Antonella Martini

Knowledge management configurations in Italian small‐to‐medium enterprises

To survive in the global economy small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have to improve their products and processes exploiting their intellectual capital in a dynamic network of knowledge‐intensive relations inside and outside their borders. By erasing traditional constraints to SMEs innovation ability and leveraging their flexibility and responsiveness, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) provide SMEs with opportunities for Knowledge Management (KM) today in most cases largely unexploited. Focusing on the area of Product Innovation (PI) and drawing evidence from the analysis of a multiple‐case study on 47 Italian SMEs, patterns in the adoption and use of new ICT tools are explained in relation both to Contingencies and to KM internal processes. Complexity at both product and system levels, emerges as a key factor driving technological choices. Three different KM configurations emerge in relation to ICT approaches. Implications of this study are relevant for both SMEs managers and ICT developers/vendors.

Knowledge Management in Product Innovation: An Interpretative Review

Knowledge management (KM) is relatively new, but still a very hot topic in management research and practice. Leading companies are reshaping their organizations in order to increase their ability in managing knowledge sharing and transfer within and across their organizational boundaries. KM is today considered by many scholars the next arena for global competition. Product innovation (PI), in particular, is one of the most promising areas, where KM is today applied and studied. Management literature has underlined how knowledge becomes the only source of sustainable competitive advantage in turbulent contexts, and the cognitive perspective represents the most adequate approach to analysing and understanding PI as a continuous learning process rather than as a sporadic event. Since the early 1990s, many contributions emerged from different fields, but after nearly one decade, KM is not yet a unitary stream of literature but reflects very diverse roots. In this paper, the different streams and approaches emerging in literature on KM in PI are reviewed and described, aiming at providing researchers with an interpretative tool and some directions for further research.

Transient autonomic nervous system dysfunction during hyperacute stroke

Forty‐four patients suffering a stroke for the first time were examined within 10 h of the onset of symptoms; the tests performed on their admission to hospital, and thereafter on the third and seventh day, were 24‐h Holter EKG with spectral analysis of heart rate variability, evaluation of arterial blood pressure and the levels of catecholamine in the blood and 24‐h urine. The dynamic EKG on admission revealed that 31 (70.5%) out of the 44 patients already had arrhythmia. These alterations were observed in 9 (75%) out of 12 haemorrhagic patients with a significant (P<0.05) prevalence compared to 22 (68.8%) of the 32 ischaemic ones. Arrhythmia showed up in 16 (76.2%) out of 21 cases with right hemisphere lesions and in 12 (63.2%) out of 19 cases of left hemisphere lesions; this difference was also significant (P<0.05). Arrhythmia was still present in 19 (43.2%) patients after 3 days and only in 2 (6.5%) patients after 7 days. The spectral analysis parameters on admission and after 3 days were significantly (P<0.05) modified in patients with stroke plus arrhythmia, compared to patients with stroke alone and to control subjects, whereas no further differences were observed on the seventh day. Moreover, the percentage of patients with arterial hypertension and high levels of catecholamine greatly decreased from the third day onwards. A transient autonomic nervous system imbalance with prevalent sympathetic activity may justify this cardiovascular impairment during the hyperacute phase of stroke.

Continuous innovation: towards a paradoxical, ambidextrous combination of exploration and exploitation

The Continuous Innovation Network (CINet) is a global network studying the innovation processes through which the synergistic combination between exploratory and exploitatory activities fosters a synergistic combination of operational effectiveness and strategic flexibility – allowing firms to achieve superior performance. This paper presents the theoretical field of continuous innovation as an extension of the intersection of three research streams – namely exploration-exploitation, organisational ambidexterity and paradoxical thinking. Moreover, it presents four papers from the International CINet Conference held in Zurich (CH), from the 5th to the 7th of September 2010.

A Multi‐Level Model for Organizational Ambidexterity in the Search Phase of the Innovation Process

Innovation is one of the most critical means in supporting and improving the competitive position of the firm, in particular, and a firms survival and growth depend greatly on its ability to balance the exploitation of existing knowledge with the exploration of new possibilities, by building ambidexterity capability. While different alternatives to realize the simultaneous reconciliation of exploration and exploitation at an operational level have been proposed, how organizations build ambidexterity capability is not fully understood. The aim of this paper is thus to explore how exploration and exploitation balancing can be achieved in practice. We decided to focus on the early phase of the process where firms search for new ideas with which to renew themselves. To this end, we analysed the search phase of a highly innovative technology‐based company by investigating structural design choices combined with the presence of specific roles and searching practices. The results show how the exploration and exploitation balancing act can actually be achieved and maintained through a multi‐level approach that integrates both the operational and the strategic levels. Our findings thus contribute to the organizational ambidexterity literature, by proposing a first interpretative model for dealing with ambidexterity in the search phase of the innovation process.

