IT-Based Knowledge Capability and Commercialization of Innovations

The significance of agility is widely accepted because agile organizations are more successful in changing and competitive environments. 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. IT capability and knowledge capability are more effective in the presence of high environmental uncertainty and information intensity. While we find that both IT and knowledge capabilities have positive effects on organizational agility, knowledge capability is more effective than IT capability.

In this paper, the author presents a theoretical framework that establishes an indirect link between IT capabilities and firm innovation by characterizing the mediating role of knowledge assets: knowledge networks and knowledge capabilities. Firm innovation itself is characterized as innovation development and innovation commercialization. The search on literature of IT capability and innovation revealed a very lukewarm recognition towards firm level variables in knowledge networks, knowledge capabilities, and distinction between innovation development and commercialization. Backed up by detailed reviews of literature on innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship, the author posits propositions linking the aforementioned constructs, and proposes a framework for future research linking IT Capability with Firm Innovation.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how specialised capabilities including absorptive capacity and marketing capabilities influence innovation commercialisation in manufacturing and service firms in Nigeria. The authors hypothesise that absorptive capacity measures including openness and formal training for innovation, and marketing capabilities encompassing new product marketing and marketing innovation are positively associated with innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examine commercialisation of innovation within the profiting from innovation (PFI) and dynamic capabilities (DC) framework and use data from the 2012 Nigeria Innovation Survey to test the hypothesis by means of a Heckman sample selection model.FindingsThe authors find that absorptive capacity measures comprising openness and formal training are positively associated with innovation performance. The authors also find that marketing capabilities as indicated by new product marketing and marketing innovation are positively associated with innovation performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors acknowledge that firms undergo continuous changes and that there may be the presence of unobserved or unmeasured heterogeneity. Taking into cognisance that Nigeria is a federal state, cultural diversity and economic factors are likely to differ widely between geographical regions. Also, while the proposed conceptual framework offers a deeper understanding of innovation performance, examining how integrating activities of the R&D department, human resource department and marketing department affect innovation commercialisation is likely to provide more meaningful insights.Practical implicationsThe role that inter-organisational learning and intra-organisational learning play in driving innovation performance provide managers with a basis for incorporating absorptive capacity building programs that boost employees’ ability to recognise and apply valuable external knowledge to commercial ends. Similarly, firms may benefit from offering marketing capabilities development programs. Furthermore, innovation policies in Nigeria are generally designed to focus on fostering innovation activities aimed at developing innovative output. Accordingly, government support explicitly targeting new product marketing and marketing innovation is likely to play a vital role in the successful commercialisation of innovation in Nigeria.Originality/valueThis study fuses the PFI and DC framework to examine why innovating firms may not necessarily succeed. This area of study has received scant attention in sub-Saharan Africa given that extant literature focusses on value creation as opposed to value capture.

From a thorough review of literature we investigate the key antecedents and mediators to commercialization of innovations. We posit that a firm’s network, absorptive capacity and ambidexterity (ability to explore and exploit) each affect commercialization of Innovations. Further, we showed that networks are antecedents to absorptive capacity and ambidexterity, and absorptive capacity is an antecedent to ambidexterity. We integrate these concepts together and present an integrated theoretical model for further research.

PurposeCOVID-19 has made businesses increasingly dependent on technology to be competitive and efficient. Small and medium enterprises (SME) digitalisation and innovation research are widespread. SME digital transformation and innovation require government policies, initiatives and assistance. How the government can help SMEs achieve these goals is unclear. So, this paper aims to investigate how government policy may assist Vietnamese SMEs to boost innovation performance and digital transformation.Design/methodology/approachThe study will take a quantitative approach, with questionnaires distributed to 659 respondents from SMEs in Vietnam through snowball and convenience sampling procedures. The structural equational modelling method is used for data analysis.FindingsThe study indicated that government policies supported Vietnamese SMEs’ innovation and information technology (IT) capabilities. Government policy assistance also boosted IT capabilities and innovation. Furthermore, mediation effects show that digital transformation fully mediates the relationship between innovativeness and firm performance, whereas IT capabilities partially mediate this relationship.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research that replicates the findings and analyses contextual heterogeneities between nations is advised because Vietnam’s pandemic setting was both similar and dissimilar.Practical implicationsThe study demonstrated government-company interactions through supportive policy. It investigated whether SMEs seeking digital transformation and innovativeness might gain competitive benefits by implementing effective knowledge management and enhancing their IT capabilities.Originality/valueA resource-based theoretical framework is extended to study how innovation, public policy and digital transformation for SMEs interact. The study confirms government policy strongly influences enterprises’ digital development. Specifically, the new mediating effects of IT capabilities and digital transformation are explored and provide new insights into the existing literature.

