Maria D. Moreno-Luzon

The Role of Non-Structural and Informal Mechanisms of Integration and Coordination as Forces in Knowledge Creation

This study focuses on the analysis of the influence of organizational design variables on the creation of knowledge within the firm. The impact that enablers have on knowledge creation has been widely demonstrated and established by the relevant literature. Using this assumption as a starting point, this study will consider and explore the role that mechanisms of integration and coordination play in the creation of knowledge, considering enablers as intermediate variables. In this way, we can create a model of the relationships between these variables and contrast them with an empirical investigation of a quantitative nature, using a sample of 167 large Spanish firms. Despite the fact that the theoretical framework in question is characterized by a direct and positive connection between the standardization of work processes and knowledge creation, the results suggest that the relation is not significant. All the other coordination mechanisms, however, do have a significant influence on the creation of knowledge: standardization of skills through the autonomy enabler; standardization of outputs through intention; interventions for socialization through intention and trust and commitment; and, lastly, mutual adjustment whose influence is found in redundancy and variety.

TQM, innovation and the role of cultural change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to better understand the influence of total quality management (TQM) practices on incremental and radical innovation, examining the role of diverse cultural change as a mediator, particularly in firms where ever‐increasing competitive pressure demands a combination of quality and innovation.Design/methodology/approach – From previous research on the influence of TQM practices on innovation, the paper proposes a model which is tested through a survey carried out on a sample of 72 Spanish firms that have been drastically hit by competition from Asian companies, achieving a 51.42 percent valid return rate.Findings – None of the sets of TQM practices directly affects radical innovation, while all of them have a significant and positive relationship with incremental innovation. However, when the paper introduces cultural change as a mediating factor, the models goodness of fit improves substantially, and all the relations are significant.Research limitations/implications...

Driving human resources towards quality and innovation in a highly competitive environment

Purpose - – Intense competitive environments demand the combination of quality and innovation. The potential of human resource management practices within the total quality framework for promoting innovation is under debate, particularly in relation to radical innovation. The purpose of this paper is to enhance and extend the analysis of the role of cultural change as a mediator. Design/methodology/approach - – The empirical study examines a sample of Spanish firms in highly competitive environments in their search for a combination of quality and innovation. To this end, the investigation includes structural equation analysis through partial least square path modelling. Findings - – According to the results, the cultural change towards exploitation and exploration brought about by the application of these practices has a positive and significant relationship with incremental innovation. The findings indicate that incremental innovation has a positive and significant effect on radical innovation as well. This outcome challenges a well-known phenomenon: the so-called “success trap”. Practical implications - – The study helps to understand how human resource management practices within a total quality framework can be designed and implemented as a means of generating synergies between the two fields. Originality/value - – This study adds two original contributions to the current dialogue on the implications of total quality management for innovation: it reveals the moderating role of cultural change for exploitation and exploration, and pinpoints the role of incremental innovation in facilitating radical innovation within the TQM framework.

Driving organisational ambidexterity through process management. The key role of cultural change

There is an intense debate in the literature on the impact of process management on innovation, and the division of opinions becomes particularly apparent with regard to radical innovation. Furthermore, organisational ambidexterity, the organisational capability to undertake incremental as well as radical innovation activities, has been underlined as a key source of competitiveness. In this article, we analyse how the cultural divergence driven by process management can affect organisational ambidexterity. Through a survey carried out on a sample of Spanish firms in the furniture and textile sectors, both of which have been drastically hit by competition from Asian firms, we conclude that the cultural context created by process management practices applied in a total quality management framework, which embraces exploitation along with exploration values, acts as a platform for developing organisational ambidexterity. Since organisational ambidexterity constitutes the capability of undertaking a rich variety of learning and innovation activities, these results could also have significant implications for practitioners, pointing to the need for close coordination between different functional areas in order to manage cultural change.

Construction and Validation of Measurement Scales for Enablers of Knowledge Creation

The aim of this study is to design and validate different scales for measuring enablers or the forces behind knowledge creation. Due to their breadth and integrative nature, we have based our research fundamentally on the ideas proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), later developed by Nonaka, Toyama, and Konno (2000) and Von Krogh, Ichijo, and Nonaka (2000), on the following enablers: intention or common goal, autonomy, fluctuation and creative chaos, redundancy, variety, trust, and commitment. Having generated a battery of 24 items using the definitions proposed by these and other relevant authors, the psychometric properties of reliability and validity were tested (convergent and discriminate). The sample used in this study was taken from 167 large Spanish firms.

The Integration of the Supply Chain as a Dynamic Capability for Sustainability: The Case of an Innovative Organic Company

Numerous research projects have demonstrated that a firm’s ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competencies to adapt to changes in its environment is a key capability for its competitiveness. However, in the case of developing the capabilities needed to implement innovation, we have found that the ability to integrate knowledge into the supply chain is also crucial since it is an essential requirement for bringing in technological change and product innovation. The purpose of this chapter is to understand the role of supplier integration in the implementation of radical innovation. First, we propose a theoretical model to connect supplier integration as a dynamic capability to ordinary routines. Second, we study the connection between supplier integration and radical innovation through a case study in an innovative firm in the organic agro-food industry. Our analysis reveals that Herbes del Moli, the case under study, would be unable to survive and develop without the integration of the knowledge generated in the company and its painstaking and ongoing partnership with its suppliers to assimilate this knowledge throughout its supply chain. This discussion is relevant in management literature as it involves applying the dynamic capabilities approach to supply chain integration in order to understand the limitations and demands of radical innovation.

