From Common to Uncommon Knowledge: Foundations of Firm-Specific Use of Knowledge as a Resource
Abstract
Although the knowledge-based view of strategy has significantly advanced understanding of the foundations of competitive advantage, less is known about how knowledge becomes a strategic resource. In this study, we develop an inductive, process model of the relationships among (1) top managers' beliefs about knowledge as a resource (termed executive knowledge schemes), (2) the ways that executives search or scan for knowledge, and (3) how they use that knowledge in practice to transform common knowledge into distinctive, uncommon knowledge as a way of achieving competitive advantage. In the course of generating the grounded model, we also uncovered a new concept, scanning proactiveness, and identified two distinct forms of knowledge use in practice: knowledge adaptation and knowledge augmentation.
REFERENCES
- 2003. Corporate effects and dynamic managerial capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 24: 1011–1025. Google Scholar
- 1967. Scanning the business environment. New York: Macmillan. Google Scholar
- 2004. Knowledge work and knowledge-intensive firms. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar
- 1996. Creativity in context. Boulder, CO: Westview. Google Scholar
- 2007. Knowledge-based innovation: Emergence and embedding of new practice areas in management consulting firms. Academy of Management Journal, 50: 406–428.Link , Google Scholar
- 1999. Organizational learning: Creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge. Boston: Kluwer Academic. Google Scholar
- 1978. Organizational learning. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Google Scholar
- 2009. Dynamic capabilities and the role of managers in business strategy and economic performance. Organization Science, 20: 410–421. Google Scholar
- 1976. Structure of decision: The cognitive maps of political elites. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar
- 1986. Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck, and business strategy. Management Science, 42: 1231–1241. Google Scholar
- 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17: 99–120. Google Scholar
- 1998. Adapting to unfamiliar environmental events: A look at the evolution of interpretation and its role in strategic change. Organization Science, 9: 644–669. Google Scholar
- 1992. Cognitive change, strategic action, and organizational renewal. Strategic Management Journal, 13: 15–36. Google Scholar
- 1996. Executive scanning and perceived uncertainty: A multidimensional model. Journal of Management, 22: 1–21. Google Scholar
- 1993. Managerial search activity: The impact of perceived role uncertainty and role threat. Journal of Management, 19: 725–747. Google Scholar
- 2001. Knowledge and organization: A social-practice perspective. Organization Science, 12: 198–213. Google Scholar
- 1994. CEOs' cognitive maps and the scope of the organization. Strategic Management Journal, 15: 437–457. Google Scholar
- 1965. Organizational learning: Observations toward a theory. Administrative Science Quarterly, 10: 128–152. Google Scholar
- 2002. A pragmatic view of knowledge and boundaries: Boundary objects in new product development. Organization Science, 13: 442–455. Google Scholar
- 1990. Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35: 128–152. Google Scholar
- 1996. A resource-based theory of the firm: Knowledge versus opportunism. Organization Science, 7: 477–501. Google Scholar
- 1999. Bridging epistemologies: The generative dance between organizational knowledge and organizational knowing. Organization Science, 10: 381–400. Google Scholar
- 2011. Building theory about theory building: What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of Management Review, 36: 12–32.Link , Google Scholar
- 1999. An organizational learning framework: From intuition to institution. Academy of Management Review, 24: 522–537.Link , Google Scholar
- 1983. Environmental scanning: The effects of task complexity and source accessibility on information gathering behavior. Decision Sciences, 14: 194–206. Google Scholar
- 1984. Toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems. Academy of Management Review, 9: 284–295.Link , Google Scholar
- 1985. Why I recommended that your manuscript be rejected and what you can do about it. In Cummings L. L.Frost P. J. (Eds.), Publishing in the organizational sciences: 193–209. Homewood, IL: Irwin. Google Scholar
- 1988. Chief executive scanning, environmental characteristics, and company performance: An empirical study. Strategic Management Journal, 9: 123–139. Google Scholar
- 2008. Organizational antecedents of second-order competencies. Strategic Management Journal, 49: 519–543. Google Scholar
- 1995. The acquisition, transfer, and depreciation of knowledge in service organizations: Productivity in franchises. Management Science, 41: 1750–1762. Google Scholar
- 1922. Human nature and conduct: An introduction to social psychology. New York: Holt. Google Scholar
- 1989. Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. Management Science, 35: 1504–1513. Google Scholar
- 1984. Environmental boundary spanning and information processing effects on organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal, 27: 351–368.Abstract , Google Scholar
- 1983. Decision making at the top: The shaping of strategic direction. New York: Basic Books. Google Scholar
- 1992. A practice-centered model of organizational renewal through product innovation. Strategic Management Journal, 13: 77–92. Google Scholar
- 2004. Organizing practices in services: Capturing practice-based knowledge for innovation. Strategic Organization, 2: 35–64. Google Scholar