Tools and abilities for continuous improvement: what are the drivers of performance?

This article reports findings of the Italian part of the 2nd International Continuous Improvement (CI) survey, where 440 firms were randomly contacted and 60 responses received (response rate of 13.6%). Three research questions are investigated in this article: the CI tools and enablers adopted in Italy (RQ1); the state of the improvement activities and their evolution (RQ2); and finally, the relations between CI tools, ability development and performance (RQ3).

Exploring the exploratory search for innovation: a structural equation modelling test for practices and performance

Identifying, developing and commercialising innovations through traditional approaches are often ineffective or inefficient when discontinuous conditions occur. New or additional capabilities and practices are desirable for organisations under such complex conditions. Based on a comprehensive literature review about search practices and drawing on the empirical background of a survey to 500 Italian medium- and high-tech companies (by the Discontinuous Innovation Lab), the relations between search practices, exploration activities and firm performance are tested by structural equation modelling. Evidences shows that higher levels of search practices lead to higher levels of exploration activities and this, in its turn, can affect firm innovation performance.

Designing and managing business communities of practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to put forward a model to map the evolution of a business Community of Practice (CoP) in terms of learning and knowledge management processes. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical evidence is based on seven case studies and the analyses of three best practices from secondary sources. Two of those cases are analyzed longitudinally from inception, while the others are retrospective. Cases were chosen in order to cover different kinds of industries and, especially, to analyze sharing of different kinds of knowledge (from call-centre operators to complex new products knowledge). Findings – The article sheds light on the different evolutionary paths that business CoPs follow and the role of the dynamics of the organizational commitment and the people involvement. It was noticed that a high level of commitment from both the organization and its members is related to the effectiveness of the Community in supporting learning and knowledge management processes. Research limitations/implications – The case studies and best practice examples reported are all based on the experiences of Western companies – although some, if not all, may have global operations. It is possible that some of the conclusions (e.g, levels of organizational commitment and individual participation, evolutionary stages and drivers), may not be valid for Asian-headquartered companies. Practical implications – This article aims to develop actionable knowledge to support management in understanding how to manage a business CoP, in order to create value for both the organization and its members. The proposed model can be used for mapping the CoP evolution, while identifying the appropriate governance tools to cultivate, stimulate and drive the Community evolution. Originality/value – In the model, the evolution of a Community has been assessed in terms of its vitality – i.e. its effectiveness in supporting knowledge management and learning. This vitality depends on the combination of the organization’s commitment and members’ involvement. Therefore, supporting a Community in its evolution means stimulating and maintaining the commitment (animation and promotions levers) of these two parties.

Barriers and levers towards knowledge management configurations

Purpose – Seeks to discuss barriers/drivers to the selection and implementation of different knowledge management configurations in the process of product innovation.Design/methodology/approach – Building on literature and the previous survey‐based research results, this study compares on a longitudinal perspective the approaches of two companies with similar conditions but adopting different choices in terms of ICT and organisational tools to support the knowledge management process.Findings – Case studies highlight how firms adopting a KMC that differ from the one indicated by the previous survey‐based research model show an intention to align to it in the near future. Hence, it seems that a match exists between the configuration expected from the model and the intended configuration planned by the company. Using longitudinal case studies the paper analyses the barriers that hamper the transition of firms toward the approach that better suits their contingent situation. These barriers are mainly at the ...

The Role of Social Software for Customer Co-Creation: Does It Change the Practice for Innovation?

This article investigates a customer co-creation project at the front end of the innovation process at a large well-known Italian food manufacturer, which is enabled by social media. The purpose is to shed light on the role of such technology in transforming the characteristics of the FEI, in terms of boundaries and knowledge distance: what type of innovation ideas – exploratory or exploitative – does the practice enable? Could social media be used to manage the explore-exploit paradox, thus transforming the practice into an ambidextrous one? The empirical analysis highlights that the investigated customer co-creation practice has evolved from the initial stage of idea exploitation to a stage in which both exploitation and exploration are simultaneously accomplished.