Nieves Lidia Díaz-Díaz

Technological knowledge assets in industrial firms

This research focuses on identifying and measuring the technological knowledge assets that constitute the basis of the knowledge management process and on the study of contextual factors that determine their use. To that end, a longitudinal study of 1,444 Spanish industrial firms between 1998 and 2000 was conducted using information gathered by the Survey of Business Strategies. The results enable us to identify technological knowledge assets with different levels of codification and to have a general view of how age, size and sector affect the use of those assets by Spanish industrial firms.

Human resource management and innovation in the Canary Islands: an ultra-peripheral region of the European Union

This study attempts to answer the question about how firms in an ultra-peripheral region innovate to compete in a global market when they often seem not to have the basic conditions to innovate identified in the literature. On that line, and based on the notion that firms in ultra-peripheral regions must recognise the value of their human capital in order to overcome the limitations typical of their social and geographical context, this research aimed to analyse the relationship between the human resource (HR) policy and innovation in an ultra-peripheral region of the European Union, namely the Canary Islands. The objective of this study is to identify the HR-related internal factors that can affect the innovation capability of firms. In particular, this paper considers the HR management policy, the formalisation of that policy in an HR plan, and job stability. To achieve this goal, an empirical study of 157 Canarian firms was carried out and arrived at the conclusion that high commitment human resource management (HRM) has a positive influence on organisational innovation in processes. The results also show that the formalisation of the HR policy in a plan, and job stability also increases innovation in processes.

The role of training to innovate in SMEs

The objective of this paper is to analyze the role of training to improve the knowledge required to innovate in SMEs. In particular, this research integrates the theoretical approaches of human resource management and knowledge management to focus on how training can be critical to articulate the organizational knowledge assets necessary to innovate. To achieve that objective, an empirical study was carried out on 139 SMEs and the main conclusion is that training per se has a negative effect on the innovative capacity of SMEs. Only when training interacts with the knowledge assets of the firm does its effect become positive and highly significant.

Technological knowledge assets and innovation

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of technological knowledge assets with different levels of codification on innovation capability from the resource- and knowledge-based view of the firm. To that end, a study of 1444 Spanish industrial firms was performed between 1998 and 2000, based on information provided by the Survey of Business Strategies (SBS). The results show that technological knowledge assets exert different levels of influence depending on their character. Thus, tacit assets exert more influence on firm innovation than other technological knowledge assets. Specifically, technological knowledge capabilities are the most significant during the three-year period of analysis.

Novelty of Innovation and the Effect of Existing and Recently Hired R&D Human Resources

The decision taken by firms to invest in innovation oriented activities is an important strategic issue closely linked to their knowledge management process, especially when that decision involves the renewal of the necessary knowledge to protect themselves from obsolescence and imitation by competitors. This paper aims to analyse the effect of existing and recently hired R&D human resources on product innovation as well as their interaction, focusing on the degree of novelty of innovation. The results of an empirical research among 965 Spanish firms show that, although existing and recently hired R&D human resources have a positive individual effect on innovation, their interaction has a negative effect on the firm’s product innovations. However, the results also highlight that the greatest likelihood of achieving product innovations with a higher degree of novelty occurs when the firm has a solid internal base of R&D human resources complemented by the hiring of R&D personnel.

Calidad de la auditoría, Second-Tier y tamaño: su efecto en las empresas fracasadas no cotizadas españolas

Este trabajo tiene por objetivo analizar el efecto del tamaño de la empresa auditada en la probabilidad de que el auditor incurra en fallo al emitir una opinión, lo que representa una menor calidad de la auditoría. Los resultados obtenidos para una muestra de empresas no cotizadas españolas en situación concursal, distinguiendo entre firmas Big4, Second-Tier y el resto, permiten concluir que existe un comportamiento diferenciado de las auditoras en función del tamaño de la empresa auditada. Así, las firmas Big4 y las Second Tier presentan una mayor calidad de la auditoría en las empresas de mayor dimensión respecto al resto de auditoras, lo cual refleja la importancia de la protección de la reputación del auditor sobre su posible dependencia de la empresa auditada. Por otro lado, los resultados revelan que las firmas Second-Tier presentan una mayor probabilidad de incurrir en fallo que el resto de auditores cuando se consideran empresas pequeñas; lo cual podría explicarse por su menor preocupación por el riesgo reputacional, considerando la menor visibilidad y riesgo de litigio de este tipo de empresas. No obstante, no se observa una peor calidad de las firmas Second-Tier cuando el fracaso es inminente.

Social capital and knowledge sharing in academic research teams

The purpose of this article is to analyse the role of social capital within academic research teams and its influence on knowledge sharing. An empirical study was carried out with 87 academic research teams at a Spanish university. The results show that internal ties have a positive effect on trust. Moreover, the results also reflect that both dimensions of social capital (internal ties and trust) have a positive and significant effect on research teams’ knowledge sharing. Therefore, the findings reveal that the network’s structure has a positive influence on the quality of relationships among academic researchers that favour knowledge sharing. Points for practitioners The results provide universities’ managers with a better understanding of internal social capital in academic research teams, which has important implications for researchers’ willingness to collaborate and share knowledge. Public university managers may use strategies to improve interdependence among research team members, favouring social relations among researchers. Thus, public universities should enhance research teams with stronger ties and high levels of trust that increase knowledge sharing.

Owners and employees wages: a question of rent appropriability

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to studuy how the owner identity affects the investment in human capital, measured by wage intensity, as well as the moderating effect of firm’s performance. Design/methodology/approach – A balanced panel of 1,266 Spanish firms that respond to the Survey of Business Strategies for a five-years period was used, which represents a total of 6,330 observations. The dynamic models are estimated using the general method of moments. Findings – The state ownership has a positive and significant effect on specific wage intensity. However, when ownership is in private hands – foreign shareholders, other companies-, the effect is significant but negative. In firms with state ownership, greater economic performance has a negative influence on human capital investment. The results also reveal that while privately owned firms – those with foreign shareholders – tend to invest less in human capital, that tendency diminishes when the firm obtains higher economic performance. Practic...