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the influence of social capital (SC) on mass customization capability (MCC) and innovation capabilities (ICs) (products, processes, services and organizational) through absorptive capacity (ACAP) (acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation).Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 201 managers of 67 Jordanian manufacture organizations. Statistical techniques used included confirmatory factor analysis to examine validity of the measurement model, and structural equation modeling using partial least squares to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results of the analysis show that ACAP mediates the relationships between SC and MCC and between SC and ICs. Furthermore, the results show that SC has a positive, significant influence on ACAP and ACAP has a positive, significant impact on both MCC and ICs.Research limitations/implicationsInsights from this study can help manufacture managers to better understand the relationships among SC, ACAP, MCC and ICs in the context of Jordan’s economic development, as well as providing some useful guidance for the manufacturing sector’s customization and innovation activities.Originality/valueThis study develops and empirically tests a conceptual framework that relates ACAP, the development of MCC and ICs with the presence of SC as an antecedent of ACAP; hence, to the best of the author’s knowledge, it is the first study to test the mediating role of ACAP between SC and MCC and between SC and ICs.

IT Capabilities, IT Governance Structure, and the Adoption of MOOCs in Higher Education: An Absorptive Capacity Perspective

Objectives: The idea of absorptive capacity has become one of the most crucial ideas in the field of strategic management since it is frequently seen as a crucial component in developing innovative potential. Observations have been made regarding whether knowledge management must be present. As a result, the function of knowledge management as a mediating variable to the links between potential and realized absorptive capacity, and ultimately their effects on innovation capability, is discussed in this paper.Methodology: 180 Business Administration graduates with relevant employment experience served as our source for the data. We then observed their potential and discovered their capacity for invention, knowledge management, and absorption using SEM-PLS with SmartPLS software which was utilized as an aid in our analysis of the outcomes.Finding: Our results show that there is no significant association between either type of absorptive capacity or innovative capability. Innovative capability does not greatly lag behind absorptive capacity, whether potential or realized. However, when knowledge management is incorporated as a mediating element, realized absorptive capacity has a positive and significant indirect impact on innovative capability.Conclusion: Knowledge management has a strong mediating effect on realized absorptive capacity and has a positive as well as significant indirect impact on innovative capability

Learning and knowledge creation are acknowledged as crucial drivers associated with entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and innovation capability (IC). Absorptive capacity (AC) harmonizes internal innovation-building activities with external opportunities, while organizational learning capabilities (OLC) foster entrepreneurial cognitive skills and innovation capabilities. This study aims to (1) predict the impact of absorptive capacity and organizational learning on IC and (2) to estimate the mediation effect of OLC and AC on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation capabilities. Drawing upon the dynamic capability theory, the study had applied a cross-sectional survey targeting Algerian firms to test the hypotheses. The study findings indicate that EO is positively associated with innovation capability. Besides, even though both OLC and AC partially increase EO’s interaction impact on innovation capability as a mediation role, suggesting that the more a firm is entrepreneurially oriented, the more learning and knowledge creation processes are involved in the interaction relationship. This study’s core focus is to overcome the substantial role of learning and knowledge creation processes as an intangible proactive resource that fosters the EO mindset to get involved in innovation activities. It has been discovered that AC and OLC as a connectedness mechanism links external knowledge and internal learning processes to accompany EO readiness during innovation development.

PurposePrevious studies equated information technology (IT) with the notion of effective resources. ITs improved firms’ competitive advantage and innovativeness. Yet, far fewer studies investigated types of IT competencies that corresponded to innovation capabilities, particularly in developing countries. The aim of this paper is to provide an investigation concerning the types of IT competencies and examine their influence on the innovation capabilities across high-tech firms.Design/methodology/approachA survey was randomly distributed to 274 respondents across four main sectors of Malaysian high-tech firms. The main sectors were electric and electronic, aerospace, computers and office machinery and pharmaceuticals. A structural equation model, Amos, was used to analyse data.FindingsThree findings were surmised. First, IT competencies driven by IT infrastructure, alignment, management affected high-tech firms’ innovation capabilities. Second, absorptive capacity (AC) partially determined the relationship between IT infrastructure and IT alignment and innovation capabilities. AC also determined the relationship between IT management and innovation capabilities. The significance of IT competencies in the improvement of innovation capabilities was presented as a key predictor in bolstering high-tech manufacturing firms’ competitive advantage.Originality/valueTwo points on novelty were presented. First, by conceptualising IT competencies from resource-based theory (RBV), a shift in understanding RBV was presented. Second, alternative key predictors concerning how IT competencies could improve aspects of AC and innovation capabilities were presented.

