Jina Kang

Revisiting knowledge transfer: Effects of knowledge characteristics on organizational effort for knowledge transfer

This study analyzes the effects of knowledge characteristics on the extent of organizational effort for knowledge transfer. In this paper, three knowledge characteristics that affect organizational behavior for knowledge transfer are identified based on knowledge-based views and organizational learning theory: tacitness, difficulty, and the importance of knowledge. We establish three hypotheses on the effects of these three knowledge characteristics on the extent of effort for knowledge transfer (i.e., the frequency of contact with knowledge source), and provide empirical tests employing the dataset from project teams in a multinational consulting firm via the OLS model. Results show that tacitness, difficulty, and importance have positive effects on the frequency of contact with knowledge sources. This implies that firms exert more effort to acquire the knowledge when the knowledge is tacit, difficult, or important.

Does Partner Type Matter in R&D Collaboration for Product Innovation?

Most firms tend to utilise various types of R&D collaboration partners simultaneously and partnerships between different types of partners show different properties. Thus, the effect of R&D collaboration may vary depending on partner types. This study considers four partner types: competitors, customers, suppliers and universities. It empirically examines the effect of R&D collaboration with each type of partner on product innovation, employing the Korean Innovation Survey data. Results show that R&D collaborations with customers and universities have a positive effect on product innovation, whereas R&D collaborations with suppliers and competitors have an inverted-U shape relationship with product innovation. This result can provide an explanation to the chaotic results of previous research and assist managers in selecting appropriate R&D partner.

Testing impact of knowledge characteristics and relationship ties on project performance

– The aim of this paper is to empirically test and find the correlation between knowledge characteristics and relationship ties on project performance., – Data were collected via personal interviews based on a structured survey of project managers in a knowledge‐intensive firm. The data were analyzed using a multiple regression model., – The results show that project performance was positively related to the frequency and closeness of source, and difficulty of the “knowledge element” described in the survey. Interestingly, against the prevalent view, the source and the level of tacitness of the knowledge element were not found to be significant., – Data are limited to specific corporate setting and variables are not exhaustive, despite the fact that this study includes the most theoretically interesting variables. One implication is that strong ties to a knowledge element source are important for project success, but distinctions between internal and external sources, and degree of codification, are not., – This study also implies that, in this day and age of knowledge management and chief knowledge officers, most of the important knowledge may already have been codified inside the firm, thus alleviating the past focus on transfer of tacit knowledge. This fact also implies that firms that are left behind in terms of managing their knowledge inside the firm stand to lose a lot more since the other firms are managing their own knowledge base better., – This paper incorporates and empirically tests most of the variables considered important to theoreticians and practitioners in the realm of knowledge management and network theory. The latter theory is important in the field of knowledge management because it offers the link and medium in which knowledge travels and transfers.

External technology acquisition: a double-edged sword

Firms are known to actively utilise external technology acquisition to update and extend their technological knowledge base. Although external technology acquisition has various advantages, it should be considered as a double-edged sword as it also has some inherent negative aspects. This study examines the role of external technology acquisition to investigate whether external technology acquisition is complementary or substitutive to internal R&D activities in creating innovation. The results show that external technology acquisition has an inverted U-shaped relationship with subsequent technology innovation performance, and that is not complementary to internal R&D activities. We thus confirm that external technology acquisition has to be seen as a double-edged sword and that managers need to be aware of the potentially negative effects of strong diversity of the firms external technology acquisition sources on internal R&D and subsequent innovation performance.

Entry conditions, firm strategies and their relationships to the innovation performance of an emerging green industry: The case of the solar cell industry

Summary This paper examines the multidimensional effects of entry conditions and firm strategies in the emerging solar cell industry. It extends prior research on entry conditions, specifically entry timing and entry size. There has been a noteworthy lack of empirical evidence on the relationship between entry conditions and firm strategies. To fill the gaps in extant research on entry conditions, this paper investigates whether entry timing and size have any effect on innovation performance, and how firm strategies, such as collaboration and technology portfolio after entry, strengthen or weaken these effects. Results suggest that entering the market earlier than competitors consistently works more beneficially for innovation performance than does firm size. Furthermore, empirical results reveal that after market entrance, collaboration strategy of the firm is positively related to innovation performance. However, any positive effect of collaboration is relatively diminished for early entrants. In contrast, the effect holds true for late entrants who require aggressive collaboration. Building a technology portfolio has a negative relationship on innovation performance, and such influence is more evident in late entrants.

