Exploring the growth of high-tech born globals in international markets : a knowledge-based perspective

"Dans cette étude exploratoire, nous avançons une perspective de croissance permettant d'évaluer les bénéfices de l'internationalisation des PME nées globales hautement intensives en technologie (PMENGHT), qui est basée sur le développement de nouvelles compétences sur les marchés internationaux. Dans ce cadre, la perspective de la croissance des ventes a toujours constitué le repère principal autour duquel les recherches antérieures sur les PME nées globales ont été menées. Cette perspective de croissance des ventes était considérée comme étant la résultante de la tendance des PME nées globales en général à mettre à profit leur capacité de créer le savoir sur les marchés étrangers. Or, la création de savoir mérite qu'elle soit associée plus naturellement à la croissance de la PME née globale en termes de valeur et/ou de nouvelles compétences. Cela étant dit, nous avons réalisé une recherche qualitative auprès d'une vingtaine de PMENGHTs qui réalisent de la recherche et développement dans la province du Québec (Canada) et ailleurs dans le monde. L'enquête que nous avons menée nous a permis d'avancer l'idée que la motivation pour la croissance en termes de nouvelles compétences mérite qu'elle soit prise en considération chez les PMENGHTs. Pour ce faire, nous nous sommes basés sur les postulats du paradigme éclectique OLI pour établir que ces entreprises sont censées être motivées par le développement de nouvelles compétences à l'international, et ce, en raison de leur orientation envers l'innovation. Les résultats de notre enquête ont permis d'appuyer le rôle déterminant de l'orientation envers l'innovation chez les PMENGHTs d'une part, et de décortiquer les dimensions afférentes à ce facteur, ainsi que les modes d'entrée qui concourent à réaliser l'objectif de croissance via la création de savoir d'autre part. Ces modes d'entrée, favorables à la croissance de la valeur de la PMENGHT (baptisée dans cette thèse comme étant des « modes de globalisation), sont les partenariats d'une part, et l'investissement direct à l'étranger d'autre part, qui comprend l'acquisition et l'implantation"

Managerial tacit knowledge transfer: A potential outcome of cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the GCC banking sector

This conceptual paper explores the potential relationship between a manager’s contribution in sealing cross-border Merger and Acquisition (M&A) deals, on the one hand, and tacit knowledge transfer, on the other. The paper’s basic premise posits that those managers are likely to be exposed to significant tacit knowledge flows as they participate in negotiating, making, and monitoring M&A transactions. The two M&A dimensions taken into account in the conceptual model given in this paper pertain to the number and value of M&A transactions coordinated or accomplished by the manager. Furthermore, there are several moderating factors said to influence the central assumption between the number/value of M&As and the extent of tacit knowledge transfer, i.e. the frequency of face-to-face meetings, the manager’s cultural intelligence, the manager’s international experience and the number of the languages spoken by the manager. The examination of the research propositions underlying the suggested research model is believed to have a particular importance for the banking sector in the Gulf countries wherein the M&A activity is ubiquitous

Country Digitalization, Trade Openness, and Innovation

Digital transformation programs at the national level had a significant impact on innovation. However, there is a lack of understanding as to whether this dynamic is compounded by the higher exposure to international trade, thanks to digitalization. Thus, the objective of this chapter is to demonstrate that a nation\u27s spending on digital transformation may encourage local organizations to expand their business beyond national borders, which could enhance their innovation potential. Drawing on recent secondary data compiled for 115 countries, the effect of digital readiness on a country\u27s innovation index was tested with path analysis using AMOS software. The findings confirm the positive and significant effect of country digital readiness on both, trade openness and innovation. However, these results show that trade openness negatively mediates the relationship between a country\u27s digitalization and innovation capacity. This result may be explained by the insufficient absorptive capacity of newly internationalized firms and the cultural hindrance in cross-border collaborations

Online meeting tools, tacit knowledge sharing and entrepreneurial behaviours among knowledge workers during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the usage of online meeting tools (e.g., Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams) in virtually all sectors. However, how these applications stimulate tacit knowledge sharing and entrepreneurial behaviours is unclear, particularly among knowledge workers. In this manuscript, the authors investigate the impact of usage of online meeting tools on tacit knowledge sharing and on the two types of entrepreneurial behaviour`s among knowledge workers, that are, venture behaviour and strategic renewal behaviour. A quantitative study was conducted, via survey, with a total of 173 participants located worldwide. The research model was tested using structural equation modelling. The relationship between the frequency of using online meeting tools and venture behaviour displayed by knowledge workers was moderately negative. However, the online meeting tools did not exhibit significant effect on tacit knowledge sharing. Furthermore, tacit knowledge sharing has a moderate positive effect on both types of entrepreneurial behaviours

Rapid Digitalization in Pandemic Times: Investigation of the Leadership Role in Managing Information and Communication Overload in Higher Education Institutions in Kuwait

The advancement of technology paved the way for significant improvements in higher education institutions (HEIs) as much as it was associated with sizable pressures for individuals, implied by the challenging task of managing enormous volume of information from digital communication channels. This research is addressing two main objectives. First, explore the extent of Information and Communication Overload (ICO) that accompanied the digital transformation in Kuwaiti HEIs and accelerated amidst the Covid19 pandemic. Second, assess the conditions that are/could be used in those organizations to mitigate ICO and any of its adverse effects

Do Individual Factors Affect the Relationship between Faculty Intrapreneurship and the Entrepreneurial Orientation of Their Organizations?

