Gabriele Santoro

How MNC’s subsidiaries may improve their innovative performance? The role of external sources and knowledge management capabilities

Purpose This paper aims at exploring the effect of knowledge management (KM) practices on the relationship between external research and development (R&D) and innovative performance. The authors argue that the firms which develop and possess superior KM capabilities have the ability to better manage external knowledge and combine it with the internal one. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a sample of 117 European MNC subsidiaries. An OLS regression analysis was carried out to evaluate the moderator effect of KM on the relationship between external R&D and innovative performance. Findings The authors found positive evidences in favor of a moderator effect of KM. This means that subsidiaries with superior KM capabilities are more effective in using external R&D, augmenting the magnitude of their external sources of knowledge and, consequently, improving their innovative performance. Practical implications Managerially speaking, both corporate and subsidiaries’ managers need to understand the relevance of managing knowledge effectively and efficiently at the subsidiary level. Corporate managers need to allocate more resources (both financial and managerial) to the subsidiaries that are active in knowledge transfer and sharing, while subsidiaries managers need to implement practically the KM tools and processes at the subsidiary organizational level to improve subsidiary’s innovative performance. Originality/value This paper contributes mainly to the KM field, highlighting the importance of KM at the subsidiary level, whereas most of previous studies focus on different units of analysis.

Triggering open service innovation through social media networks

With the digital and technological transformation, firms tend to be more open to new collaborative innovation approaches. Customers are considered not just the final consumers of a product but innovation partners. Consumers exchange their ideas with firms using predominantly social media networks (SMNs). However regardless the boost of the use of SMNs to generate innovative ideas, the involvement of these digital tools in the open innovation (OI) model needs to be explored more. Few studies have already researched the benefits of the SMNs in the innovation process of manufacturing industry but nobody has quantitatively explored these benefits in the service one. Therefore, the research fulfils the gap in the literature, measuring the relationship between users’ generated ideas and the OI model in the service industry. An empirical study has been conducted on a sample of 374 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the service industry in UK. Data were collected by administrating an online questionnaire and were analysed by structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings show an academic aftermath by acting as trailblazer for evaluating the effect of open innovation on competitiveness of SMEs. Finally, academic and managerial implications were provided in addition to limits and further research.

External knowledge sourcing and new product development: Evidence from the Italian food and beverage industry

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of external knowledge in the innovation process of firms in the food and beverage (F&B) industry and the effects of two external knowledge sourcing modes on new product development (NPD) performance. Design/methodology/approach The paper applies a quantitative approach, relying on data from 157 Italian firms operating in the F&B industry to test the hypotheses through OLS regression models. Findings Results suggest that the surveyed firms actively engage in open innovation with strong ties with market-based sources. Moreover, the authors found that market-based sources are associated with income from incremental innovation and time to market, while science-based sources are associated with income from radical innovation. Finally, the authors found that the R&D intensity enhances the benefits of the above external knowledge sourcing modes. Originality/value Despite the large amount of studies assessing the effects of external knowledge sourcing on performance in the open innovation field, few studies focused on a specific industry, especially with regard to F&B. Moreover, this paper considers different types of NPD performance measures given that different external knowledge sourcing modes exert different effects.

HR practices for explorative and exploitative alliances in smart cities: Evidences from smart city managers’ perspective

