How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

Social scientists often estimate models from correlational data, where the independent variable has not been exogenously manipulated; they also make implicit or explicit causal claims based on these models. When can these claims be made? We answer this question by first discussing design and estimation conditions under which model estimates can be interpreted, using the randomized experiment as the gold standard. We show how endogeneity – which includes omitted variables, omitted selection, simultaneity, common-method variance, and measurement error – renders estimates causally uninterpretable. Second, we present methods that allow researchers to test causal claims in situations where randomization is not possible or when causal interpretation could be confounded; these methods include fixed-effects panel, sample selection, instrumental variable, regression discontinuity, and difference-in-differences models. Third, we take stock of the methodological rigor with which causal claims are being made in a social sciences discipline by reviewing a representative sample of 110 articles on leadership published in the previous 10 years in top-tier journals. Our key finding is that researchers fail to address at least 66% and up to 90% of design and estimation conditions that make causal claims invalid. We conclude by offering 10 suggestions on how to improve non-experimental research.

On making causal claims : A review and recommendations

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interrelationships among knowledge management (KM), information systems (IS) and employees’ empowerment (EE) on employees’ performance (EP).,Accordingly, a structural model is developed that delineates the interactions among these constructs and explores the mediating effect of EE on the relationship between KM, IS and EP. A questionnaire-based survey was designed to test the aforementioned model based on dataset of 287 employees’ pharmaceutical industries in Jordan. The model and posited hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling analysis.,The results indicated that KM and IS positively and significantly affect EE, in which the latter impact EP as well. However, neither KM nor IS proved to be positively related to EP. Additionally, EE positively and significantly mediated the relationship between KM and EP, besides the relationship between IS and EP.,This is one of the few studies which investigate the interrelationships among KM, IS and EE on EP, and the first to test the model on companies in the pharmaceutical industries in Jordan.

The role of employees’ empowerment as an intermediary variable between knowledge management and information systems on employees’ performance

https://research.tees.ac.uk/ws/files/9950215/JBR_KH_accepted.pdf

The social-psychological approach in understanding knowledge hiding within international R&D teams: An inductive analysis

Propensity to trust and knowledge sharing behavior: An evaluation of importance-performance analysis among Nigerian restaurant employees

Purpose




This paper aims to answer the question: how do knowledge workers’ improvisation processes promote both knowledge transfer and protection in knowledge-intensive organizations (KIOs)? A model is proposed identifying how effective improvisation can strengthen the effect of four specific knowledge transfer mechanisms – an experimental culture, minimal structures, the practice of storytelling and shared mental models – on knowledge transfer inside the organization and knowledge protection outside of it.




Design/methodology/approach




The paper builds on a knowledge translation perspective to position improvisation as intrinsically intertwined with knowledge transfer and knowledge protection.




Findings




Improvisation is proposed as the moderating factor enhancing the positive impact of an experimental culture, minimal structures, storytelling practice and shared mental models on knowledge transfer and knowledge protection.




Practical implications




The paper argues against a “plug-and-play” approach to knowledge transfer that seeks to replicate knowledge without considering how people relate to the routines and the context and highlights to leaders of KIOs the importance of developing awareness, understanding and motivation to improvise to internalize new knowledge being transferred and to create imitation barriers.




Originality/value




The paper proposes that KIOs’ success in transferring and protecting knowledge emerges not directly from formal knowledge transfer mechanisms but from knowledge workers’ improvisation processes.

Knowledge transfer in knowledge-intensive organizations: the crucial role of improvisation in transferring and protecting knowledge

This paper reviews the state of knowledge about integrity-based transgressions with an emphasis on the leader-follower relationship. Our review highlighted many important contributions of this literature, but, it revealed several limitations that should be addressed within a followership paradigm. We then synthesized the integrity and trust literatures with a targeted review of moral experimental philosophy. Cushman's (2008) dual process model suggests that because followers simultaneously assess leaders' intentions and their causal nexus with negative outcomes, they might judge behavioral and moral integrity transgressions in different ways. Judgments of moral condemnation should primarily be a function of perceived intent while blame and punishment of the leader based on behavior should be jointly affected by cause and intent. This moral assessment is expected to influence followers' trust through its effect on moral identity. A framework is offered for guiding future studies of followers' interpretations of leaders' integrity-based transgressions.

Followers' moral judgments and leaders' integrity-based transgressions: A synthesis of literatures

Prior negative performance and wrongdoing are difficult for applicants to overcome during their job search. The result has often been that they resort to lies and deception in order to obtain employment. The present study examines “stealing thunder” as a trust repair tactic that might be useful for overcoming prior indiscretions when it is used by applicants during the selection interview process. Stealing thunder refers to the self-disclosure of negative information that preempts allegations of wrongdoing by third parties such as hiring managers. Data were collected (n = 184) using a scenario-based 2 (accept responsibility; blame others) X 2 (low, high likelihood of discovery) experimental design in which perceptions of integrity, trust, and employability were measured. Results indicated that a stealing thunder strategy that involved accepting responsibility under a low likelihood of transgression discovery led to higher ratings of trust than blaming others when discovery of wrongdoing was imminent. The stealing thunder strategy was somewhat more effective than when a traditional, post-allegation apology was used. But stealing thunder did not lead to higher levels of an overall willingness to hire the applicant.

Applicants with a Tarnished Past: Stealing Thunder and Overcoming Prior Wrongdoing

We demonstrate the value of a moral decision making paradigm for investigating the effects of intention and harm on followers' reactions to leaders' wrongdoing. We also introduce damaged relational identity as a mediator of these effects. Participants were assigned to one of four conditions in which intention to harm and harm were manipulated. The study was conducted using a stochastic, incentivized economic game that involved real monetary consequences for the followers. The results indicated that intention to harm was the primary determinant of followers' withdrawal behavior while actual harm had no effect on withdrawal. A desire to punish the offending leader was influenced by both intention and harm. Damaged relational identity mediated the effect of intention on withdrawal behavior and punishment. In contrast, harm's effect on punishment was direct. We hope that our study stimulates additional research on leader misconduct using intention and identification processes as linchpins.

Ksenia O. Krylova

Papers

Knowledge transfer in knowledge-intensive organizations: the crucial role of improvisation in transferring and protecting knowledge

Followers' moral judgments and leaders' integrity-based transgressions: A synthesis of literatures

Applicants with a Tarnished Past: Stealing Thunder and Overcoming Prior Wrongdoing

Leader intention, misconduct and damaged relational follower identity: A moral decision making perspective