Purpose This study empirically examines the relationship between human capital ecosystems and entrepreneurial ecosystems. The study also investigates the mediating roles of digital knowledge capability and innovation capability and the moderating role of technology turbulence in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Design/methodology/approach The study takes inputs from existing literature and resource-based view (RBV) and absorptive capacity theories and develops a theoretical model. Later, the model is validated using the structural equation modeling technique with data collected from India-based startup enterprises. Findings The authors found a nexus between human capital and entrepreneurial ecosystems. The study also highlights that enterprises' digital knowledge capability and innovation capability significantly influence the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The study also found that technology turbulence has a significant moderating impact on the relationship between digital knowledge capability and innovation capability in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Research limitations/implications The study shows the importance of developing human capital for improving enterprises' innovation capability and digital knowledge capability, which are also important to develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Entrepreneurs can use the proposed model in their enterprises for appropriately developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Originality/value The authors propose a theoretical model for entrepreneurial ecosystems, from the human capital perspective, which entrepreneurs could use to improve the overall organizational performance. Moreover, the model uses technology turbulence as a moderator, which is also a novel approach. The study also adds valuable knowledge to the overall body of literature of intellectual capital.

This study investigates the relationships between knowledge acquisition, absorptive capability, and innovation capability on Taiwan’s knowledge-intensive industries using a structural equation model, which is constructed based on the data sampled from financial and manufacturing industries, and the 362 returned valid research samples. By testing five hypotheses, the research results find that absorptive capacity is the mediator between knowledge acquisition and innovation capability, and that knowledge acquisition has a positive effect on absorptive capacity. In addition, we used a multi-group approach and found that industry is a moderator between knowledge acquisition and innovation capability. Finally, a conclusion including research findings, discussion, implication, and future works is presented.

Organizational innovation capability is a critical competitive strategy to generate and execute ingenious ideas necessary to offer new services, processes, and products to stay relevant and competitive. This becomes important in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who depend significantly on stakeholders for an uninterrupted supply of relevant resources to produce and provide offerings to the markets amidst fierce market competition to stay competitive. We draw upon resource dependence and dynamic capabilities theory to investigate how stakeholder pressure acts upon SMEs to utilize their absorptive capacity of developing innovation capability to improve their overall performance. We collected data from 291 SMEs from the manufacturing sector to test the hypotheses of the study. Results suggest that absorptive capacity mediates the influence of stakeholder pressure on innovation capability. Furthermore, innovation capability too mediates the relationship between absorptive capacity and firm performance. This article contributes to theoretical and practical implications.

With the development of national strategies (such as Industrial 4.0 and Made in China 2025), how to build digital enterprises and cultivate innovation capabilities of enterprises has become a critical problem to Chinese manufacturing enterprises. However, the literature on the specific path of information technology (IT) capabilities to the innovation of enterprises is still lacking a body of relevant empirical research. In particular, it has not yet thought to explore the information technology capabilities, digital transformation, and then innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises. By performing a questionnaire investigation for 138 Chinese manufacturing enterprises, this study adopted both a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the set relations of the conjunctions and conditions and the statistical associations by studying the relationships among information technology capabilities, digital transformation and innovation performance. The results show that the positive impacts of information technology capabilities on the process innovation performance and the digital transformation, as well as the positive impacts of digital transformation on both process innovation performance and product innovation performance. Specifically, digital transformation takes on a new function of partial mediation of IT capabilities and process innovation performance, and digital transformation functions as a complete mediator for IT capabilities and product innovation performance. The combinations of causal recipes related to innovation performance are provided by a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Through the analyses of SEM and fsQCA, this research develops the formation mechanisms of both process innovation performance and product innovation performance, and provides guidance for both IT and innovation management of manufacturing enterprises in China.

This study aims to identify the relationship between knowledge sharing, innovation capabilities, and absorptive capacity. The study was conducted on 209 employees of a minimarket, in Bandung, West Java. Sampling was done incidentally. Factor analysis produces five factors for which construct validity is acceptable. Empirically, the multiple regression results support the research hypothesis. Knowledge sharing positively and significantly affects innovation capability and absorptive capacity. Furthermore, absorptive capacity partially mediates the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation capabilities.