personnel training relationship to generate greater levels of performance in turbulent environments. Furthermore, we assess this fact in the pharmaceutical industry, where paradoxically there is a lack of studies within the aforementioned framework.[ES] Objetivo – La necesidad de innovación que tienen hoy en día las empresas nunca fue mayor, dado que la innovación les ayuda a enfrentarse a entornos turbulentos, proporcionándoles una ventaja competitiva sostenible. En este sentido, la comunidad científica defiende que un entorno innovador exitoso necesita de una mano de obra bien formada. No obstante, existe un gap en la literatura a la hora de analizar cómo la formación de la mano de obra impulsa el efecto positivo de la innovación sobre el rendimiento empresarial en entornos donde la innovación es clave, sobre todo en sectores altamente tecnológicos como es el caso del sector farmacéutico. Basándonos en estudios previos, nos apoyamos en la literatura que estudia la innovación y la formación de la mano de obra y consideramos ésta última como una variable que media la relación innovación- rendimiento empresarial. Así, valoramos el impacto de la innovación sobre el rendimiento empresarial y adquirimos nuevas percepciones sobre la relación innovación-rendimiento empresarial incluyendo la formación como una variable que impulsa dicha relación. Diseño / metodología – Aplicamos una técnica de modelización de ecuaciones estructurales partial least squares (PLS-SEM) sobre una muestra de empresas farmacéuticas alemanas. Los datos fueron obtenidos a mediados del año 2014 por medio del procedimiento computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). Se obtuvieron 200 respuestas válidas de CEOs. Resultados – En primer lugar, el estudio demuestra que tanto la innovación como la formación de la mano de obra tienen un efecto positivo y significativo sobre el rendimiento empresarial. En segundo lugar, se demuestra que efectivamente la formación de la mano de obra tiene un efecto mediador sobre la relación innovación- resultados empresariales. Así, nuestro trabajo ayuda a explicar el mecanismo mediante el cual la innovación se transforma eficazmente en un mayor rendimiento empresarial. Originalidad / valor – Arrojamos luz sobre la relación innovación-formación de la mano de obra a la hora de generar altos niveles de resultados empresariales en entornos turbulentos. Además, analizamos esta circunstancia en el sector farmacéutico, un sector en el que paradójicamente existe una escasez de literatura científica en la materia.We are grateful to some colleagues and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and insights. We highly appreciate the financial support received from the Fundación Emilio Soldevilla para la Investigación y el Desarrollo en Economía de la Empresa (FESIDE) foundation and the Unidad de Formación e Investigación en Dirección Empresarial y Gobernanza Territorial y Social (UFI 11/51) research and training unit

Organisational Ambidexterity in SME Context: A Multi-Level Perspective Focused on Portuguese Technological Firms

