In this dissertation, I systematically explore the nature and role of two firm capabilities: absorptive capacity (or external learning capability) and technological capability. I examine how firm capability interacts with intra-firm and industry factors, and how it impacts organizational outcomes. In the first paper, I review literature on absorptive capacity and distill its distinct effect on various organizational outcomes. I identify key theoretical underpinnings behind the diverse conceptualizations of absorptive capacity and their corresponding measures, and use meta-analytical techniques to synthesize the effects of absorptive capacity. The second and third papers of my dissertation examine how technological capability interacts with certain internal and external contingency factors in influencing firm innovation and industry evolution. In the second paper, I take an intra-firm focus, and I identify managerial cognition as an important internal factor that impacts the relationship between technological capability and innovation. More specifically, I study how a firm's technological competence interacts with managerial experience in shaping that firm's innovation choices. Using data from the satellite industry, I show that diversity and relatedness of technological resource, as well as CEO experience, work differently in shaping product versus application innovations. In the third paper, I investigate how capabilities beyond focal technology producers influence industry evolution. Based on longitudinal analyses of the evolution of the satellite industry, I show that complementors, component suppliers, and customers are important external factors that shape industry evolution. Overall, my dissertation demonstrates the interrelated roles of firm capability, managerial cognition, and innovation ecosystem on firm and industry-level outcomes. / Ph. D.

Absorptive capacity plays an important role in the organizational adaptation process. Prior research on absorptive capacity focuses on its role in organizational outcomes such as financial performance, innovation, new product development, etc. Recently, scholars have called for research on factors that influence absorptive capacity. Because absorptive capacity plays a vital role in achieving organizational outcomes, it behooves us to improve our understanding of absorptive capacity and its antecedents to serve both researchers and practitioners. In this investigation, strategic thinking is posited to be a key antecedent of absorptive capacity. Capability theory suggests that strategic thinking is a metaphysical (higher order) capability that influences an organization's absorptive capacity. Combining this argument with Miles and Snow's typology of organizational adaptation process, it is posited that the relationship between strategic thinking and absorptive capacity can be clustered into different "groups." Prospectors, defenders, and analyzers, characterized in Miles and Snow's typology of firms are viewed as distinctive groups that exhibit different relationships between strategic thinking and absorptive capacity. Results from an empirical examination suggest that strategic thinking is positively related to absorptive capacity. The results also suggest that the relationship between these two constructs is different between these groups and that the strategic thinking of prospectors has a weaker relationship with absorptive capacity than other type of firms.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-07-14T13:06:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Clair Wingert Puffal_.pdf: 838959 bytes, checksum: d0bd857e392ed3db4e5d15c5a86c82a9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-14T13:06:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Clair Wingert Puffal_.pdf: 838959 bytes, checksum: d0bd857e392ed3db4e5d15c5a86c82a9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-27 / Nenhuma / O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar processos e estruturas relacionadas às dimensões da capacidade absortiva (CA) em empresas industriais consideradas inovadoras no Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil). Para tanto, este trabalho buscou na literatura, estudos sobre o construto Capacidade Absortiva, desde sua proposição original por Cohen e Levinthal (1990) até seu aperfeiçoamento, nas últimas décadas, a partir de Zahra e George (2002), que introduziu uma visão processual das dimensões da CA e seus componentes, como CA potencial - CAp (Aquisição) e CAp (Assimilação) e CA realizada - CAr (Transformação) e CAr (Exploração), no contexto organizacional. Foram identificadas as principais contribuições em estudos anteriores sobre dimensões da CA em empresas, destacando-se os mecanismos organizacionais que apresentam elementos como coordenação, sistemas e socialização, efetividade na busca do aprendizado das empresas e sua base de conhecimento, eficácia da comunicação, interação com fontes externas de conhecimento, formalização e integração social, além de avaliações das diferentes práticas gerenciais em microprocessos das empresas, considerados recursos intangíveis para o desenvolvimento da CA. A partir desse contexto, este estudo elaborou um instrumento de coleta qualitativo, aplicado em duas empresas industriais localizadas no Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil), dotadas