Patrocinio Zaragoza-Sáez

Organizational structure features supporting knowledge management processes

Purpose – The idea that knowledge management can be a potential source of competitive advantage has gained strength in the last few years. However, a number of business actions are needed to generate an appropriate environment and infrastructure for knowledge creation, transfer and application. Among these actions there stands out the design of an organizational structure, the link of which with knowledge management is the main concern here. More specifically, the present paper has as its aim to identify the characteristics of organizational structure that facilitate the development of knowledge management processes.Design/methodology/approach – The research strategy used to achieve this aim is the multiple case study method, which has been applied to six Spanish firms of recognized international prestige characterized by their excellence and proactivity in matters of knowledge.Findings – In general terms, the results show that these companies adopt flexible, increasingly flat organizational forms with fe...

Hotel Performance and Agglomeration of Tourist Districts

Marco-Lajara B., Claver-Cortés E., Úbeda-García M. and Zaragoza-Sáez P. C. Hotel performance and agglomeration of tourist districts. Regional Studies. This paper measures the impact on profitability of the geographical area where the vacation hotels of the Spanish Mediterranean are situated. It places a special emphasis on analysing the tourist districts existing in this coastal Spanish area and the extent to which the degree of business agglomeration at each destination affects hotel profit. Due to the characteristics of the service sector, and after a revision of the agglomeration literature, a ‘U’-shaped relationship is hypothesized between these two variables. With data of about 1869 hotels belonging to 113 tourist districts, results support the hypothesis and partially the theory of tourist districts.

Intellectual and environmental capital

Purpose – Faced with increasing environmental problems, traditional methods for transmitting information regarding corporate environmental actions are insufficient. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to suggest the environmental capital report, the knowledge map and the balanced scorecard as alternative instruments to provide the environmental information needed to develop internal corporate activity and meet the requirements of society.Design/methodology/approach – A practical approach is applied to facilitate understanding of some sections of these tools, analysing the GRI reports of certain environmentally proactive firms.Findings – The findings show that the environmental information provided relates mainly to collaborations established with stakeholders and to the development of internal processes aimed at preserving and protecting the environment. Accordingly, it could be said that the environmental capital report proposed in this paper seems to be materialized in the GRI report. Moreover, th...

Relational capital inside multinationals

Linking the knowledge-based view, the multinational theory and the intellectual capital-based view of the firm, this paper seeks to identify the main activities belonging to the relational capital of multinationals and the extent to which they contribute to knowledge development and transfer between their different subsidiaries. Six multinational and knowledge-intensive firms placed in Spain have been analysed through a qualitative research based on a multiple case-study. Its findings show the main relational activities that facilitate knowledge flows between the different units of a multinational. These activities are classified into four categories: relational structures (work teams, communities of practices, transnational teams, centres of excellence), tools (information and communication technologies, internal communication and publications), practices (expatriates) and socialisation. Tacit knowledge, as well as the idiosyncratic nature that most of them have, makes the relational capital of the firms studied become a source of competitive advantage.

Intellectual capital in family firms: human capital identification and measurement

Purpose – Based on the literature devoted to family firms and the intellectual capital-based view of the firm, the purpose of this paper is not only to identify the most important human capital intangibles owned by family firms but also to show a number of indicators that can help measure them. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case-study-based research approach was adopted taking as reference: 25 family firms belonging to different sectors; previous works existing in the literature; and the intellectus model. Findings – The present study identifies ten intangibles associated with the human capital of family firms and shows 60 indicators that can be used to measure them. It additionally provides empirical evidence and gives examples of these intangibles through the analysis of 25 international family firms. Research limitations/implications – The difficulty in collecting all the human capital intangibles of family firms; the problems associated with the creation of accurate indicators; and those...