The study of organisational ambidexterity (OA) has been an important field of research for management, especially because of the importance of this theme for the competitiveness of companies. In this sense, this doctoral thesis in Management has, as its main objective, to provide a better understanding of how OA can be developed in the context of Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). This study adopted a multilevel perspective, having explored a set of different paths implemented through five research articles: a literature review article, a theoretical article and three empirical articles. Thus, the first article is a literature review, and its main objective is to identify the factors that affect OA in SMEs. Based on 297 articles published between 2005 and 2020 in the Web of Science, Scopus and Science Direct databases, a multilevel perspective was adopted, covering the organisational, environmental, and individual levels. With this approach, four thematic areas were identified with which the OA investigation is related: innovation, organisational learning, dynamic capabilities, and SME performance. The main contribution of this research focuses on the identification of thematic areas of scientific research around OA, as well as the identification of a set of contingent factors, located at the organisational, environmental, and individual levels, which can potentially influence the development of OA in the context of SMEs. The second article sought to analyse the antecedents of OA considering the main characteristics of SMEs, such as their small size or their reduced internal structure. For this purpose, and based on the identified literature, an approach was adopted based on internal and external antecedents and what is its potential relationship with the characteristics of SMEs from the perspective of the exploration and exploitation concepts. Based on this relationship, ten theoretical propositions were identified. The third article is empirical in nature and adopts an individual-level perspective and aimed to analyse the influence of owner-managers' personality in the development of OA in the context of SMEs. For this purpose, five hypotheses based on personality traits and their influence on OA were formulated. A second-order structural equation model was used, and a structured questionnaire addressed to the owner-managers of 224 Portuguese SMEs in the information technology (IT), telecommunications, audio-visual and IT consulting. The results obtained suggest the positive influence of the personality traits of extraversion and conscientiousness in OA and the negative influence of the personality trait of neuroticism in OA. The fourth article is also empirical in nature and sought to study the influence of environmental dynamism and technological capability in OA and the moderating role of environmental dynamism in OA. With this objective, a second-order structural equation model was used, and a structured questionnaire addressed to the ownermanagers of 224 Portuguese SMEs in the information technology (IT), telecommunications, audio-visual and IT consulting sector. The main results obtained reveal a positive effect of technological capability in OA as well as a moderating effect on the relationship between technological capability and OA. Finally, the fifth and last article adopts an organisational level perspective and aimed to understand how Quality Management Systems based on ISO 9001 (QMS) can help inhibit or facilitate OA in SMEs. In this article, a qualitative approach was adopted, using four case studies and a interview protocol previously developed for this purpose. The results obtained highlight the importance of the changes caused by the QMS for the development of ambidextrous behaviours in SMEs and reveal that not all the changes caused by the QMS in SMEs acted as facilitators of the OA. The different studies carried out within the scope of this research lead us to consider that the development of OA in the context of SMEs is dependent on a set of factors of a multilevel nature, namely in terms of the specific characteristics of this type of companies, personality traits of the owner-managers and the external influence of the environmental dynamism in which these companies operate. This study was based on an important set of theories, such as the Contingency Theory, the Dynamic Capabilities Theory, the Upper Echelons Theory, or the model of the five factors or personality traits (Big-Five personality traits). This PhD thesis in Management supports the idea that the development of OA in SMEs is dependent on the degree of influence of activities related to exploration and exploitation. This study suggests that OA is a complex phenomenon, and that exploration and exploitation will tend to be difficult to balance, which leads us to think that in SMEs these activities can be balanced alternately or that they can coexist in a complementary and orthogonal way. In this sense, this study highlights the role of SMEs in customer relationships, the influence of contingent factors such as environmental dynamism in exploration and exploitation, the external influence on OA and in the technological capacity of these companies, as well as the influence of the characteristics of the personality of its ownermanagers. This investigation also presents contributions to theory and practice, as well as future lines of research related to this theme.O estudo da ambidextria organizacional tem sido um importante campo de pesquisa para a gestão, sobretudo pela importância que esta temática se reveste para a competitividade das empresas. Neste sentido, esta tese de doutoramento em Gestão possui, como objetivo principal, proporcionar um melhor entendimento acerca da ambidextria organizacional (AO) em contexto de pequenas e médias empresas (PME) portuguesas. O caminho de investigação definido adotou uma abordagem multinível, tendo sido explorados um conjunto de diferentes perspetivas concretizadas através de cinco artigos de investigação: um artigo de revisão de literatura, um artigo teórico e três artigos de natureza empírica. Assim, o primeiro artigo, é uma revisão da literatura e tem como principal objetivo identificar os fatores que afetam a AO em contexto de PME. Tendo por base 297 artigos publicados entre 2005 e 2020 nas bases de dados Web of Science, Scopus e Science Direct, foi adotada uma perspetiva multinível, abrangendo o nível organizacional, ambiental e individual. Com essa abordagem identificaram-se quatro áreas temáticas com as quais a investigação da AO se encontra relacionada: inovação, aprendizagem organizacional, capacidades dinâmicas e desempenho das PME. O principal contributo desta investigação centra-se na identificação das grandes áreas temáticas de investigação científica em torno da AO, assim como a identificação de um conjunto de fatores contingenciais, situados ao nível organizacional, ambiental e individual, que potencialmente podem influenciar o desenvolvimento da AO em contexto de PME. O segundo artigo procurou analisar os antecedentes da AO à luz das principais caracteristicas das PME, como a sua reduzida dimensão ou a sua reduzida estrutura interna. Para esse efeito, e tendo por base a literatura identificada, adotou-se uma abordagem baseada nos antecedentes internos e externos e qual o seu potencial relacionamento com as caracteristicas das PME sob o prisma dos conceitos de exploration e exploitation. Com base nesses relacionamentos foram identificadas dez proposições teóricas. O terceiro artigo tem uma natureza empírica, adota uma perspetiva de nível individual, e teve como objetivo analisar a influência da personalidade dos proprietários-gestores no desenvolvimento da AO em contexto de PME. Para esse efeito foram formuladas cinco hipóteses baseadas nos traços de personalidade e a sua influência em AO. Recorreu-se a um modelo de equações estruturais de segunda ordem e a um questionário estruturado dirigido aos proprietários-gestores de 224 PME portuguesas do setor das tecnologias de informação (TI), telecomunicações, audiovisual e consultadoria em TI. Os resultados obtidos sugerem a influência positiva dos traços de personalidade da extroversão e conscienciosidade em AO e influência negativa do traço de personalidade de neuroticismo em AO. O quarto artigo tem igualmente uma natureza empírica e procurou-se estudar a influência do dinamismo ambiental e da capacidade tecnológica em AO e o papel moderador do dinamismo ambiental em AO. Com este objetivo recorreu-se a um modelo de equações estruturais de segunda ordem e a um questionário estruturado dirigido aos proprietários-gestores de 224 PME portuguesas do setor das tecnologias de informação (TI), telecomunicações, audiovisual e consultadoria em TI. Os principais resultados obtidos revelam um efeito positivo da capacidade tecnológica em AO assim como um efeito moderador na relação entre capacidade tecnológica e AO. Por fim, o quinto e último artigo, adota a perspetiva de nível organizacional e teve como objetivo perceber como os Sistemas de Gestão da Qualidade baseados na ISO 9001 (SGQ) podem ajudar a inibir ou a facilitar a AO em PME. Para este artigo adotou-se uma abordagem qualitativa, com recurso a quatro estudos de caso e a um questionário de entrevista previamente desenvolvido para o efeito. Os resultados obtidos ressaltam a importância das mudanças provocadas pelos SGQ para o desenvolvimento de comportamentos ambidextros nas PME e revela que nem todas as mudanças provocadas pelos SGQ nas PME atuaram como facilitadores da AO. Os diferentes estudos efetuados no âmbito desta investigação leva-nos a considerar que desenvolvimento da AO no contexto das PME encontra-se dependente de um conjunto de fatores de natureza multinível, nomeadamente ao nível das características especificas deste tipo de empresas, dos traços de personalidade dos seus proprietáriosgestores e da influência externa do dinamismo ambiental onde estas empresas se inserem. Esta investigação teve por base um importante conjunto de teorias, como a Teoria Contingencial, a Teoria das Capacidades Dinâmicas, a Upper Echelons Theory, ou o modelo dos cinco fatores ou traços de personalidade (Big-five personality traits). Esta tese de doutoramento em Gestão permite sustentar a ideia de que o desenvolvimento da AO nas PME encontra-se dependente do grau de influência das atividades relacionadas com exploration e exploitation. Este estudo sugere que a AO é um fenómeno complexo e que exploration e exploitation tenderão a ser difíceis de serem equilibradas, o que nos leva a pensar que, nas PME, essas atividades poderão ser balanceadas alternadamente ou que poderão coexistir de forma complementar e ortogonal. Neste sentido, este estudo realça o papel das PME no relacionamento com clientes, a influência dos fatores contingenciais como o dinamismo ambiental em exploration e exploitation, a influência externa na construção da AO e na capacidade tecnológica destas empresas, assim como a influência das caracteristicas de personalidade dos seus gestores-proprietários. Esta investigação também apresenta contributos para a teoria e para a prática, assim como linhas de pesquisa futuras relativas a esta temática

