Organizational capabilities, knowledge, and innovation : strategies for developing the capability to mobilize and create knowledge for innovation

In this thesis I analyze the way in which companies develop the capability to mobilize and create knowledge for innovation. This capability is crucial to achieve and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. In order to conduct this analysis, I link and integrate three bodies of literature -the literature on resource-based theory of the firm, team-level studies of innovation, and organization-level studies of innovation to provide an integrated view of how companies develop the capability to innovate and how this relates to their performance. The empirical analysis was conducted in two phases, in order to develop an empirically grounded and generalizable theory. In the first phase, in order to understand "how" companies develop this capability, I conducted a comparative multiple case study of twenty-four cross functional innovation teams in three companies. The result of this analysis was a general framework for the development of the capability to mobilize and create knowledge for innovation. From this I drew eight propositions regarding what companies do at the organizational level and at the project team level when organizing for innovation. In the second phase, I analyzed these propositions and examined which specific factors and strategies have a greater influence on this capability in a sample of 182 cross-functional innovation teams belonging to 38 companies. The innovation teams were selected from the largest customer service center of each firm. They were formed with the objective of using market knowledge about their products and services to innovate in response to customer preferences. In addition to innovation, I analyzed other outcomes of this capability, such as efficiency in terms of resources used, effectiveness in terms of customer satisfaction and speed-to-market of the innovation, and learning. The results of the tests and their theoretical and practical implications are listed below. grouped by level of analysis: Capability development at the project team level. Capability development at the organizational level. Linking project team-level and organization-level capability development. Overall, this thesis expands and integrates three bodies of literature to provide an integrated view of how companies develop the capability to mobilize and create knowledge for innovation. In terms of the resource-based theory of the firm, this study shows how companies develop this capability. In terms of the team-level innovation literature. the mirror image between project team-level processes and their organization-level processes suggests that teams should not be analyzed in isolation from their organization-level processes. In terms of the organization-level innovation literature, especially the differentiation-integration framework. facilitators of knowledge mobilization, i.e., communication, can also be developed as needed at the project team level when teams organize for innovation. Furthermore, this thesis provides recommendations for specific strategies and practices that managers can follow to develop this capability both at the organizational level, regardless of when they organize for innovation, and at the project team level. when firms organize for innovation in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

Department dc:contributor.department

Sloan School of Management.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Un, C. Annique (Chhomroth Annique), 1969-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• D. Eleanor Westney.

• Sloan School of Management.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8780

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8780