Several colleges and universities in the Middle East have been undertaking significant initiatives to forge and foster corporate entrepreneurship. The viability and success of those initiatives rest upon the input of faculty, possessing to various degrees an entrepreneurial orientation that revolves around innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactivity. This study investigates the extent to which individual-level factors moderate the influence of faculty entrepreneurial behavior on the entrepreneurial orientation of higher education institutions in Kuwait. These factors include gender, academic qualifications, teaching experience, school affiliation, scientific productivity, industrial experience, and professional certification. Data were collected using questionnaires filled by 291 faculty members, and the model was analyzed using structural equation modelling. The differences for each faculty characteristic in the structural path coefficients were tested using the Z-score statistics. The eight hypotheses that were partially validated as the most notable findings indicate that entrepreneurial orientation among male or business faculty has a greater impact on their institutions’ organizational, entrepreneurial orientation. In contrast, the differences for the rest of the moderating characteristics were insignificant. The originality of this study pertains to the fact that the scope of faculty intrapreneurship does not seem to be strongly affected by any individual-level characteristic

Relationship between faculty characteristics and their entrepreneurial orientation in higher education institutions in Kuwait

Considering intrapreneurship theory, this study aims to examine the extent to which the entrepreneurial orientation of faculty employed at Kuwaiti higher education institutions differ across their individual-level attributes. Faculty entrepreneurial orientation will be assessed at three levels, i.e., innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactivity. For this purpose, we surveyed a sample of 291 faculty from Kuwaiti colleges and universities. The core constructs were operationalized using scales validated in previous studies. The hypothesized relationships were tested using the structural equation modeling method. Our findings indicate that while female faculty are more proactive than men, males are innovative and risk-takers to some extent. Moreover, Ph.D. holders are more proactive and innovative than Master's degree holders. The relationship between specialization and both innovativeness and risk-taking is significant only for business, but not for engineering. Teaching experience is more positively correlated with faculty proactivity. The number of scientific publications is negatively associated with faculty risk-taking propensity. Additionally, faculty who cumulated significant industry experience are proactive in identifying long-term opportunities and threats for their institutions. Having earned professional certifications is positively related to some aspects of innovativeness and proactivity. Finally, faculty who received their latest degree from a non-accredited institution are more active in realizing ideas at work

Do Individual Factors Affect the Relationship between Faculty Intrapreneurship and the Entrepreneurial Orientation of Their Organizations?

Several colleges and universities in the Middle East have been undertaking significant initiatives to forge and foster corporate entrepreneurship. The viability and success of those initiatives rest upon the input of faculty, possessing to various degrees an entrepreneurial orientation that revolves around innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactivity. This study investigates the extent to which individual-level factors moderate the influence of faculty entrepreneurial behavior on the entrepreneurial orientation of higher education institutions in Kuwait. These factors include gender, academic qualifications, teaching experience, school affiliation, scientific productivity, industrial experience, and professional certification. Data were collected using questionnaires filled by 291 faculty members, and the model was analyzed using structural equation modelling. The differences for each faculty characteristic in the structural path coefficients were tested using the Z-score statistics. The eight hypotheses that were partially validated as the most notable findings indicate that entrepreneurial orientation among male or business faculty has a greater impact on their institutions’ organizational, entrepreneurial orientation. In contrast, the differences for the rest of the moderating characteristics were insignificant. The originality of this study pertains to the fact that the scope of faculty intrapreneurship does not seem to be strongly affected by any individual-level characteristic

Intra-organizational knowledge sharing, ambidexterity and firm performance: evaluating the role of knowledge quality

Purpose: This study aims to examine how knowledge sharing contributes to organizations’ ambidexterity, their overall performance and the role of knowledge quality in this relationship. Knowledge sharing is conceptualized based on tacit and explicit dimensions, and ambidexterity is viewed as comprising exploitative and explorative capabilities. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a cross-sectional survey-based research design and structural equation modeling to test the proposed model of knowledge sharing and knowledge quality in organizational ambidexterity and the related hypotheses. Findings: The results indicate that tacit knowledge sharing has a significant, direct impact on the exploitative and explorative capabilities of the organization and indirectly impacts both dimensions of ambidexterity (i.e. exploitative and explorative) through knowledge quality. In contrast, explicit knowledge sharing does not have a significant impact on knowledge quality and affects only the exploitative extent of ambidexterity. Both exploitative and explorative capabilities significantly impact organizational performance. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study to empirically examine the role of knowledge quality in the context of knowledge sharing for ambidexterity, especially within the context of organizations in the United Arab Emirates