Research Proposal.docx

Research Proposal.docx

《Research Proposal.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Research Proposal.docx（12页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

ResearchProposal

ResearchProposal

TheKnowledgeDeploymentMechanisminTechnology-BasedTeamsofSMEs:

AnIntegratedPerspective

（HanJin,BusinessSchoolofHunanUniversity,Changsha,410082）

Abstract:

Numerousstudieshavediscussedindividual-levelandorganization-levelabsorptivecapacityregardedasakeypowerforSMEsgrowingsustainablyandacquiringcompetitiveedge,neglectingtoconstructthebridgethathowteamsinSMEsdeploynew-obtainedknowledgeinanefficientwaytotransferthisresourcesintoinnovationperformancesubstantiallyandthemechanismisseemlyambiguous.Builtuponandcomparedwithabsorptivecapacitytheoryandrelatedliterature,thispaperintendstoaddressthefollowingissues:

（1）distinguishthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenconceptsofknowledgeabsorptivecapacity,knowledgeintegration,knowledgeallocation,knowledgedistributionetc.withknowledgedeployment,

（2）buildapossibleconceptualframeworktodiscusstheknowledgedeploymentmechanismintechnology-basedteams,（3）listpossibleinnovationpointsandchallengesofresearchpractically.

1Introduction

Innovativenewproductsandabletoresponsetomarketchangespositivelyarefirmlyconsideredaskeystosurvivalandcontinuoussuccessfortechnology-basedandnewproduct-orientedteamsinSMEsinahighlycompetitivemarketenvironment.Increasinglystudieshavepointedoutindividualandorganizationalabsorptivecapacity（ACAP）equippedbySMEswilleffectivelyacquireenoughnew,external,decodedknowledge,technology,evenhumanresourceswhohavetheseandeventuallyproducehighinnovationperformanceandotherpositiveoutcomesowingtoitssmallnessandnewness.However,someuncertainandoverlookedpartsofthesestudiesneedtobere-consideredandre-discussedclearlywithinanewframework.

First,TeamsinSMEswilloccasionallyencounterknowledgespillover,knowledgesurplusandknowledgeoutdatedevenafterabsorbingenoughrelevantknowledgeoutsidebecauseoftask-knowledge'sdynamicinadaptabilitysuchasteammembers'mutualtemporalconflictbehaviorallyandmutualknowledgeincoordinationcognitively.Theseuntouchedproblemscanresultfromtwopossibleaspects:

（1）duringknowledgeusageprocessafteracquiringneededknowledgeformoutside,timecongruityasanimportantelementcouldbeputasideandunderemphasizedallthetime,

（2）flexibleorganizationstructuresandthecorrespondingorganizationalknowledgenetworkswouldbeseenasstaticandautomatically-adjusted（whilethismechanismisunclear）whichmaybethemainreasonofinadaptability.

Second,extantpaperscomeintoagreementACAPincludingknowledgerecognition,acquisition,assimilation,transformationandevenexploitationasaneffectivetoolwouldbringoutinnovationperformanceandcompetitiveadvantages.Buthowthesepositiveoutcomesareachievedeventhoughsomeofthemtreatregimes'appropriabilityandsomeactivationtriggersasdrivinginstrumentstomakeit?

Itcanbeconcludedthattheyjusthavepulledoutanailthatteamshowtogetnecessaryknowledgeformknowledgemarketsortheyonlyhavesolvedaproblemtransferringknowledgefromaroomtoanotherspatially.Astohowtoachievetheoptimalallocationofknowledgearerarelymentionedespeciallyinadynamicknowledgenetworkwhichthisprocessleadingtopositiveresultsisabreathtakingleap.

Third,ifACAPisviewedasadynamicconcept,soeverystagesofACAPmaycontainfactorsofknowledgedeploymentespeciallyembodiedinthelastmainstages（knowledgeassimilation,knowledgetransformationandknowledgeexploitation）.Fortworeasons:

（1）knowledgedeploymentcanberegardedasamatchingissueandoptimalfitstageinusingnew-learnedknowledgeprocessbuttheformerwouldstressthatmember-task-knowledgeiscoordinateddynamicallyunderthedominantroleofteams'leader,

（2）Toassimilate,transformer,exploitknowledgeinateamwouldneedfullycollaborationandinteractionamongmemberswhichmeansamembershouldfigureoutwhatheorshehasandhavenotandthenaskforhelptoacquireknowledgewhatisvitaltoaccomplishmissionsandshareknowledgewithothersbasedontheprincipleofvalidityandeffectiveness,whiletheleadercanbeanindispensablepartinthewholeprocess.Inconclusion,knowledgedeploymentwouldpaymoreattentiontotheeffectscomefromhumanresourcescomparedwithACAPinajointlinkage-mechanismofthreemainparts（member-task-knowledge）.

Finally,althoughexistedpapershaveexploredanddefinedtheconceptofknowledgedeploymentonthemacrofoundationanddiscussedindividualknowledgedeploymentnon-fully,onepropositionmaybepresentedthatwhetherthesumofindividuals'optimalknowledgedeploymentmeansthewholetechnology-basedteam'sknowledgedeploymentwouldrealizeaoptimalcondition?