Information technology and marketing performance within international market-entry alliances: a review and an integrated conceptual framework

The purpose of our paper is to engage in a comprehensive review of the research on Information Technology (IT)-mediated international market-entry alliances.This paper provides a theory-informed conceptual framework of IT-enabled cross-border interfirm relationships and performance outcomes. It integrates perspectives of Resource-based View (RBV) and Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) to argue that the establishment of interfirm IT capabilities enhances the marketing performance of the foreign partner in the host location by improving interfirm relationship governance. Furthermore, IT-related risks and contextual restrictions are identified as important moderators. Conceptualisations of IT capabilities, IT-enhanced interfirm governance, and IT-led marketing performance improvement are suggested. Drawing on RBV and TCE, IT resources, related human resources, and IT integration between partner firms in combination enhances the ability of firms to manage the relationship more effectively through shared control, interfirm coordination, cross-firm formalisation, and hybrid centralisation. These benefits then bring about better upstream and downstream marketing performance in the host location. Additionally, IT capabilities help to mitigate possible contextual limitations and risks. The paper offers a number of theory- and literature- informed research propositions which can be empirically tested in future studies.Top managers of firms currently in or planning to enter international alliances for market entry should carefully consider effective development of interfirm IT capabilities in terms of readiness of hardware and software, human resources, and organisational resources. Our paper provides an integrated framework and propositions which contribute to limited understanding and appreciation of IT value in international market-entry alliances

