It has been widely observed that economic activities are increasingly dependent on
intangible, knowledge-based resources (Hayek, 1945; Drucker, 1966; Bell, 1973;
Brinkley, 2006). One result of the move to a knowledge economy is that traditional
notions of work and human resources have broken down and organizations have adopted
new methods of sourcing knowledge. This thesis addresses the question of how
organizations can optimally determine their requirements for knowledge from within and
outside their boundaries. The objective of the thesis is to develop a theory of
organizational knowledge supply and to test the theory in explaining and predicting the
effectiveness of an organization's knowledge sourcing strategies. The research question
driving this thesis therefore is: "eCan knowledge-based theory of the firm explain the
relationship between organizations' mix of internal and external human resources and
organizational effectiveness?"e
The aim of this thesis is to contribute to human resources and organizational theory
through its theoretical model and empirical evidence of the relationship between
knowledge sourcing and organizational effectiveness. The thesis also aims to contribute
to practice by informing organizations about the effectiveness of different human
sourcing practices.
Knowledge-based theory of the firm and contingency theory were used to develop an
initial theoretical model of fit and effectiveness. To extend existing theoretical models,
and to support the case study, the initial theoretical model was refined so that it not only
included fit and effectiveness (as in past research), but it also posited a model of the
intervening process by which fit leads to effectiveness.
To test the posited theoretical model, a comparative case study was commenced in mid-
2004, in two 4.5 star inner city hotels in Australia, each a member of a different hotel
group. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used, with semi-structured
interviews and questionnaires as the key data collection methods. The main data
collection process was completed in April 2005.
The findings from the study generally support the theoretical model. The case study
however also revealed that much of the effect of the fit of human capital on
organizational effectiveness was constrained and enabled by two other organizational
resources (hotel systems and processes, and the hotel brand standard). This finding
suggests that existing theoretical models that suggest an independent effect of human
capital fit on performance may be incomplete.
In summary the thesis research question was answered with a conditional affirmative. In
other words, knowledge-based theory can explain the relationship between organizations'
mix of internal and external human resources and organizational effectiveness, but
existing knowledgehuman capital-based models of this relationship can be extended and
thus improved in two ways:
1) By positing a model of the intervening process by which human capital fit leads to
organizational effectiveness.
2) By positing a model of the degree to which the effect of human capital fit on
organizational effectiveness depends on other organizational resources.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/219583 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Burton-Jones, John Alan, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. School of Professional Communication |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright John Alan Burton-Jones |
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