Quality and Innovation in the Organic Agro-Food Sector: Threats and Opportunities of Social and Managerial Innovation

This study seeks to understand how innovation in the organic agro-food sector has evolved, studying the main challenges facing the sector as a consequence of its growth. Through the study and analysis of literature we reflect on the threats and opportunities facing the sector. We also used two expert panels to help us cross-reference and complete the information available from previous studies. The organic agro-food sector was born as a social and radical innovation based on specific values ​​and principles, which include respect for nature and sustainability, ecology, no pollution, equity and a close relationship with consumers. In this chapter, we explain how regulations and the interplay of different actors have sustained the sharp growth and development of the sector, mainly in the USA and Europe. However, the sector is currently facing major challenges, due precisely to this sharp growth. We identify the main challenges as the need to develop an ambidextrous capability, balancing exploration and exploitation, together with a second group of challenges, related to integrating formal and informal rules as well as new actors in the sector. There is a need to maintain the core values of the organic agro-food sector and its genuine social differentiation as well as to develop the standards and regulations required to maintain the high levels of food safety and quality of organic agro-food, given that nowadays it is distributed in supermarkets and major chains, and is consumed by a new type of customer. New actors in the organic agro-food sector (conventional distribution, mass consumers, and international traders) have been attracted by the sector’s growth. This means rules and requirements are needed to create certainty in economic activity and international trade. Institutional change constitutes a crucial component to secure the future development of the sector. We have seen that although these challenges arise from the social and economic trends that the sector is facing, there are also opportunities linked to all of them. Looking at the sector as a whole, the innovation trend has changed from paradigmatic, value-based, social and radical innovation to one of incremental managerial innovation aimed at overcoming the challenges associated with growth.

Organizational Legitimacy and Stakeholder Trust in the Organization: A Feed-Forward Relationship

The main goal of this study is to enlarge the understanding of the concept of legitimacy. In recent decades, organizational legitimacy has received a great deal of attention from researchers who have tried to establish how organizations acquire, manage, and use it. However, there is still no conceptual agreement on how organizational legitimacy should be understood and how it can be measured. This reflects the complexity in the literature about understanding this phenomenon and suggests research opportunities. This chapter aims to strengthen the understanding of the role legitimacy plays in organizations by reviewing the related literature and analyzing the relationship between legitimacy and trust. Our findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between these two concepts. Moreover, we conclude that legitimacy can be achieved in two different ways: the first via trust and the second via control. In the first instance, we found a double-loop relationship between legitimacy and trust, generating a feed-forward relationship, given that both of these concepts mutually reinforce each other. In the second instance, there is a single-loop relationship because legitimacy based on control improves stakeholders’ trust in the organization. However, there is no reciprocal impact given that the legalistic remedies used are, in fact, the substitutes of trust.

The Contribution of TQM to Organizational Ambidexterity: The State of the Art and Promising Research Streams

The purpose of this chapter is to present the state of the art of research on the impact of TQM implementation on organizational ambidexterity. The widespread diffusion of TQM in organizations in all sectors and the already established importance of ambidextrous capability for achieving long-term competitiveness make understanding the connection between both fields a worthwhile objective. We underline the need to include in the analysis the broad and complex nature of TQM. Due to the interactions between its principles and practices, total quality management can act as a platform in creating an ambidextrous organizational context. We also underline the importance of clarity in research on the specific quality management approach, and of the treatment of the ambidexterity concept, which is subject to substantial variability both in relation to the type of ambidexterity selected, and because measurement and scales can differ widely. We conclude by highlighting the role of cultural change brought about by TQM for generating organizational ambidexterity as a future promising research stream.

TQM and Innovation: Controversial Issues Surrounding the Impact of Formalization over Radical Innovation

The purpose of this chapter is to better understand the influence of total quality management (TQM) practices on innovation, examining the conflicting issues that surround the impact of process management implementation and the effects of subsequent formalization on radical innovation. We consider several arguments that appear in the literature, as well as empirical research findings on this topic, discussing how TQM can stimulate a context that favors innovation, putting all the experience and competences of the firm at the service of innovation goals, or conversely, considering the potential barriers that process management and formalization can build against radical innovation. An extensive review of the literature leads us to conclude that appropriately applied TQM, and particularly process management, is capable of fostering incremental innovation and does not hamper radical innovation, although consideration must be given to adapting TQM programs to particular circumstances, such as uncertain and rapidly changing environments. Further research is needed to garner a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of leadership decision-making in terms of change and adaptation, as well as the role of possible mediating factors in the relationship between TQM and innovation.