de processos de inovação diferenciados, comparados à concorrência em contexto local. A primeira faz parte da indústria de refrigerantes, é de grande porte e desenvolve inovações em produtos, processos e gestão, voltadas ao mercado. A segunda faz parte da indústria de equipamentos eletromédicos para estética, é de pequeno porte e desenvolve inovações com base no conhecimento tecnológico. Os resultados mostram que, por um lado, as empresas investigadas, independentemente do tamanho ou setor, mantêm uma dinâmica organizacional, com mecanismos de busca de renovação do conhecimento que envolve gestores e funcionários, com habilidades na busca e assimilação de informações externas por meio de desafios estratégicos lançados pela empresa. Por outro lado, observa–se nessas empresas dificuldade na manutenção de comunicação eficaz entre todos seus funcionários, comprometendo o desenvolvimento da CA. Este estudo preenche uma lacuna existente nas avaliações nos processos e estruturas voltadas à inovação, que podem ser aperfeiçoadas com uma perspectiva da CA, além da oportunidade de verificar na prática, como acorre o desenvolvimento da CA em empresas industriais, a partir de seus microprocessos. / The aim of this study was to analyze processes and structures related to the dimensions of absorptive capacity (ACAP) in industrial companies considered innovative in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Therefore, this work sought within the literature studies on the construction of Absorptive Capacity since its original proposal by Cohen and Levinthal (1990) to its improvement in recent decades from Zahra and George (2002), which introduced a process view of the ACAP dimensions and its components as a potential ACAP - Acquisition and Assimilation, and realized RACAP - Transformation and Exploitation, in the organizational context. The main contributions in previous studies on ACAP dimensions in companies have been identified, highlighting the organizational mechanisms, which present elements such as coordination, systems and socialization, effectiveness in the pursuit of learning of the companies and their knowledge base, communication effectiveness, interaction with external sources of knowledge, formalization and social integration, besides evaluation of different management practices in micro processes of the companies, considered intangible resources to the ACAP development. This study to draw up a survey tool to collect qualitative data applied in two industrial companies located in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, with some innovation differentiated processes compared to the competition in local context. The first one is part of the soft drink industry; it is large-sized company and develops innovations in products, processes and management geared to the market. The second one is part of the electromedical equipment industry for cosmetic; it is small-sized company and develops innovations based on technological knowledge. In one hand the results show that regardless of size or sector the surveyed companies maintain an organizational dynamics with search mechanisms of knowledge renewal, involving managers and employees with skills in finding and assimilating external information through strategical challenges launched by the company. On the other hand, one observes in both companies difficulty in maintaining effective communication among all their employees compromising the development of ACAP. This study fulfill a gap in evaluations, in processes and in structures aimed at innovation, which can be improved with an ACAP perspective besides the opportunity of verifying in practice how the development of ACAP in industrial companies occurs from its micro processes.

Denna studie har utförts på ett försäkringsföretag som har sin verksamhet inom en nischad marknad som erbjuder försäkringar vid nybyggnation av fastigheter. I företaget finns en funktion som har upprättade processer för hantering av externa samarbetspartners, vilken studien har avgränsats till. Med ett kvalitativt angreppssätt har författarna utgått från företagets processer för att sedan teoretiskt underbygga analysen. Författarna har undersökt hur viktig insamling och absorbering av extern information är för värdeskapande. Resultatet av studien visar att insamling av extern information är viktigt och författarna har kunnat framställa en arbetsmodell för att försäkringsföretaget systematiskt ska kunna arbeta med extern informationsinsamling och absorbering för skapandet av värde och innovation. / This study has been conducted with an insurance company in a niche market offering insurances within new construction for real estate. The extent of this research paper has been limited to one of the functions in the company’s operating procedures, involving external collaboration partners’. With a qualitative approach the researchers’ have examined the company’s procedures and analysed it against relevant theories. The researchers’ have investigated the importance of the gathering and absorbing of external information for value-creation. The result shows that the gathering of external information is extremely important and the researchers’ have constructed a business model in order to systematically conduct external knowledge sourcing to create value and innovation.

