An empirical model of the organization knowledge system in new product development firms

Abstract A structural equation model of the knowledge system for new product development (NPD) is derived from a sample of 1200 engineers in 10 technology firms, and validated on a hold-out sample. Core to the model are knowledge work behaviors that: (1) expand knowledge relevant to NPD by focusing on the performance of the organization as a system; (2) increase knowledge available by linking knowledge sources with needs; (3) access procedural knowledge by using systematic processes; and (4) generate knowledge by trying new approaches and experimenting. We examine the organizational antecedents of these behaviors, and their impacts on knowledge outcomes and organizational effectiveness.

[1]  Jennifer A. Chatman,et al.  Organizational commitment and psychological attachment: The effects of compliance, identification, and internalization on prosocial behavior. , 1986 .

[2]  Susan Albers Mohrman,et al.  Age effects on the predictors of technical workers' commitment and willingness to turnover , 2002 .

[3]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity , 1998 .

[4]  Paul Brewerton,et al.  Organizational Research Methods: A Guide for Students and Researchers , 2001 .

[5]  Michael H. Zack,et al.  Developing a Knowledge Strategy , 1999 .

[6]  K. Roy MacKenzie.  Theories of Group Behavior, Brian Mullen and George R. Goethals , 1989 .

[7]  Nancy M. Dixon,et al.  Common Knowledge: How Companies Thrive by Sharing What They Know , 2000 .

[8]  Thomas H. Davenport,et al.  Book review:Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know. Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak. Harvard Business School Press, 1998. $29.95US. ISBN 0‐87584‐655‐6 , 1998 .

[9]  Paul E. Tesluk,et al.  A Comparison of Approaches to Forming Composite Measures in Structural Equation Models , 2000 .

[10]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[11]  D. Leonard-Barton,et al.  Wellsprings of Knowledge: Building and Sustaining the Sources of Innovation , 1995 .

[12]  Donna M. Randall,et al.  The consequences of organizational commitment: Methodological investigation , 1990 .

[13]  Mark A. Huselid,et al.  Organizational Commitment, Job Involvement, and Turnover: A Substantive and Methodological Analysis , 1991 .

[14]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Knowledge Creating Company , 2008 .

[15]  Deborah Dougherty,et al.  Reimagining the Differentiation and Integration of Work for Sustained Product Innovation , 2001 .

[16]  Kamal Munir,et al.  Systems of organizational sensemaking for sustained product innovation , 2000 .

[17]  P. Berger,et al.  Social Construction of Reality , 1991, The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society.

[18]  Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi,et al.  P ERSPECTIVE M AKING AND P ERSPECTIVE T AKING IN C OMMUNITIES OF K NOWING , 2000 .

[19]  P. Duguid,et al.  Balancing act: how to capture knowledge without killing it. , 2000, Harvard business review.

[20]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: PAST RESEARCH, PRESENT FINDINGS, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS , 1995 .

[21]  Charles C. Manz,et al.  An Organizational Memory Approach to Information Management , 1998 .

[22]  E. Hufnagel.  Managing Complexity in High Technology Organizations , 1990 .

[23]  Terri L. Griffith.  Technology Features as Triggers for Sensemaking , 1999 .

[24]  H. D. Thomas,et al.  SUCCESSFUL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS , 1998 .

[25]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  A General Approach for Representing Constructs in Organizational Research , 1998 .

[26]  Mariann Jelinek,et al.  The Innovation Marathon: Lessons from High Technology Firms , 1990 .

[27]  L. Argote,et al.  KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER: A BASIS FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN FIRMS , 2000 .

[28]  R. I. Sutton,et al.  Switching Cognitive Gears: From Habits of Mind to Active Thinking , 1991 .

[29]  K. Weick,et al.  Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks. , 1993 .

[30]  L. Hayduk.  Structural equation modeling with LISREL , 1987 .

[31]  P. Adler,et al.  Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept , 2002 .

[32]  Richard M. Steers,et al.  Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover among psychiatric technicians. , 1974 .

[33]  R. Vandenberg,et al.  A Review and Synthesis of the Measurement Invariance Literature: Suggestions, Practices, and Recommendations for Organizational Research , 2000 .

[34]  S. Ghoshal,et al.  VALUE CREATION BY FIRMS. , 1996 .

[35]  K. Weick.  FROM SENSEMAKING IN ORGANIZATIONS , 2021, The New Economic Sociology.

[36]  W. Lam,et al.  Successful knowledge management requires a knowledge culture: a case study , 2005 .

[37]  B. Mullen,et al.  Theories of group behavior , 1987 .

[38]  S. Ghoshal,et al.  Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage , 1998 .

[39]  Henry L. Tosi.  A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance , 1991 .

[40]  Nancy M. Carlson,et al.  Common Knowledge: How Companies Thrive by Sharing What They Know , 2001 .

[41]  Wanda J. Orlikowski,et al.  Information Technology and the Structuring of Organizations , 2011 .

[42]  Susan Albers Mohrman,et al.  Designing Team-Based Organizations: New Forms for Knowledge Work , 1995 .

[43]  D. Ulrich.  Intellectual Capital = Competence x Commitment , 1998 .

[44]  Karl G. Jöreskog,et al.  LISREL 7: A guide to the program and applications , 1988 .

[45]  D. Wegner.  Transactive Memory: A Contemporary Analysis of the Group Mind , 1987 .

[46]  Morten T. Hansen,et al.  The Search-Transfer Problem: The Role of Weak Ties in Sharing Knowledge across Organization Subunits , 1999 .

[47]  W. Mobley,et al.  An evaluation of precursors of hospital employee turnover. , 1978, The Journal of applied psychology.

[48]  M. Iansiti.  Shooting the Rapids: Managing Product Development in Turbulent Environments , 1995 .

[49]  L. Dosier,et al.  Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings , 1997 .

[50]  J. B. Quinn,et al.  Managing professional intellect: making the most of the best. , 1996, Harvard business review.

[51]  Marco Iansiti,et al.  Technology Integration: Making Critical Choices in a Dynamic World , 1997 .

[52]  William H. Glick,et al.  Organizational Change and Redesign: Ideas and Insights for Improving Performance , 1995 .

[53]  G. DeSanctis,et al.  Shaping organization form : communication, connection, and community , 1999 .

[54]  J. Brown,et al.  Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation , 1991 .

[55]  Edward E. Lawler,et al.  Strategic Pay: Aligning Organizational Strategies and Pay Systems. , 1991 .

[56]  Mark John Somers,et al.  Organizational commitment, turnover and absenteeism: An examination of direct and interaction effects , 1995 .

[57]  G. Huber.  Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures , 1991 .