Ifitdoes,whatmakesit,orifnot,whatimpedesit?

Besides,whethertheconceptoforganization-levelknowledgedeploymentcanbetreatedasteams'knowledgedeploymentcapabilityregardlessofteams'structure,componentsandrelatedcharacteristics?

2Literaturereview

2.1ACAPtheoryandknowledgedeployment

Althoughacademiciansmightstandatdifferentsidesontheconceptofabsorptivecapacity（ACAP）,abasicconsensushasbeenreachedthatACAPisvaluedasanabilityofaperson,ateamoranorganizationtopositivelyacquireknowledgefromoutsideknowledgemarkets,andthentoassimilateit,totransformit,toexploitit,andfinallytogetnewcompetitiveproductsandservices（Zahra&George,2002）.Actedasastrategicinstrumentandrelativecost-savingwaytoovercomeliabilitiesespeciallyforstart-upenterprisesandSMEswhentheywanttobecompetitiveintheirmarkets,organization-levelACAPisnotsimplythesumoftheabsorptivecapacitiesofitsdifferentpartswhileitcanbeconvertedbyorganizationalmechanismsandactivationtriggers.However,inalongterm,ACAPwillnotbeanabsoluteadvantageifabsorbingknowledgethroughcollaborationsandallianceshasbecomeanaddictionevenifmostliteratureemphasizeACAPisdynamiconethatteamsandorganizationscouldalwaysidentifyandobtainexternalknowledgeeffectivelyandefficiently（Lane,Koka&Pathak,2006）.

Therearetwodoubtslefttobeeradicated:

（1）spatially,thedynamicACAPprocessfromrecognition,acquisition,assimilation,transformation,etc.havemainlyfixedoutmovingknowledgefromoneholdertoanotherbutthereisa lot of mumbo-jumbo abouthowtodeploy,allocate,distributenew-ownedknowledgeinareasonablestyleandeventuallybridgeACAPtoorganizationaladvantagessuccessfully.Namely,to"get"knowledge（ACAP）andto"putoruse"knowledge（deploymentcapability）istwosidesofacoinandthesetwopartsisintermingled,complementaryandimportantlyclearly-distinguished.AsZahraandGeorge（2002）re-conceptualized:

ACAPisadynamiccapabilityconsistingofroutinesandprocessesthatcreateanddeployknowledgetobuildotherorganizationalcapabilitiessuchasR&Dandmarketing.

（2）Temporally,everystagesofACAParelinkedlogicallyandconstitutedasawholebuttorecognize,toacquire,toassimilate,totransformknowledge,etc.isacontinuousprocedure（path-dependentcharacter）forateamaccomplishingabigmission.Whilemoststudiesaredumbaboutapracticalsituationwhenitrequiresseveraltimesordifferentchannelsratherthantoresolveitonceforalltoconvergeenoughknowledgetoundertakeatoughproject.

Soitisadilemmawhetherwaitingforgettingadequateknowledgeandintegratinginternalandexternalknowledgeandthentimelytransformingandexploiting（using）itorallocatingthenew-obtainedknowledgetothemostsuitablememberortwototransformandexploititanddistributingnew-gainedknowledgetoothermembersoftheteamsatthefollowingtimeuntilmakingmember-task-knowledgethreepartsdynamicallymatchedatlast.Theformeroneseemslackofefficiencyandinconsistentwhilethelatterwouldbemorepracticalanddemandshighknowledgedeploymentcapabilityfromteamsanddepartmentonamicro-foundation.

2.2Knowledgeintegrationandknowledgedeployment

BuiltonACAPperspective,knowledgeintegrationisanongoingcollectiveprocessofconstructing,articulatingandredefiningsharedbeliefsthroughthesocialinteractionoforganizationalmembers（Grant,1996）andthisprocessaccommodatesseveralinfluentialfactors—includingconstraintsinteams'transitivememory,insufficientmutualunderstanding,failuretoshareandretaincontextualknowledge,andinflexibilityoforganizationaltieswhichconstrainthespecialmechanismthatteamsemploytointegrateandapplyknowledge（Alavi&Tiwana,2002）.Holisticallyandmorespecifically,Huang&Newell（2003）inclinetodefineknowledgeintegrationasthesynthesisofindividuals’specializedknowledgeputintoright-specificpartsorsituationsofthesysteminwhichindividuals'tacitknowledgecanbepooledandrecombinedtocreategroup-levelknowledgeandinwhichteam'scoordinatedpractices,pastintegrationexperienceandteam'scommunicatingmechanismplaysakeyroleinshapingthelevelofcoordinationresultsthatinturninfluencestheefficiencyandscopeofintegration.

However,asthescopeofintegrationexpands,theneedforahigherlevelofcoordinationisrequiredandteammembersneedtousetheirsocialbridges（involvingdialogueandnegotiation）fortheprojectandthentoaccessdispersedinternalknowledge（Yang,2005）andappreciatetherelevanceandimportanceoftheirteammates’knowledgethatisgoingtohelptocompleteobjectives（Newell,Tansley&Huang,2004）.So,inordertobemorecompetitiveonintegratingknowledge:

（1）considerablepowersandresourceswillne