Mika Vanhala

The interaction of intellectual capital assets and knowledge management practices in organizational value creation

Purpose – Organizational performance is increasingly grounded on knowledge-related issues. The two key academic discussions addressing knowledge in organizations are the intellectual capital (IC) and knowledge management (KM) literatures. However, there are very few earlier studies systematically combining these approaches and demonstrating how IC assets and their management mechanisms might interact in organizational value creation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop and argue a theoretical model depicting the connections between IC, KM practices and organizational performance outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on IC and KM literatures to build a theoretical model on how intellectual asset assets and their management practices interact in producing organizational performance. Several conceptual models and related discussion on the interaction of IC and KM practices are put forth. Findings – Organizational value creation is based on both static (IC assets) and dynamic ...

USER MOTIVATION AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN IDEA CROWDSOURCING

We investigate how the propensity to trust, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation drive the intentions of individuals to share knowledge in idea crowdsourcing. Building on motivation theories and Uses & Gratifications (U&G) approach, we conducted a web-based survey within IdeasProject, an open innovation and brainstorming community dedicated to harvesting ideas. Based on a sample of 244 users, our research shows that the key driver of knowledge-sharing intentions is made up of two intrinsic motivations — social benefits and learning benefits. We also found that recognition from the host company affects intention to share knowledge. From the management point of view, the relative importance of social integrative benefits calls for better facilities available for users to be able to help each other in formulating and developing their ideas. Learning and creativity could be inspired by feedback from professionals and experts, while providing insight into technological advances and features dealing with the current tasks.

Knowledge management practices and innovation performance in Finland

Purpose – Recent empirical studies have suggested that knowledge-based issues are closely related to companies’ innovation performance. However, the majority of research seems to be focused either on static knowledge assets or knowledge processes such as knowledge creation. The purpose of this paper is to concentrate on the conscious and systematic managerial activities for dealing with knowledge in firms (i.e. knowledge management (KM) practices), which aim at innovation performance improvements through proactive management of knowledge assets. The study explores the impact that KM practices have on innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors provide empirical evidence on how various KM practices influence innovation performance. The results are based on survey data collected in Finland during fall 2013. The authors use partial least squares to test the hypothesized relationships between KM practices and innovation performance. Findings – The authors find that firms are capable of s...

The effect of HRM practices on impersonal organizational trust

Purpose – Organizations face an increasing need to foster trust. However, there are fewer opportunities for developing interpersonal trust and an evident need to establish complementary forms. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of various human resource management (HRM) practices on the impersonal dimensions of organizational trust.Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses are tested on a sample of 715 respondents from large corporations in the ICT and forest industries in Finland. Structural equation modelling was used.Findings – Employee trust in the whole organization is connected to perceptions of the fairness and functioning of HRM practices. Such practices can therefore be used in order to build the impersonal dimension of organizational trust.Research limitations/implications – Future studies should also include interpersonal dimensions of organizational trust. Another limitation is that datasets from different industries were merged: future studies should analyze data from the ...

The impact of knowledge management on job satisfaction

Purpose This paper aims to propose that knowledge management (KM) could be a way to nurture job satisfaction and examine how KM can increase individual employees’ job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model concerning the connections between five facets of KM (knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, knowledge creation, knowledge codification and knowledge retention) and job satisfaction is proposed. It is then empirically tested with a structural equation modelling partial least squares analysis of a survey data set of 824 observations, collected from the members of a Finnish municipal organisation. Findings Existence of KM processes in one’s working environment is significantly linked with high job satisfaction. Especially intra-organisational knowledge sharing seems to be a key KM process, promoting satisfaction with one’s job in most employee groups. Interestingly, significant knowledge-based promoters of job satisfaction differ as a function of job characteristics. Practical implications KM has a strong impact on employee job satisfaction, and therefore, managers are advised to implement KM activities in their organisations, not only for the sake of improving knowledge worker performance but also for improving their well-being at work. Originality/value This paper produces knowledge on a type of consequence of KM that has been largely unexplored in previous research, individual job satisfaction. Also, it promotes moving the KM literature to the next stage where the impact of KM practices is not explored as a “one size fits all” type of a phenomenon, but rather as a contingent and contextual issue.