- 1999. Multilevel theorizing about creativity in organizations: A sensemaking perspective. Academy of Management Review, 24: 286–307.Link , Google Scholar
- 1993. Managing in turbulent times. New York: HarperBusiness. Google Scholar
- 1978. Theory building (rev. ed.). New York: Free Press. Google Scholar
- 1987. Categorizing strategic issues: Links to organizational action. Academy of Management Review, 12: 76–90.Link , Google Scholar
- 2002. Knowledge-based view: A new theory of strategy? In Pettigrew A.Thomas H.Whittington R.. (Eds.), Handbook of strategy and management: 139–164. London: Sage. Google Scholar
- 1998. What is agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103: 962–1023. Google Scholar
- 2007. The knowledge-based view, heterogeneity, and new value creation: Philosophical considerations on the locus of knowledge. Academy of Management Review, 32: 195–218.Link , Google Scholar
- 1985. Organizational learning. Academy of Management Review, 10: 803–813.Link , Google Scholar
- 2000. Resources and resourcefulness: Strategic capacity in the unionization of California agriculture, 1959–1966. American Journal of Sociology, 105: 1003–1062. Google Scholar
- 2003. Chief executive scanning emphases, environmental dynamism, and manufacturing firm performance. Strategic Management Journal, 24: 725–744. Google Scholar
- 2005. Cognition and hierarchy: Rethinking the microfoundations of capabilities' development. Organization Science, 16: 599–617. Google Scholar
- 1988. Environmental scanning in Korean firms: Organizational isomorphism in action. Journal of International Business Studies, 19: 69–86. Google Scholar
- 1986. Symbols, scripts, and sensemaking: Creating meaning in the organizational experience. In Sims H. P.Gioia D. A. (Eds.), The thinking organization: 49–74. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Google Scholar
- 1991. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation. Strategic Management Journal, 12: 433–448. Google Scholar
- 1967. Discovering grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine. Google Scholar
- 2000. When cymbals become symbols: Conflict over organizational identity within a symphony orchestra. Organization Science, 11: 285–298. Google Scholar
- 1996. Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17: 109–122. Google Scholar
- 2000. Knowledge flows within multinational corporations. Strategic Management Journal, 21: 473–496. Google Scholar
- 2006. The interplay between exploration and exploitation. Academy of Management Journal, 49: 693–706.Link , Google Scholar
- 1982. Environmental scanning and organizational strategy. Strategic Management Journal, 3: 159–174. Google Scholar
- 1984. Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review, 9: 193–206.Link , Google Scholar
- 2002. Action and possibility: Reconciling dual perspectives of knowledge in organizations. Organization Science, 13: 290–302. Google Scholar
- 1991. Organizational learning: The contributing processes and the literatures. Organization Science, 2: 88–115. Google Scholar
- 1987. Mobilizing invisible assets. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar
- 2005. Managing potential and realized absorptive capacity: How do organizational antecedents matter? Academy of Management Journal, 48: 999–1015.Link , Google Scholar
- 1992. Managerial resourcefulness: A reconceptualization of management skills. Human Relations, 45: 1311–1332. Google Scholar
- 2008. Cognition, capabilities, and incentives: Assessing firm response to the fiber-optic revolution. Academy of Management Journal, 51: 672–695.Link , Google Scholar
- 1993. The link between individual and organizational learning. Sloan Management Review. 35 (fall): 37–50. Google Scholar
- 1992. Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organization Science, 3: 383–397. Google Scholar
- 1996. What firms do? Coordination, identity, and learning. Organization Science, 7: 502–518. Google Scholar
- 2006. The reification of absorptive capacity: A critical review and rejuvenation of the construct. Academy of Management Review, 31: 833–863.Link , Google Scholar
- 1999. Using qualitative methods in organizational research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar
- 2009. Absorptive capacity, environmental turbulence, and the complementarity of organizational learning processes. Academy of Management Journal, 52: 822–846.Abstract , Google Scholar
- 1985. Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Google Scholar
- 2011. Factors for radical creativity, incremental creativity, and routine, noncreative performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96: 730–743. Google Scholar
- 1991. Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science, 2: 71–87. Google Scholar
- 2000. Environmental scanning behavior in a transitional economy: Evidence from Russia. Academy of Management Journal, 43: 403–427.Link , Google Scholar
- 1999. Bridging ties: A source of firm heterogeneity in competitive capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 20: 1133–1156. Google Scholar
- 1984. Qualitative data analysis: A source book of new methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Google Scholar
- 2001. Organizational improvisation and learning: A Field study. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46: 304–337. Google Scholar
- 2007. Investigating managers' exploration and exploitation activities: The influence of top-down, bottom-up, and horizontal knowledge inflows. Journal of Management Studies, 44: 910–931. Google Scholar
- 1988. Creativity syndrome: Integration, application, and innovation. Psychological Bulletin, 103: 27–43. Google Scholar