Unravelling the link between technological M&A and innovation performance using the concept of relative absorptive capacity

Technological merger and acquisition (M&A) has become an increasingly popular mode of innovation for firms. We investigate the determinants of innovation creation through technological M&As. Based on the concept of relative absorptive capacity, the study examines how the acquiring firm absorbs and assimilates the knowledge of the acquired firm and creates innovation. Specifically, the technological M&As are examined by presenting dyadic perspective variables, including technological similarity and technological digestibility which affect the assimilation, transformation, and exploitation processes of the absorptive capacity. We additionally investigate the role of M&A experience as a moderator of dyadic characteristics and innovation performance of technological M&As. Two hundred and twelve cases of technological M&As in the biopharmaceutical industry from 1993 to 2007 are investigated using zero-inflated negative binomial regression and negative binomial regression. The findings confirm a positive effect of acquiring small firms having a modest level of similar knowledge on post-M&A innovation performance. Moreover, this study highlights the importance of the dyadic perspective in advancing the understanding of technological M&A.

Reconfiguring the firm’s core technological portfolio through open innovation: focusing on technological M & A

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of open innovation, especially focusing on technological M&A, on subsequent innovation and changes to the firm’s core technological portfolio. Design/methodology/approach The study suggests three types of core technological areas, based on prior focus and experience in technological categories. These are 1) the existing core area, in which the acquirer firm retains its knowledge and expertise, 2) the enhanced core area, where knowledge and expertise in the acquirer firm’s insufficient areas are strengthened, and 3) the new core area, i.e. new knowledge fields in which the acquirer firm ventures into. The study then analyzes the effects of two key knowledge characteristics of the target firm, similarity and complementarity, on post-M&A innovation outcomes in each of the three core technological areas. Findings The results confirm that while none of the investigated knowledge characteristics of the target firm is advantageous for post-M&A innovation outcomes in existing core areas, similarity of the target firm does facilitate post-M&A innovation outcomes in enhanced core areas. Moreover, the results confirm that complementarity of the target firm is beneficial for post-M&A innovation outcomes in new core areas. Originality/value The study explains the reconfiguration mechanism of a firm’s core technological portfolio. It also suggests an extended framework to analyze innovation outcomes in more detail. Moreover, the study helps to explain why most M&As result in failure.

Profiting from Innovations: The Role of New Game Strategies in the Case of Lipitor of the US Pharmaceutical Industry

In exploring why innovators often do not profit from their innovations, researchers concentrate on innovators versus imitators and the extent to which owners of complementary assets capture profits from innovations. The literature provides scant attention to factors that sap profits from innovations. This paper argues that an innovators positioning vis-a-vis customers, suppliers, complementors, and other co-opetitors plays a critical role in the innovators profitability. The article explores how an innovator can use new game strategies to better positioning, thus capturing rents from innovations and enabling further innovations in the future. The study examines the case of Lipitor, one of the worlds best-selling drug, to illustrate how positioning can play in a firms ability to profit from its innovations.

Is high-quality knowledge always beneficial? Knowledge overlap and innovation performance in technological mergers and acquisitions

Abstract This research analyses the effects of the knowledge overlap between acquirer and target firms on the performance of technological mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Extending previous research that has focused on the quantitative characteristics of knowledge, this research introduces a framework capturing the effects of both the quantity and quality of knowledge in overlapped and nonoverlapped parts of the knowledge base on subsequent innovation performance. Analyzing a data set of 192 technological M&As of 162 high-technology firms from 2001 to 2009, the results show that a high quality of overlapped knowledge has a positive effect on subsequent innovation performance, while the effect is negative for nonoverlapped knowledge quality. In addition, this research investigates the influence of the knowledge quantity on subsequent innovation performance. The implication of this research is that the knowledge overlap in technological M&As is essential for acquiring high-quality knowledge from the target firm and for improving innovation performance.

The effects of ambidextrous alliances on product innovation

Abstract With increasing levels of industrial complexity and advantages of economies of scale, individual firms often find it difficult to deal with every aspect of their business activities. Consequently, firms form alliances with other organizations to overcome the barrier of limited resources. This article, employing the exploration and exploitation lens, classifies alliances according to their objectives and investigates their impacts on providing innovative products to customers. Using data from a nationwide innovation survey of Korean manufacturing firms, we show that exploratory alliances positively affect firms’ radical product innovation while exploitative alliances positively affect firms’ incremental product innovation. More importantly, we confirm the interaction effect between exploratory alliances and exploitative alliances, which contributes to both radical and incremental innovation. This study highlights the importance of ambidexterity in implementing alliances which contribute to new product development.