Managing upgrade to lean: an empirical investigation of work practices and organizational culture effects.

Although human capital has recognised as an important factor for the effective implementation of lean, current research lacks sufficient empirical evidence to support and identify direct linkages between certain work practices and lean production (LP). Using data from 126 managers employed at a global company, which recently upgraded to lean, this study contributes empirical evidence to examine the role of training, knowledge acquisition and organizational culture in upgrading to lean. Results indicated that from the aforementioned selected variables, only organizational culture might holistically affect LP in its multidimensional nature. Training and knowledge acquisition offer partially effects on LP with training to contribute mostly to predicting continuous improvements. Knowledge acquisition alone, however, has significant yet negative impact on LP. Even more, when training is combined with knowledge acquisition the results are different. The study findings provide useful implications for both theory and practice and discusses its limitations

Why organizations fail to share knowledge: an empirical investigation and opportunities for improvement

Purpose: This paper explores critical failure factors (CFFs) in the context of knowledge sharing. It provides further insights into what can cause knowledge sharing failures, inflexible knowledge sharing strategies and ineffective knowledge sharing mechanisms. It also examines how practitioners can reduce or even mitigate such dysfunctions. Design/methodology/approach: A case-based inductive approach was conducted. Data was collected from two studies applying mixed methods. The first data set included nine in-depth, semi-structured interviews with highly skilled personnel from an Aerospace and Defense organization. The second data source included 375 successfully completed questionnaires from participants employed at the same organization. Findings: The paper identifies six CFFs with an impact on knowledge sharing. It also reveals that managing organizational ignorance can play a key role in generating new knowledge and averting failure. Study findings provide insights into the importance of identifying these failures when sharing knowledge and propose relevant mitigation strategies. Originality/value: This paper identifies a range of empirically validated CFFs that complement the extant work on the complexity of knowledge sharing and have hitherto not been seen in the literature. It also provides a more nuanced understanding of why both organizations and their people often fail to share knowledge by exploring the role of organizational ignorance

Adoption of social media marketing for sustainable business growth of SMEs in emerging economies: The moderating role of leadership support

Social media marketing (SMM) plays an important role in business communication, mar-keting, operations, and other activities. There is a growing interest among researchers, academicians, and practitioners to understand the role of SMM in business sustainability in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in an emerging economy, like India. Few studies have attempted to understand this role. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the impact of adopting social media marketing for sustainable business growth of SMEs in an emerging economy. The study also investigates the moderating role of SME leadership support on the relationship between SMM usage and sustainable business growth of SMEs. After reviewing the existing literature and technology adoption model, a theoretical model is developed, which is then validated using a structural equation modeling tech-nique to analyze 304 samples of Indian SMEs that use different social media marketing applications in their enterprises. This study confirmed that SMM tools significantly and positively improve the sustainable growth of SMEs in an emerging economy. Additionally, the study also found that SME leadership team plays a vital role in supporting actual usage of SMM tools that accelerate sustainable business growth of SMEs

Knowledge acquisition through effective contract design. An empirical study

Despite the extensive use of contracts in business transactions, little is known whether an organization can acquire new knowledge through the contract design process, thus promoting both organizational and relationship learning. To address these gaps an empirical quantitative study using a single-case study from a leading international manufacturing company was drawn. A novel multi-criteria decision making method (MCDM) was implemented to analyse empirical data collected from seventeen experts. The study findings support that contract design facilitates knowledge acquisition. The newly acquired knowledge assists organizations to effectively deal with contract opportunism and uniformity. Even more, contract design could be seen as an antecedent to both organizational and relationship learning. Work in progress will provide a large multi-sectored analysis and support data generalizability. Work in progress will provide a large-scale analysis and support data generalizability

