PurposeThis paper investigates the relationship between past performance and the development of operational capabilities in manufacturing firms, focusing on the role of intra- and ...inter-organisational learning mechanisms.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a survey database collected in 208 manufacturing plants in 15 countries from three industries: electronics, machinery and transport components. The authors developed a model and tested the study hypotheses using the structural equation modelling technique with two-stage analytical procedures.FindingsIn the analysis of the overall sample, the study findings support prior literature by suggesting that firms with successful experiences may become complacent and less motivated to engage in learning, leading to a decline in performance. However, high-performance firms overcome the “success trap” by engaging supply chain partners. In contrast, low-performance firms exhibit limited learning from past poor performance, leading to organisational inertia and further declines in their current performance.Practical implicationsThis research provides practical guidance for managers in developing operational capabilities, highlighting collaboration with suppliers as an essential element for high-performance firms.Originality/valueThis study focuses on the little-researched topic of how past performance influences the development of operational capabilities in manufacturing firms. The authors highlight the path for developing capabilities in high- and low-performance firms based on intra- and inter-organisational learning mechanisms.
•Big data utilization enhances organizational innovation (OI) and corporate social performance (CSP).•Big data positively impacts OI in business practices, workplace organization, and external ...relations.•All measures of IU have a positive impact on CSP, except OI in workplace organization.•The positive effect of big data on CSP is fully mediated through OI in business practices and external relations.
Over the last decade, the use big data in firms has seen a rapid increase. Whilst scholars have begun to unpack the relationship between big data utilisation and financial performance, significant uncertainty exists about the ethical uses of this new asset. Whether firms use big data to improve social performance is a question explored in this study. Relying on organisational learning theory, we hypothesise that firms harness information from big data to improve their corporate social performance (CSP) and that these improvements occur through organisational innovation in business practices, workplace organisation and external relations. To explore this topic, we surveyed 297 North American middle- and senior-level managers familiar with data use in their firms. The results of the structural equation modelling suggest that firms rely on big data to improve CSP. Additional analyses revealed how this relationship is manifested through organisational innovation.
Organizational ambidexterity is a strategic challenge for the contemporary organizations. It involves the simultaneous or synchronous pursuit of two inherently incompatible and conflicting activities ...– exploitative learning to become efficient in the current business activities, and explorative learning to predict and work on future challenges, opportunities, and demands. Depending upon the form(s) of ambidexterity an organization adopts, these two conflicting activities can be pursued asynchronously across different time phases, or synchronously in separate units, and/or in the same units by the employees. This study postulated and found that the Bontis (1998) model of interplay between knowledge assets can enable the successful pursuit of all the forms of ambidexterity, either synchronous pursuit of exploration and exploitation by the employees across same or different units or asynchronous pursuit across different time phases. The study used a multisource sample of 424 respondents from the various firms in the South Korean industries. The findings demonstrated that the organisational and the social capital are central to pursuing exploration, exploitation, and ambidexterity directly while human capital played a significant role in supporting the other two types of knowledge assets. In addition, social capital played a dual role to be both supportive of organisational capital and being central in the pursuit of ambidexterity outcomes.
Circular economy (CE) is necessary for achieving sustainability goals. Nonetheless, the distillation of CE practices into business operations has been unsatisfactory as firms struggle to transition ...to CE. There is an increase in studies that have attempted to identify challenges impeding the implementation of CE practices. However, most of these studies focus on technical and external aspects affecting CE, leaving intra-organisational aspects such as organisational learning and knowledge largely unexplored. The latter aspects can play a significant role in CE transitions, and thus warrants further research. To address this research gap, this study draws on lean thinking as an organisational learning system and accentuates knowledge obstacles, seen as wastes, that can stifle a transition to CE. Subsequently, it deploys action-learning research, involving collaboration between researchers and the participants in the action to generate actionable knowledge. The analysis of the findings is used to develop a novel framework including six measures that can be implemented to counteract knowledge obstacles and lay a foundation for a CE transition. The proposed framework can be the basis for further research on lean and intra-organisational aspects that can help firms restructure the current linear mode of production, and thus accelerate a smooth CE transition.
Studies on agility in the workplace have focused excessively on technical factors, and little attention has been given to the workforce. Most studies on workforce agility are conceptual and have a ...notable absence of quantitative modelling and analysis. In the study, a theoretical model of the impact of two organisational characteristics, namely organisational learning and an organic structure (with three dimensions, which are decentralisation of decision-making, low formalisation and a flat structure), on workforce agility was developed and empirically tested. Several small- and medium-sized enterprises in Iran were investigated. The structural equation modelling showed that organisational learning and only the decentralisation of decision-making and a flat structure were positively and significantly correlated with workforce agility. The impact of the dimensions of an organic structure on organisational learning was also considered. Based on the results, we proposed a process model on workforce agility.