Knowledge acquisition by SMEs in weak client-firm exchange relationships

This thesis examines the role that non-collaborative, weak exchange relationships might play in the acquisition of knowledge by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). An important source of knowledge for a firm lies in its network of relationships. There has been considerable research conducted on knowledge transfer and acquisition through linkages, such as strategic alliances and similar-type, close collaborations with other businesses. However, many SMEs are less likely to be involved in collaborative, close interfirm relationships because of their relatively small market share, short industry time and uncertainty associated with the firm's future. Consequently, much of the research on interfirm relationships has overlooked SMEs. Many SME linkages are the non-collaborative, arm's-length type that many researchers argue play very little or no role in knowledge transfer and acquisition. However, research has found that inter-firm relationships that are not close and less collaborative are a source of new external knowledge.This doctoral study researches the value of weak, arm's-length client ties to the SME in terms of the knowledge they could impart to the firm. The extent to which this acquired knowledge leads to knowledge-related outcomes, such as new product and market development, increased operating efficiency and innovative performance, are also examined. Factors posited to lead to knowledge acquisition in these weak exchange ties include the SME owner's efforts at building more long-term relationships and efforts at signalling the SME's reputation and legitimacy. Also posited to lead to knowledge acquisition is the trust of the arm's-length client. The study also examines factors posited to contribute to the knowledge-based outcomes derived from the knowledge acquisition. The factors include absorptive capacity and exchange partner similarity and are hypothesized to moderate the relationship between knowledge acquisition and knowledge outcomes. Other moderating factors include the size and age of the client firm and the growth intentions of the SME owner.To conduct this research, a cross-section of Western Australian SMEs was surveyed through the WA Small Business Benchmark Survey undertaken by Curtin's School of Management. A paper-based version of the survey was administered to a Dan & Bradstreet database of 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, an on-line version of the survey was also sent to SMEs via a range of small business associations across Western Australia. Low response rates are common in SME research and this study is no exception. Just over 400 businesses responded to the survey, of which 298 respondents completed the survey questions pertaining to the thesis study.A model explaining the interrelationships of factors and paths leading to knowledge acquisition and knowledge outcomes was analysed. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses of the data were carried out and structural equation analysis examined the fit of the model to the data. Based on the results, the measure of the relationship strength of the client-firm tie could not be verified. However, it was found that trust of the client in exchange relationships led to knowledge acquisition but reputation signalling and relationship initiation seemed more related to marketing efforts and did not contribute significantly to knowledge acquisition. Knowledge acquisition was significantly associated with knowledge-based outcomes and absorptive capacity, as well as exchange partner similarity, which partly moderated the extent to which knowledge based outcomes were derived from acquired knowledge. The growth intentions of the SME owner could not be verified as a moderator and the size of the client firm was not found to have a moderating effect. The findings are tempered by the small sample size and the low response rate so generalising these findings to the broader WA SME population would be inappropriate. However, the study did reveal the relative importance of absorptive capacity and exchange partner similarity in the conversion of acquired knowledge to knowledge-based outcomes. These findings encourage further research and more analyses to verify the role of absorptive capacity and exchange partner similarity in client-firm exchange relationships

Organizational ambidexterity: a critical review and development of a project focused definition

The objective of this paper is to explore a project-focused understanding of contemporary organizational ambidexterity literature. As part of this process, a taxonomical analysis of the elements and components of the concept of organizational ambidexterity is undertaken. Findings suggest that a project-focused notion of organizational ambidexterity involves different levels, dimensions, and mechanisms. The predominant contribution of this study resides within the taxonomy study, which provides a platform for a more holistic understanding of organizational ambidexterity as a multifaceted concept applicable to the project management discipline