Toward Organizational Ambidexterity in the Hotel Industry The Role of Human Resources

A few years ago and coinciding with the dilemma posed by March about the contradictions involved in exploration and exploitation learning, we saw the emergence of the “Organizational Ambidexterity” (OA) concept as a metaphor to define organizations that are able to develop exploitation and exploration learning at the same time. Despite the efforts made to discern the OA antecedents and moderating factors, a number of aspects still remain to be studied on the map of research into this topic. One of them is the role that human resources can play in ambidextrous learning. Special attention has also been paid in the field of human resource management to the link between high performance work systems (HPWS) and performance. Recent studies highlight the need to make further progress in this direction but using some organizational capacity as a mediating variable between HPWSs and performance. This article uses OA as the mediator variable in this relationship. The main objectives of this research are (a) to determine whether the utilization of an HPWS exerts a positive influence on OA, (b) to know the extent to which HPWSs and OA contribute to organizational performance, and (c) to verify the potential mediating role played by OA on the HPWS performance relationship. The theoretical model and the hypotheses proposed were tested using a sample of 100 Spanish hotels.

Intellectual capital model for family firms

The intellectual capital-based view of the firm along with the literature about family firms serve as the basis for the present paper, which seeks to elaborate an intellectual capital model that can be applied to family firms. More precisely, our study identifies the main intangibles usually owned by family firms classifying those intangibles into human capital, structural capital and relational capital. In addition, the paper provides empirical evidence and gives examples of these intangibles through the analysis of external data from international family firms. The research question that we are trying to answer is: Which intangibles are owned by family firms for the mere fact of being family firms? Knowing the nature of the intangibles inherent to family firms can help improve their management, making the most of the intellectual capital owned by these firms when it comes to exploit their knowledge strengths.

Influence of intellectual capital upon knowledge creation in Spanish subsidiaries: an empirical study

Knowledge creation is one of the most important dynamic capabilities that firms can use to develop new assets, which can represent the basis for future innovations. Within a context of growing globalisation, the acquisition and creation of knowledge is one of the main objectives sought with international expansion. The consideration of intellectual capital within the knowledge creation process in subsidiaries offers an innovative way to undertake knowledge management practices in multinationals. Theoretical and empirical works can be found in the literature about intellectual capital. However, very few studies link intellectual capital to knowledge creation in multinationals. Seeking to fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that includes the main intangibles belonging to structural and relational capital that can influence knowledge creation in Spanish subsidiaries of foreign multinational firms belonging to high-technology and knowledge-intensive sectors. Theoretical, empirical and managerial contributions result from this paper.

Hotel performance and knowledge sources in Spanish tourism districts

The present paper brings together two of the research lines which have proved most relevant in the field of strategic management during the last few years: the importance of knowledge as a source of competitive advantage; and the ease of access to that resource within clusters and/or industrial districts. More specifically, our work focuses on the tourism sector, analysing the extent to which the profitability of Spanish vacation hotels located along the Mediterranean coastline depends on internal and external knowledge, that is, on the knowledge resources generated at each destination. A multiple linear regression is designed for the empirical analysis. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the external knowledge generated at each destination is statistically significant, even though internal knowledge turns out to be more relevant in terms of hotel profitability.

Human resource flexibility and performance in the hotel industry: The role of organizational ambidexterity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore if human resource (HR) flexibility facilitates the development of organizational ambidexterity, which in turn has positive effects on firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The research hypotheses are tested by partial least squares with data from a sample of 100 Spanish hotels. Findings The results confirm a total mediator effect of organizational ambidexterity on the relationship between HR flexibility and performance. However, it was not possible to check that such flexibility directly influences performance. This may be due to the fact that HR flexibility has a gradual effect on the development of organizational ambidexterity. Research limitations/implications The results of this study contribute to the knowledge on the impact of HR flexibility on performance. This paper, thus, stresses the strategic role that HRs play within organizations, insofar as their flexibility makes it possible to develop a highly relevant organizational capability such as ambidexterity. The study’s limitations are the analysis technique utilized (it assumes linearity between latent variables) and that the research only explores the hotel industry. Practical implications HR managers need to consider that HR flexibility contributes to developing organizational ambidexterity and the ability to combine the learning of exploration and exploitation, which affects the firm’s performance and, therefore its competitiveness. Originality/value The results of this study can contribute to broaden the knowledge about the impact of HR flexibility on performance. In fact, the studies on HR flexibility performed so far have focused on analysing the role played by that flexibility as a mediator variable between high performance work system and performance. This work goes one step further, trying to examine the extent to which HR flexibility influences the ability to undertake exploitation and exploration processes at the same time. This paper, thus, stresses the strategic role that HRs play within organizations, insofar as their flexibility makes it possible to develop a highly relevant organizational capability as is ambidexterity.