This study uses diffusion of innovation theory to determine the relationship between transformational leadership and employee innovation via the mediation of organisational learning and knowledge ...sharing, as well as to examine the moderating role of social media use. A total of 375 employees and supervisors were recruited via random sampling from 89 municipal committees (one of the tiers of local government organisations) in Pakistan. Results indicate that transformational leadership has a positive impact on organisational learning and knowledge sharing. Similarly, organisational learning and knowledge sharing have a significant impact on employee innovation. Likewise, transformational leadership indirectly influenced employee innovation via organisational learning and knowledge sharing. Surprisingly, the moderating influence of social media use on the relationship between organisational learning and employee innovation proved insignificant. However, social media use had a significant effect on the relationship between knowledge sharing and employee innovation. This study provides informative insights by demonstrating that public sector leaders undertaking the transformational role and encouraging followers to use organisational learning, knowledge sharing and social media can help facilitate employee innovation in the public sector.
•Transformational Leadership has an impact on Organisational Learning•Transformational Leadership promotes Knowledge Sharing in Public sector Organisations.•Organisational Learning and Knowledge Sharing mediated the relationship between Transformational Leadership and Employee Innovation.•Social media usage moderated the relationship between Knowledge Sharing and Employee Innovation.
The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility of integrating the World Café method with the affinity diagram tool from quality management. The proposed combination is called the Quality ...Café. Quality Cafés were carried out at seven spa hotels, one municipality and two student organisations. The cafés were assessed with feedback seminars and questionnaires. The findings show that the method was appreciated by the participants. It contributed to profound dialogues with deepening insights, which stimulated creativity, increased understanding for quality issues and allowed a more holistic view. In addition, the method was experienced as enjoyable and in itself creating coherence. The findings were related to organisational learning theory and several connections were found. The Quality Café should be a useful method for researchers in social science as well as for practitioners. A limitation is that determining the specific effects of the Quality Café method compared to the original World Café is difficult.
Many technology-intensive (TI) firms find it challenging to leverage customisation and achieve sustainable innovation. Although some firms use modularity to tackle this challenge, mixed effects on ...sustainable innovation have been reported. This study uses organisational learning and ambidexterity theory to provide insights into how TI firms can achieve 'win-win' situations where sustainable innovation is increased through customisation. First, we argue that customisation should be viewed two-dimensionally and identify both modularity and solution space freedom as important dimensions. We argue that modularity reflects knowledge specialisation and solution space freedom reflects knowledge variety. Both of these dimensions affect organisational learning and, in turn, sustainable innovation. Second, we argue that the relationship between customisation and organisational learning is affected by supplier characteristics, specifically supplier sophistication. Survey data from 166 managers were used to empirically test the conceptual model and hypotheses. Polynomial response surface analysis confirms that customising by balancing high degrees of both modularity and solution space freedom results in superior organisational learning. High levels of supplier sophistication do not strengthen these effects. Rather, our results show that combining high degrees of modularity with constrained solution spaces increases learning for TI firms working with less sophisticated suppliers. In addition, organisational learning fully mediates the effect of customisation on sustainable product and process innovation.
Continuous improvement or more generally improvement is a necessity for companies in a dynamic context. The effectiveness and efficiency of such improvement can foster company sustainability, ...particularly if it exhibits characteristics of a learning organisation. This paper shows a methodology to develop organisational learning through the use of one quality improvement methodology known as Quality Control (QC) Story. The work is based on a case study from a manufacturer of electronic products. It describes QC Story application over 10 years and its effects on key performance indicators. Organisational learning is assessed through a questionnaire survey. A method to manage knowledge based on a lessons-learned procedure is described and a generalisation is induced. Results suggest that repetitive use of QC story along with the presented procedure of lessons-learned contributes to improving processes performance over long periods. It is also concluded that this company using the presented procedure exhibit characteristics of a learning organisation.
This article analyses the relationship between the experience of a crisis and advice seeking in small firms. Although the benefits of business advice and support to smaller firms are well documented, ...smaller firms are often reluctant to seek external advice, relying instead on informal routines and a focus on daily operations. Conceptualising crisis as a trigger for advice seeking, and using survey data from 2089 small firms, we find a strong and significant relationship between experiencing a crisis and seeking external business advice up to five years after the crisis. This sustained effect on advice seeking is particularly strong for firms who also sought advice at the time of the crisis. Additionally, we find that the effect of a business crisis on sustained advice seeking is stronger for firms subject to a crisis with external origins.
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