Martine R. Haas

Bio: Martine R. Haas is an academic researcher from University of Pennsylvania. The author has contributed to research in topics: Organizational learning & Knowledge sharing. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 35 publications receiving 3863 citations. Previous affiliations of Martine R. Haas include Cornell University & Harvard University.

Big Data and Management

Abstract: The authors reflect on management of big data by organizations. They comment on service level agreements (SLA) which define the nature and quality of information technology services and mention big data-sharing agreements tend to be poorly structured and informal. They reflect on the methodologies of analyzing big data and state it is easy to get false correlations when using typical statistical tools in analyzing big data. They talk about the use of big data in management and behavior research.

Different knowledge, different benefits: toward a productivity perspective on knowledge sharing in organizations

Abstract: We develop a differentiated productivity model of knowledge sharing in organizations proposing that different types of knowledge have different benefits for task units. In a study of 182 sales teams in a management consulting company, we find that sharing codified knowledge in the form of electronic documents saved time during the task, but did not improve work quality or signal competence to clients. In contrast, sharing personal advice improved work quality and signaled competence, but did not save time. Beyond the content of the knowledge, process costs in the form of document rework and lack of advisor effort negatively affected task outcomes. These findings dispute the claim that different types of knowledge are substitutes for each other, and provide a micro-foundation for understanding why and how a firm's knowledge capabilities translate into performance of knowledge work. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

When using knowledge can hurt performance: the value of organizational capabilities in a management consulting company

Abstract: This paper explores the possibility that utilizing the firm's knowledge resources to complete important tasks can backfire and undermine competitive performance. Drawing on organizational capabilities and knowledge-sharing research, we develop a situated performance view that holds that the value of obtaining and using knowledge within a firm depends on the task situation. Using a data set of 182 sales proposals for client work in a management consulting company, we show that sales teams that had varying needs to learn and differentiate themselves from competitors derived different levels of value from obtaining and using electronic documents and advice from colleagues. Highly experienced teams were more likely than inexperienced teams to lose the sales bids if they utilized such knowledge. Teams that had a high need to differentiate themselves from competitors also had a lower chance of winning if they utilized electronic documents. There were situations, however, where teams performed better if they utilized the firm's knowledge resources. These results suggest that competitive performance depends not on how much firms know but on how they use what they know. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Competing for Attention in Knowledge Markets: Electronic Document Dissemination in a Management Consulting Company:

Abstract: The relatively recent explosion of information available in electronic forms makes attention, rather than information, the scarce resource in organizations. In this paper, we theorize about how sup...

Bringing Africa In: Promising Directions for Management Research

Abstract: Africa is beginning to capture the imagination of entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and scholars as an emerging market of new growth opportunities. Over 15 years, the continent has experienced an average growth rate of 5% (World Economic Forum, 2015: v). Out of its 54 countries, 26 have achieved middleincome status, while the proportion of those living in extreme poverty has fallen from 51% in 2005 to 42% in 2014 (African Development Bank, 2014a: 49). Although there are regional differences, the primary drivers of growth have been rapidly emerging consumer markets, regional economic integration, investment in infrastructure, technological leap-frogging, and the opening up of new markets, especially in the service sector. African economies also face commensurate challenges. Across the continent, economies remain largely agrarian, underpinned by resource-driven growth and still dominated by the informal sector. But what is it about the context that makes Africa such fertile territory for management scholarship? Disciplines Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/mgmt_papers/185 Bringing Africa In: Promising Directions for Management Research Gerard George, Singapore Management University Christopher Corbishley, Imperial College London Jane N. O. Khayesi, University of Essex Martine R. Haas, University of Pennsylvania Laszlo Tihanyi, Texas A&M University Published in Academy of Management Journal, 2016 April, 59 (2), 377-393. http://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2016.4002 Africa is beginning to capture the imagination of entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and scholars as an emerging market of new growth opportunities. Over 15 years, the continent has experienced an average growth rate of 5% (World Economic Forum, 2015: v). Out of its 54 countries, 26 have achieved middleincome status, while the proportion of those living in extreme poverty has fallen from 51% in 2005 to 42% in 2014 (African Development Bank, 2014a: 49). Although there are regional differences, the primary drivers of growth have been rapidly emerging consumer markets, regional economic integration, investment in infrastructure, technological leap-frogging, and the opening up of new markets, especially in the service sector. African economies also face commensurate challenges. Across the continent, economies remain largely agrarian, underpinned by resource-driven growth and still dominated by the informal sector. But what is it about the context that makes Africa such fertile territory for management scholarship? The greatest challenge to business in Africa stems from the persistence of institutional voids, understood as the absence of market-supporting institutions, specialized intermediaries, contractenforcing mechanisms, and efficient transportation and communication networks (Khanna & Palepu, 2013). In order to be successful, the private sector that generates 90% of employment, two-thirds of investment, and 70% of economic output on the continent needs to cope with the challenges presented by undeveloped market institutions and missing infrastructure (African Development Bank, 2013: 34). Nevertheless, several new trends in recent years have been changing the ways business is done in Africa. The rapid expansion of information and communication networks—specifically, mobile technology—has provided tremendous new opportunities. By 2025, half of the people on the continent will have Internet access, connecting them to services in health care, education, finance, retail, and government (McKinsey Global Institute, 2010). Instead of playing catch-up, entrepreneurs in Africa are “hacking” existing infrastructure gaps through technology, connecting Africans to new goods and services (e.g., mobile applications for activities ranging from private security in Ghana and monitoring patients in Zimbabwe to cattle herding in Kenya and connecting dirty laundry to itinerant washerwomen in Uganda). Inventive approaches to delivering new sources of value creation go hand in hand with Africa’s surprising demographics, where over half of the continent’s 1.1 billion population are currently under the age of 25. This unprecedented population growth will lead to a projected increase in the workforce of nearly 450 million between 2010 and 2035. The diversity of the African context is captured in Table 1, which outlines some of the human, economic, and institutional development indicators in a select set of countries. TABLE 1: Human, Economic, and Institutional Development in Ten Countries from Africa’s Five Regions Region and Country Populationa GDP per capitaa GDP per capita growth (%)a Openness (trade)a Human dev. (rank)b Econ. freedom (rank)c Political rightsd Civil libertiesd Corruption (rank)e

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

Abstract: 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 Strength of Weak Ties You Can Trust: The Mediating Role of Trust in Effective Knowledge Transfer

Abstract: Research has demonstrated that relationships are critical to knowledge creation and transfer, yet findings have been mixed regarding the importance of relational and structural characteristics of social capital for the receipt of tacit and explicit knowledge. We propose and test a model of two-party (dyadic) knowledge exchange, with strong support in each of the three companies surveyed. First, the link between strong ties and receipt of useful knowledge (as reported by the knowledge seeker) was mediated by competence- and benevolence-based trust. Second, once we controlled for these two trustworthiness dimensions, the structural benefit ofweak ties emerged. This finding is consistent with prior research suggesting that weak ties provide access to nonredundant information. Third, competence-based trust was especially important for the receipt of tacit knowledge. We discuss implications for theory and practice.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Abstract: What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.