This thesis focuses on the role of middle managers in the transfer of a humanistic approach to management, care and services in a physical rehabilitation center.This thesis should interest decision makers and researchers who are paying attention to humanistic approaches to management, care and services. The design of this multi-case qualitative, exploratory and constructivist research includes six cases, representing the six middle managers of the studied organization. The multi-case study allows us to contrast cases of successful middle managers from the ones who were not really able to transfer the humanistic approach in their program. Data production and analysis are done with methods used in grounded theory. Here are the main findings generated by this thesis. Firstly, our analysis reveals that, in spite of top management efforts to disseminate a humanistic approach to management, care and services throughout the organizations the transfer process sometimes clashes against the absorptive capacity of the middle manager within the program. When the middle manager has the capacity to absorb the humanistic approach, often because it is compatible with his profound convictions, this capacity is first expressed through his behavioral exemplarity. In the eyes of his employees, the middle manager primarily represents an embodied example of the humanistic approach through his behavior. Therefore, the behavioral exemplarity of the middle manager came out as a sine qua non condition through which is possible the co-construction of new humanistic care and services practices to be offered to clients of the program. Secondly, our analysis sheds light on the importance, at the beginning of the transfer process, to explain to employees the necessity to adopt a humanistic approach to management, care and services and to recognize existing humanistic practices in the organization. Thirdly, the results bring to the forefront the importance of macro and micro contexts as determinant variables in the transfer of a humanistic approach to management, care and services. Lastly, an intervention model illustrating the key role of middle managers in the transfer of a humanistic approach to management, care and services emerges from the results. The model also includes contextual elements which facilitate the transfer. On a more practical note, the model can guide organizations in the dissemination process of such an approach by providing a rich description of the stages of the dissemination process, the actors involved, the dissemination strategies and the goals of these strategies.

As radical innovations facilitate communication, create new industries and make others obsolete, the established ways of organising society are being questioned. Over the last few decades, a theoretical framework and a worldview labelled the entrepreneurial society, has emerged. The entrepreneurial society is based on theoretical models, empirical observations and a belief in the importance of new businesses. The core of the entrepreneurial society is the claim that valuable ideas have to be commercialised in order to contribute to economic growth and prosperity. Unfortunately, valuable ideas remain dormant due to a number of barriers. Labour mobility, informal networks and entrepreneurship are mechanisms with the potential of overcoming these barriers. This thesis aims to increase our understanding of how ideas diffuse between and get applied within organisations. The thesis relates its findings to the entrepreneurial society and identifies and critically assesses basic assumptions and biases underlying the framework. The thesis presents and discusses six studies, each published as an article in a scientific journal, a chapter in an edited book, or as a conference paper at an international academic conference. Taken together, the findings in this thesis emphasise that the mobility of ideas is intertwined with the mobility of people and knowledge. More specifically, the findings indicate that employees in large R&amp;Ddriven projects not only attain knowledge from external sources, but also that the use of external knowledge sources is positively related to new ideas connected to the projects. In addition, this thesis reinforces the argument that the mobility of knowledge workers is particularly beneficial to the diffusion of knowledge and ideas between organisations; the results show that employees in knowledge-intensive positions perceive greater opportunities to generate, share and develop ideas in organisations, as compared to employees in less knowledge-intensive positions. This thesis suggests that new employees tend to have an entrepreneurial potential in the form of a greater drive for change and less habituation with current practices. Nevertheless, such potential is often curbed by resistant routines. However, the thesis also finds that much entrepreneurship literature and the discourse of policy makers are biased towards overly optimistic views of entrepreneurship. The literature on the entrepreneurial society emphasises the diffusion and application of new R&amp;D-related knowledge and ideas. This thesis also emphasises the diffusion and application of already widespread and established knowledge, ideas and innovations. / I takt med att radikala innovationer underlättar kommunikation, skapar nya branscher och gör andra