Ari Jantunen

Knowledge‐processing capabilities and innovative performance: an empirical study

Purpose – Knowledge‐based assets and organizational learning capabilities are recognized to be critical for firms innovation activities. The process of creating new knowledge requires acquiring useful data and information, and utilizing it effectively in its internal innovation activities. To manage external knowledge, firms need absorptive capacity. The purpose of this study is to present the concept of the firms absorptive capacity as a multidimensional, dynamic construct consisting of capabilities for organizational knowledge processing.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on results from a large‐scale survey. The empirical data used in the study comprises of 217 Finnish firms from seven different industry sectors. The hypotheses were tested by means of hierarchical linear regression analysis.Findings – The results of the empirical tests give some support to the view that it is not only the firms knowledge stock but also its knowledge flows that are crucial for sustaining innovative perform...

Managing knowledge creation and sharing – scenarios and dynamic capabilities in inter‐industrial knowledge networks

Organizations are finding it more and more difficult to stay in balance with the pace of change. The continuous rise of business opportunities and the increase in global competition demands proactive knowledge management tools, new capabilities and an ability to renew and reconfigure existing capabilities. This paper presents a framework of the scenario process as a management tool for creating and sharing future‐oriented tacit knowledge in knowledge networks and describes how dynamic capabilities can be developed in view of future scenarios. The theoretical framework was tested in an inter‐industrial research project resulting in very promising findings about managing tacit, future‐oriented knowledge.

The Role Of Dynamic Capabilities In Developing Innovation-Related Capabilities

The purpose of this study is to explore the role dynamic capabilities have in the development of innovation-related operational capabilities. As dynamic capabilities by nature are processes and practices that advocate change, we aim to uncover the actual practices through which change strategies are implemented. Our research includes a single case study from the publishing industry. Building on a data set of interviews and secondary data we track down the development of the capabilities over the time period of five years. The results of the study imply that dynamic capabilities act as a catalyst and spark off the mechanisms of operational capability development. Our study demonstrates how different types of dynamic capabilities (sensing, seizing and reconfiguring) all have an impact of the development of market and technological capabilities.

Enabling Open Innovation Process Through Interactive Methods: Scenarios and Group Decision Support Systems

To be able to utilise opportunities in a radically changing business environment, various organisations are transforming their practices towards open innovation processes. Openness does not, however, mean any kind of looseness in innovation management but calls for coordination and facilitation. The challenge for the management in the open innovation process is to find out the appropriate methods and practices for the utilisation of external knowledge resources. One of the first attempts, this study brings two widely utilised innovation management methods — scenarios and the group decision support system (GDSS) — to the open innovation context and suggests guidelines for the management of the open innovation process in an inter-organisational context.

Coping with uncertainty – exploration, exploitation, and collaboration in R&D

This paper studies the formation of and the motives for research and development (R&D) activities. In it, we explore the linkages between explorative and exploitative R&D activities and the different types of governance structures firms use when organising R&D. Additionally, we analyse the relationship between different kinds of firm-external uncertainties arising from the operating environments and the organisation of R&D activities. Finally, we scrutinise the impact of the collaboration mode on a firm’s innovative performance, and stress the important role of knowledge sharing as a generator of success in innovative performance. We employ survey data from our sample of 299 Finnish companies. The findings indicate that a firm’s choice of R&D governance structure is partly affected by the selection of an explorative or exploitative strategy, which in turn depends on the degree of firm-internal uncertainty. External dynamism is an additional factor affecting the choice of the preferred governance structure.

ADOPTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE INNOVATION WITHIN ORGANIZATION — AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF TQM METAMORPHOSIS

Little research has been done on the adoption and implementation of administrative innovation and its diffusion within the organization. In our study we explore this in the context of Total Quality Management in a large, global company. The analysis is based on extensive historical data and in-depth interviews. Our findings highlight the role of internal change agents in the diffusion process within the firm. We also open up the dynamics of the adoption process and illustrate how the adopted administrative innovation is transformed during the adoption and implementation phases.

Managerial cognition and dominant logic in innovation management: empirical study in media industry

Increasing number of innovation and organisational researchers have suggested more emphasis on socio-psychological aspects of innovation and management processes such as managerial attitudes and beliefs, sense-making capabilities, and individual and shared representations affecting organisational management processes. Researchers have become increasingly interested in cognitive drivers of innovation management. It has argued that innovation is a socio-cognitive process involving social as well as cognitive aspects, including an interactive motivated social context (e.g., firm) and representations of knowledge of external reality (i.e., shared cognitions). Shared cognitive maps of the management store the dominant logic of the firm that channels attention to organisational activities, e.g., innovation activities, and shape the strategy of the firm. The main argument of the study is that the dominant logic and innovation activities do not have a direct independent impact on business performance, but their interaction has. The problem is approached by taking the relationship between the firms dominant logic and innovation activities and further effects on innovation outcomes under scrutiny among the media industry firms.

Proactiveness and Corporate Social Performance in the Global Forest Industry

SUMMARY Companies involved in natural resource extraction, such as forestry, have a profound impact on the environments in which they operate. Therefore, active engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) by managing close relationships with key stakeholder groups, i.e., governments, communities, environmental NGOs, and employees have become necessary to maintain their social license to operate. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that proactiveness has a positive influence on the companys corporate social performance (CSP). Proactiveness can act as a stance towards CSP, and further it may be a precondition to gain a competitive advantage by investing in CSR. International survey data from managers in 60 forest industry companies in different continents is used to empirically test the hypothesis. A positive impact of companys proactiveness on CSP was found using the regression analysis. Results also show that employees and managers in a proactive company more often take the initiative to improve their CSP compared to the employees and managers in less proactive companies.

Valuing technological capabilities ? the strategic options perspective

Achieving the best performance presupposes the continuous upgrading of tools for performance analyses. The traditional tools that have their roots in accounting calculations and process engineering reactively emphasise ex post analyses, whereas obtaining and sustaining business excellence proactively needs an ex ante orientation. A recent method enabling future orientation in the strategic performance analysis toolkit is the Real Options Approach (ROA), which has its roots in finance. In the paper, we look at the pros and cons of using this approach when dealing with strategic management issues that, in turn, are the bases for successful performance in a turbulent environment. By means of technology management illustrations, we emphasise the strategic advantages of the real/strategic options. As a theoretical focal point, we use the dynamic capability view of the firm that is suitable when coping with tangible and, more importantly, intangible resources and capabilities. In addition, a numerical example is introduced to demonstrate how a new capability can be valuated.

Cognition of Experts and Top Managers about the Changes in Innovation Space.

The innovation space has become more complex and knowledge-intensive. As a result, it is increasingly important to see innovations as knowledge that is embodied in learning and technical and organisational knowledge bases. However, in processes such as innovation development, individuals make sense of it and utilise existing knowledge differently when making decisions about which design of new technology to adopt and develop. This paper highlights the importance of a certain groups cognition in the recognition of new innovations and business opportunities, and presents a method to explore the cognition of different groups. In this study based on a 2-year research project, two different working groups assessed the future innovation and business opportunities in the field of distributed energy generation. Through analysing the results and by presenting the potential method ? the heuristic scenario method ? to explore cognition in innovation processes, this paper helps to fill the lack of methodologies in cognition research.