- 2008. Environmental context, managerial cognition, and strategic action: An integrated view. Strategic Management Journal, 29: 1395–1427. Google Scholar
- 2007. The intersection of organizational identity, knowledge, and practice: Attempting strategic change via knowledge grafting. Academy of Management Journal, 50: 821–847.Link , Google Scholar
- 1982. An evolutionary theory of economic change. Cambridge, MA: Belknap. Google Scholar
- 2007. The “problem” of creating and capturing value. Strategic Organization, 5: 211–225. Google Scholar
- 2002. Knowing in practice: Enacting a collective capability in distributed organizing. Organization Science, 13: 249–273. Google Scholar
- 1980. Qualitative evaluation methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Google Scholar
- 1959. The theory of the growth of the firm. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar
- 1992. Organizing moves in software support hot lines. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37: 527–548. Google Scholar
- 1989. Competitive groups as cognitive communities: The case of Scottish knitwear manufacturers. Journal of Management Studies, 26: 397–416. Google Scholar
- 1980. Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. New York: McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar
- 1990. The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review, 68(3): 79–91. Google Scholar
- 1994. Executive judgment, organizational congruence, and firm performance. Organization Science, 5: 421–437. Google Scholar
- 2001. Is the resource-based “view” a useful perspective for strategic management research? Academy of Management Review, 26: 22–40.Link , Google Scholar
- 1980. The structuring of organizational structures. Administrative Science Quarterly, 25: 1–17. Google Scholar
- 2009. An interpretive systems view of knowledge investments. Academy of Management Review, 34: 382–400.Abstract , Google Scholar
- 2009. Attentional triangulation: Learning from unexpected rare crises. Organization Science, 20: 876–893. Google Scholar
- 1949. The concept of mind. London: Hutchinson. Google Scholar
- 2011. Beyond collective entities: Multi-level research on organizational routines and capabilities. Journal of Management, 37: 468–490. Google Scholar
- 1987. The concept of organization mind. In DiTomaso N.Bachrach S. (Eds.), Research in the sociology of organizations, vol. 6: 135–161. Greenwich, CT: JAI. Google Scholar
- 1993. Environmental uncertainty and environmental scanning activities of Nigerian manufacturing executives: A comparative analysis. Strategic Management Journal, 14: 287–299. Google Scholar
- 2001. The uncertain relevance of newness: Organizational learning and knowledge flows. Academy of Management Journal, 44: 661–681.Link , Google Scholar
- 1991. Bounded rationality and organizational learning. Organization Science, 2: 125–134. Google Scholar
- 1999. Ambiguity and the process of knowledge transfer in strategic alliances. Strategic Management Journal, 20: 595–623. Google Scholar
- 2005. Existing knowledge, knowledge creation capability, and the rate of new product introduction in high-technology firms. Academy of Management Journal, 48: 346–357.Link , Google Scholar
- 1988. Executive perceptual filters: What they notice and how they make sense. In Hambrick D. C. (Ed.), The executive effect: Concepts and methods for studying top managers: 35–65. Greenwich, CT: JAI. Google Scholar
- 1990. Basics of qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Google Scholar
- 1994. What executives notice: Accurate perceptions in top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 37: 1360–1378.Link , Google Scholar
- 1996. Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17: 27–43. Google Scholar
- 1997. Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18: 509–533. Google Scholar
- 1993. Strategic sensemaking and organizational performance: Linkages among scanning, interpretation, action, and outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 36: 239–270.Link , Google Scholar
- 2000. Capabilities, cognition, and inertia: Evidence from digital imaging. Strategic Management Journal, 21: 1147–1162. Google Scholar
- 2009. A dialogical approach to the creation of new knowledge in organizations. Organization Science, 20: 941–957. Google Scholar
- 1988. Tales of the field: On writing ethnography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar
- 1991. Organizational memory. Academy of Management Review, 16: 57–91.Link , Google Scholar
- 1995. Managerial and organizational cognition: Notes from a trip down memory lane. Organization Science, 6: 280–321. Google Scholar
- 1979. The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar
- 1993. Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38: 357–381. Google Scholar
- 1998. Improvisation as a mindset for organizational analysis. Organization Science, 9: 543–555. Google Scholar
- 2006. Mindfulness and the quality of organizational attention. Organization Science, 17: 514–524. Google Scholar
- 2008. Decomposability in knowledge structures and its impact on the usefulness of inventions and knowledge-base malleability. Administrative Science Quarterly, 53: 333–362. Google Scholar
- 2002. Absorptive capacity: A review, reconceptualization, and extension. Academy of Management Review, 27: 185–203.Link , Google Scholar
- 2003. Interruptive events and team knowledge acquisition. Management Science, 49: 514–528. Google Scholar
- 2010. FDI spillovers in an emerging market: The role of foreign firms' country origin diversity and domestic firms' absorptive capacity. Strategic Management Journal, 31: 969–989. Google Scholar