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how multinational enterprises (MNEs) manage human resources (HR) in explorative and exploitative alliances in smart city projects (SCPs).,In this paper, the authors adopt an explorative and qualitative approach based on multiple case studies thanks to the interviews with 21 smart city managers of MNEs who are deeply involved in SCPs.,The authors found that MNEs use many different partnerships and “temporal separation” in many cities all around the world in order to maximize the benefits of both exploration and exploitation. According to the aim of the project, MNEs implemented different HR practices intentionally targeted toward managing social relations among internal and external employees involved in SCPs.,The authors highlighted that MNEs tend to develop different ties among employees and external partners and to use different HR practices according to the nature and to the aim of the alliances. Thus, the development of human resource management systems becomes crucial in supporting organizational ambidexterity through alliances.,This paper gives useful insights in improving the effectiveness of MNEs in SCPs. Due to the business opportunities arising from the application of ICT and technological innovation to urban services, MNEs are becoming an important player in smart cities. Increasing the effectiveness of the SCPs leads faster to more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable cities.,The development of alliances has a key role in strengthening and complementing firms’ exploration and exploitation agendas in SCPs. Thus, this paper provides guidelines to MNEs in order to adapt HR practices and to rethink the role of HR within and across corporate boundaries in an emergent context of analysis.

Dual relational embeddedness and knowledge transfer in European multinational corporations and subsidiaries

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the level of subsidiaries’ internal and external relational embeddedness and the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer. More specifically, the aim is to explore dual embeddedness of subsidiaries involved in the knowledge transfer process within multinational corporations’ (MNCs) network. Design/methodology/approach The authors empirically analyse 165 European subsidiaries to demonstrate the crucial role of dual relational embeddedness in the transfer of knowledge within MNCs. Data were collected via a close-ended questionnaire and processed through an ordinary least squares regression model. Findings Results show that internal embeddedness directly and positively influences the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer, whereas external embeddedness does not. Notwithstanding, a higher level of both types of embeddedness – known as dual embeddedness – generates multiplicative and positive effects on the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer. Practical implications Best practices and relevant knowledge follow a reverse transfer of knowledge from the subsidiaries to the internal MNC network that is facilitated by the relational embeddedness of subsidiaries. This has resulted in developing a dual embeddedness, which introduces new routines and scripts, as well as more relational links. Originality/value The research emphasises the relevance of the knowledge transfer process in multiple directions, evoking the central role of dual-embedded subsidiaries.

Social media as tool for facilitating knowledge creation and innovation in small and medium enterprises

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of social media usage on four knowledge creation processes, namely socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation, and innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach A sample of 96 SMEs has been used to gather data through a standardised questionnaire and test the hypotheses through OLS regression models. Findings The results indicate that social media influence positively three out of four knowledge creation processes and that they help to foster the innovation process. Originality/value From a theoretical perspective, the study contributes to literature considering a specific digital tool and its effect on knowledge creation and innovation. In fact, a few studies have considered the impact of social media usage on other variables, such as ROI and productivity, but never on knowledge creation and innovation through a quantitative study. From a managerial perspective, the research suggests managers to implement and involve social media within business and innovation processes.

The role of public-private partnerships in developing open social innovation: the case of GoogleGlass4Lis

Openness in innovation has become a common practice to achieve effective and radical changes. Recently, its key features have been juxtaposed to social sector. In this context, the aim of this paper is to understand how openness can be useful in satisfying a social need. In particular, we analyse the public-private partnership tool, useful to merge the public interest and competencies and technologies of the private organisations, focusing on the alliance management aspect. In this framework, this work contributes to develop the recent topic of open social innovation with an in-depth case study.

Knowledge exploration and ICT knowledge exploitation through human resource management: A study of Italian firms

The purpose of the study is to assess the relationships among human resource management (HRM), information and communication technology (ICT), knowledge exploitation and knowledge exploration.,To reach the study’s goal, The authors applied a quantitative methodology involving ordinary least squares on a sample of 129 Italian firms.,Results confirm a direct and significant effect of HRM practices on knowledge exploration and a moderation effect of ICT knowledge exploitation on the relationship between HRM practices and knowledge exploration.,The relationship between knowledge management (KM) and HRM is relevant given that HRM can affect organizational culture and the management of strategic knowledge within firms, which is a primary resource to achieve better positioning in the markets. Nevertheless, the implicit link between KM and HRM has been theoretically suggested, but it requires further exploration, in particular through quantitative analysis.