Reasons for choosing mechanisms to protect knowledge and innovations

Purpose – Prior research has confirmed the usefulness of both formal and informal protection mechanisms for governing knowledge flows. However, there is lack of research on the motivation and needs driving firms in their choice of mechanisms for each situation. The aim of this paper is to examine the reasons for choosing formal or informal mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 209 companies engaged in R&D. A Partial Least Squares was used for the analyses. Findings – This study identifies statistically significant relationships between the protection need and the firms strategy. The results indicate that there is variance in the use of mechanisms when there is a specific motivation for seeking protection, and when the firm faces difficulties related to protection issues. Research limitations/implications – The data were gathered in a single country. The results may be different if practices in a culture based more on informal relations, with less efficient pa...

HRM practices, impersonal trust and organizational innovativeness

Purpose – Organizational processes that create conditions to facilitate employee innovativeness have become topical due to the constant demand for organizations to renew themselves. Research shows that human resource management (HRM) practices can been used to create such conditions, but also the important complementary role of organizational trust has been highlighted in this context. In particular, earlier studies have mostly focused on the concept of interpersonal trust. However, impersonal trust (the individual employee’s expectations about the employer organization’s capability and fairness) has recently been suggested to be an equally or even more relevant facilitator supporting the effect of HRM practices on organizational innovativeness. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses were tested with two large-scale quantitative studies from the forestry and information and communication technology industries in Finland. Structural equation modelling (with LIS...

Intellectual capital, knowledge management practices and firm performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the association of different configurations of intellectual capital (IC) and knowledge management practices (KMP) with firm performance. Do firms with different profiles concerning their overall levels of IC and KMP differ in terms of innovation and market performance? Design/methodology/approach First, the firms were distributed into four distinct profiles based on their overall level of IC and utilization of KMP. Then, the four different IC/KMP profiles were evaluated with regard to their innovation and market performance. Findings Consistent with the extant research, this study finds that the firms characterized with high levels of IC and high use of KMP are likely to outperform the firms with low overall levels of IC and KMP. On more interesting note, this study also demonstrates that firms characterized with high level of IC but only low utilization of KMP can match the innovation performance of the firms with high levels of IC and KMP. Practical implications While the results indicate that the level of IC alone could predict the innovation potential of the firm, the firms should use KMP to leverage the IC and to capitalize the knowledge potential. This result shows the merits of letting innovation flourish without strict managerial control, while pinpointing the relevance of knowledge management (KM) in exploitation of IC. Originality/value As one of the first attempts to merge the IC and KM approaches to find out which configurations could influence firm performance outcomes, this study provides the research community with valuable insights and sets the tone for further discussion.

Structure of intellectual capital – an international comparison

Purpose - Academics and practitioners around the world have shown interest in what constitutes the relevant intellectual capital (IC) in firms. However, studies have largely neglected to examine whether IC has identical or different structural elements in various parts of the world. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that country-specific institutional structures may impact the perception of IC, and empirically analyse whether differences exist between five countries drawing on the institutional theory. Design/methodology/approach - This study tests for the differences in the underlying categorizations of IC in a sample consisting of 708 firms across five countries. Confirmatory factor analysis and comparison of different possible IC models are conducted to empirically examine the IC structure. Findings - The results demonstrate that IC has predominantly the same underlying elements across the examined countries. However, trust capital in Finland and renewal capital in Serbia are structurally different compared to other countries. Research limitations/implications - Institutional theory and multinational corporate superculture can explain the similarity in the IC structures across countries. Specifically, globalized markets carry institutionalized rules, norms, and expectations for the participating firms; under the influence of this superculture, the firms begin to assimilate. Conversely, the differences suggest that some country- and culture-specific differences remain even during the transition to global markets. Originality/value - This study is among the first to question the assumption that IC has identical structural elements across the world, and merges theories of IC and institutions to explain the possible origins of these differences.

MISSION: POSSIBLE BUT SENSITIVE — KNOWLEDGE PROTECTION MECHANISMS SERVING DIFFERENT PURPOSES

Innovations have the potential to create value by generating rents (primary appropriability), or they can be used as background knowledge for further innovations and value creation (generative appropriability). Because these possibilities exist, organisations need to make strategic decisions on knowledge sharing with their partners in collaborative innovation. In best cases, primary and generative appropriability are complementarities rather than alternatives: Knowledge sharing with partners for new innovation could be made safer using formal and informal isolating appropriability mechanisms that improve controllability, thereby preserving rent generation possibilities and simultaneously allowing safe knowledge exchange. We use a quantitative sample of 209 Finnish firms to examine how different formal and informal appropriability mechanisms relate to value capture and creation, and whether these relationships are affected by the strategic goal to reduce imitation of competitors or to improve safe knowledge sharing to partners.