obsoleta, ifrågasätts etablerade sätt att organisera samhället. De senaste årtiondena har ett teoretiskt ramverk och en världsåskådning, under benämningen det entreprenöriella samhället, vuxit fram. Det entreprenöriella samhället baseras på teoretiska modeller, empiriska observationer och en tro på vikten av nya företag. Kärnan i det entreprenöriella samhället är tesen att värdefulla idéer måste kommersialiseras för att bidra till ekonomisk tillväxt och välstånd. Olyckligtvis förblir många idéer outnyttjade på grund av en mängd barriärer. Arbetskraftsrörlighet, informella nätverk och entreprenörskap är mekanismer med potential att övervinna dessa barriärer. Syftet med denna avhandling är att öka vår förståelse av hur idéer sprids mellan, och tillämpas inom, organisationer. Avhandlingen relaterar resultaten till det entreprenöriella samhället, samt identifierar och granskar ramverkets underliggande antaganden och blinda fläckar. Avhandlingen presenterar och diskuterar sex studier, var och en publicerad som en artikel i en vetenskaplig tidskrift, som ett kapitel i en akademisk antologi eller som ett bidrag till en internationell vetenskaplig konferens. Sammantaget understryker resultaten i avhandlingen att idéers rörlighet är sammanvävd med människors och kunskaps rörlighet. Resultaten tyder på att anställda i stora FoU-drivna projekt inte bara inhämtar kunskap från externa källor utan också att dessa källor är relaterade till nya idéer och lösningar på problem i projekten. Vidare förstärker resultaten tidigare forskning som hävdar att organisationsbyten bland människor med kunskapsintensiva arbeten särskilt bidrar till att idéer och kunskap sprids mellan organisationer; resultaten visar att anställda med kunskapsintensiva arbeten upplever större möjligheter att generera, föreslå och utveckla idéer jämfört med anställda i mindre kunskapsintensiva positioner. Avhandlingens resultat indikerar också att nyanställda har en större entreprenöriell potential än mer etablerade anställda. Detta för att nyanställda har en större förändringsbenägenhet och att de ännu inte är inskolade i etablerade arbetssätt. Denna potential hålls emellertid ofta tillbaka av motståndskraftiga organisatoriska rutiner. Dessutom hävdar avhandlingen att mycket av entreprenörskapslitteraturen och den politiska diskursen uppvisar en överoptimistisk syn på entreprenörskap. Litteraturen bakom det entreprenöriella samhället betonar spridningen och tillämpningen av forskningsnära kunskap. Denna avhandling betonar även vidare spridning av redan spridd och etablerad kunskap, samt redan spridda och etablerade idéer och innovationer. / <p>The authors Licentiate thesis "Organisational adoption of innovations : management practices and IT" is a part of this dissertation.</p>

Title: Internationalisation of Swedish computer gaming companies - The role of knowledge in a digital era Authors: Elin Jakobsson &amp; Fredrik Döring Supervisor: Cecilia Pahlberg Research question: How do Swedish computer gaming companies internationalise in regards to pursuit and absorption of knowledge? Purpose: The aim is to investigate how computer gaming companies find, internalise and use knowledge leading to internationalisation. This in turn will further be explained by embracing the role of digitisation for the above mentioned processes. This will enrich the field of study about international business where little research has been conducted by putting focus on the expansive industry and its digital product. At the same time the practical viewpoint is to highlight how these companies work around knowledge to become international. Method: An exploratory, qualitative research approach was undertaken. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of how Swedish computer gaming companies internationalise with special focus on absorptive capacity. A conceptual framework forms the basis for analysis consisting of internationalisation theory, absorptive capacity and digitisation. Conclusions: The findings show that Swedish computer gaming companies internationalise in a reversed order. They do not act according to the Uppsala model, rather they chose what market to focus on after a game is released due to the digitised environment in this industry. This highly competitive and knowledge intensive industry requires game developers to find specific niches in which they can gain a competitive advantage.

This thesis sets out to explore the concept of dynamic capability which centers on the firm’s ability to sustain competitive advantage in dynamic environments. Drawing on a review of the literature, a framework of general factors conducive to a dynamic capability – absorptive capability, adaptive capability and innovative capability – is identified. Since the framework has not been explored empirically, this thesis takes the first step in this pursuit. The phenomenon is investigated in a case study comprised of three firms in the information and communication industry. Data is collected from interviews with representatives of the firms and from the last annual reports of the firms. Drawing on the analysis of the data, it is suggested that the specific operationalization of the factors should be refined. Nonetheless, the study suggests that the framework comprises a straightforward and efficient means of analysing a firm’s ability to sustain competitive advantage.

Internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been a considerable concern for international business (IB) scholars. Particularly, for those economies such as Sweden with small local markets, internationalization of SMEs could be fundamental. The firm-specific advantages (FSAs), including what the firm has and does, are crucial for SMEs to overcome in the face of their numerous different obstacles such as liability of smallness (LOS) and liability of foreignness (LOF). Examining the extant literature on the evolution of IB theories indicates that over time, IB scholars have been reaching to dynamic-based FSAs (what the firm does) as the source of developing and protecting sustainable competitive advantages (SCA) across national borders in a changing business environment. The nature of dynamic-based FSAs could be similar to dynamic capabilities. But, when it comes to determining specific component factors  of dynamic-based  FSAs  (as dynamic  capabilities),  there has been little agreement between IB researchers. In other words, the room of the dynamic capabilities is still dark. In this respect, shedding light into this room, particularly in the area of IB studies, is crucial. In addition, after determining the component factors of the dynamic-based FSAs, it is also critical to know the likely relationships between the identified component factors as well as their impact on the SMEs’ international performance (IP) as an important outcome of the internationalization. This means that there is a potential theoretical gap associated with the conceptualization of the component factors of the dynamic-based FSAs on one hand, and a potential empirical gap on the other. Given both theoretical and empirical research gaps, the purpose of this study is to examine, from a theoretical perspective, the nature of the dynamic-based FSA and its related component factors in the IB context, as well as empirically explore how SMEs’ IP is influenced by the identified component factors of the dynamic-based FSAs. To perform this study, first of all, based on lenses of the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capability view (DCV), the literature on organizational capability in the context of the IB studies was systematically reviewed to fill the theoretical gap. Consequently, three component factors of dynamic-based FSAs including networking capability (NC) as a relational-based FSA, innovative capability (IC) as an innovative-based FSA and absorptive capacity (ACAP) as a learning-based FSA were identified, all of which are pluripotent and dynamic in nature. Then, a deductive approach was followed to develop several hypotheses and the associated conceptual model. Furthermore, a survey strategy, collecting data from 330 Swedish internationalized manufacturing SMEs, was applied to accomplish the purpose of the study. Then, the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) as a quantitative method was used to analyze the collected data. The results of the PLS-SEM analysis show that the SMEs’ international performance (IP) is positively influenced by the three identified component factors, whether directly or indirectly. In this regard, ACAP and NC are the two reliable predictors (directly) of the SMEs’ IP. The results indicate that innovative capability (IC) does not have direct impact on the SMEs’ IP, and that its effect is fully transmitted on IP only by the mediating effect of the networking capability (NC). Further analysis showed that ACAP, as an endogenous latent variable, additionally has a positive indirect association with SMEs’ international performance (IP). Moreover, the results also indicate that innovative capability is directly and positively affected by ACAP (innovating-by-learning effect). It was also empirically revealed that ACAP is a very strong predictor for networking capability, which is labeled as the networking-by-learning effect. Another major finding was that in internationalized SMEs, NC is strongly, directly and positively affected by IC; this effect also is termed as the networking-by-innovating effect. The overall picture resulting from the PLS- SEM analysis indicates that ACAP in internationalized SMEs is a wellspring to develop both innovative capability and networking capability, as well as influence SMEs’ IP. Furthermore, these results suggest that the networking capability is a vital gateway to transmit the effect of the other two component factors on IP and, at the same time, directly influence IP.

Research indicates that many youth-serving agencies do not adopt evidence-based innovations in the field of youth violence prevention. This qualitative study was designed to explore a sample of community-based decision makers’ perceptions of why innovative, evidence-based programs and practices for the prevention of violence by youth are, or are not, adopted at the local level. The rationale for this study was that knowledge of evidence-based innovations in youth violence prevention originates primarily from research scientists who are external to the organizations that are the intended recipients of the innovations. Prior research has not viewed the failure to adopt evidence-based innovations from the perspective of the impediments and facilitators of recipient organizations’ capabilities of understanding the value of and acquiring the new external knowledge. This research study used interviews from a purposefully selected sample of 28 decision makers in public and nonprofit organizations with youth-serving missions located in three urban cities. These interviews constituted a secondary data set for this study and were drawn from a larger set of 38 interviews after a review for suitability. The learning process model of absorptive capacity was used as an a priori framework for the analysis of the interviews. This model recognizes the influences of environmental conditions, knowledge characteristics, learning relationships, mental models, structures and processes, and strategies on the organizational capability to absorb new external knowledge. This study revealed that environmental conditions were a key impediment to the acquisition of new evidence-based knowledge for use in the adoption of YVP programs. Key findings were a lack of issue leadership and strategy at the local level and unstable funding for agencies’ core and non-core programs, such as YVP efforts. A second set of key findings demonstrated that mental models were facilitators and impediments. A high value was placed on YVP as an issue area, but the expectation was that YVP programs require external funding. Decision makers also defined program success differently than prevention scientists. Recommendations are offered for prevention science researchers to increase the likelihood that innovations in YVP will be discovered and utilized by practitioners.