An empirical investigation of workplace factors affecting lean performance

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify workplace factors with an impact on lean performance (LP). This can lead to better LP outcomes, thus facilitating organizations to smoothly move from the conventional to lean management. Design/Methodology/Approach – The direct effects of training, knowledge acquisition and organizational culture are empirically investigated using data from 126 managers employed at a global company, which recently has improved its LP. Study’s hypotheses were analyzed with hierarchical regression models Findings – The findings suggest that not all of the aforementioned workplace factors holistically affect LP. Only organizational culture is associated to the four LP variables (i.e., continuous improvement, waste, ergonomy and product quality). Training and knowledge acquisition offer partially effects on LP with training to contribute mostly to predicting continuous improvements. Knowledge acquisition alone, has significant yet negative impact on both continuous improvement and ergonomy. Even more, when training is combined with knowledge acquisition the results are different. Limitations/implications – The present study has some theoretical, methodological and sample limitations, which could be also considered as implications for future research. Practical implications – The findings demonstrate the importance of workplace factors as a critical success factor for organizations which attempt to achieve better LP. Managerial recommendations are discussed in detail. Originality/value – As this study highlights the impact of workplace practices on LP, attributes mainly importance to the distinct effects that each of the aforementioned factors has on the four distinct LP variables. Although the study results reflect a particular case, its recommendations could facilitate practitioners to achieve better lean outcomes

Can traditional organizations be digitally transformed by themselves? The moderating role of absorptive capacity and strategic interdependence

Although digital transformation has significantly attracted scholarly attention beyond information systems, little is known whether traditional organizations can be digitally transformed alone. Knowledge of this process is important as traditional organizations risk failing to achieve digital transformation due to their lack of understanding about digitalization. This research proposes a conceptual framework, which approaches the digital transformation of traditional organizations as a coordinated sequence of specific relationships. The research propositions first outline the relationship between alliance knowledge and digital transformation as a necessary but not absolute condition for the digitalization of traditional conditions. Effectively, therefore, the constructs of absorptive capacity and strategic interdependence are considered to be boundary conditions to this relationship. Insights are also provided into traditional organizations’ levels of absorptive capacity (high vs. low) as well as into the levels of interdependence between them and their partners (symmetry vs. asymmetry), which both determine the outcomes of digital transformation. Concurring with these propositions, this framework advances our understanding of why traditional organizations struggle to be digitally transformed alone and provides implications for both theory and practice. © 202

Why organizations fail to share knowledge: an empirical investigation and opportunities for improvement

Purpose: This paper explores critical failure factors (CFFs) in the context of knowledge sharing. It provides further insights into what can cause knowledge- sharing failures, inflexible knowledge-sharing strategies and ineffective knowledge- sharing mechanisms. It also examines how practitioners can reduce or even mitigate such dysfunctions. Design/methodology/approach: A case-based inductive approach was conducted. Data were collected from two studies applying mixed methods. The first data set included nine in-depth, semi-structured interviews with highly skilled personnel from an aerospace and defense organization. The second data source included 375 successfully completed questionnaires from participants employed at the same organization. Findings: The paper identifies six CFFs with an impact on knowledge sharing. It also reveals that managing organizational ignorance can play a key role in generating new knowledge and averting failure. Study findings provide insights into the importance of identifying these failures when sharing knowledge and propose relevant mitigation strategies. Originality/value: This paper identifies a range of empirically validated CFFs that complement the extant work on the complexity of knowledge sharing and have hitherto not been seen in the literature. It also provides a more nuanced understanding of why both organizations and their people often fail to share knowledge by exploring the role of organizational ignorance. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

Why do employees hide their knowledge and what are the consequences? A systematic literature review

Although knowledge hiding has always existed at work, it has only recently attracted scholarly attention. We conducted a systematic literature review to unveil its antecedents, unpack consequences and identify strategies to mitigate it. The study findings revealed that, although knowledge hiding is differently defined, there is consensus about its intentional nature leading to behaviors, which are triggered by personal (intrinsic) and organizational (extrinsic) antecedents, and result in explicit consequences for both employees and teams. Although existing literature fails to explicitly support distinct consequences at an organizational level, we argue that the adverse consequences of knowledge hiding affect organizations holistically. We adopted the Organizational Behavior Modification model to integrate the study outcomes, thus supporting that knowledge hiding stems from intrinsic and extrinsic antecedents creating either a positive or a negative reinforcement toward it. Organizations can modify knowledge hiding by eliminating stimuli with positive affectivity and strengthen the ones with negative affectivity. © 202