Explicating the influence of shared goals and hope on knowledge sharing and knowledge creation in an emerging economic context

Does structural social capital lead to proactive green innovation? a three-part serial mediation model

Enhancing green innovation for business sustainability represents a pressing global challenge. In the context of the manufacturing industry, the relationship between proactive green innovation (PGI) and structural social capital (SSC) remains a profoundly under-researched area. Drawing upon the theories of social capital and dynamic capability (DC), this study investigated the relationship between SSC and PGI within manufacturing enterprises via three individual and sequential mediating factors, namely cognitive social capital (CSC), relational social capital (RSC), and DC. Adopting a cross-sectional quantitative design, this study collected survey data from 485 manufacturing sector employees in China using purposive sampling. Structural equation modeling analysis of the data revealed no significant direct impact of SSC on PGI, but a strong indirect impact through the sequential mediating influences of CSC, RSC, and DC. The findings suggests that PGI within manufacturing enterprises is not wholly shaped by SSC; rather, firm-level dynamic capabilities, characterized by a sequential mechanism, plays a crucial role in achieving PGI within these enterprises. This paper offers both theoretical and practical contributions and provides recommendations for future research based on its limitations.

An organizing framework to break down Western-centric views of knowledge in North-South research

Global challenges, such as climate change, persistent poverty, and food insecurity are complex problems. These societal, environmental, and economic challenges cross scientific disciplines, communities, and geographies, requiring interdisciplinary, North-South solutions. Nevertheless, prevailing sustainability science responses are Western-centric. Some seminal studies have attempted to understand and engage with diverse knowledge systems. These include decolonial and Indigenous methodologies, such as "Two-Eyed Seeing", which emphasizes the importance of using both Western and Indigenous knowledge to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the world, and participatory action research, which highlights the importance of involving participants in the research process and promoting social change through collaborative effort. However, apart from in-country research collaborations with traditional Indigenous knowledge, most North-South studies overlook the role or influence of Western-centric views and therefore fail to recognize and incorporate diverse worldviews and knowledge systems. This may, in part, reflect the tendency to categorize research into disciplinary silos, but more likely is the unintentional, yet prevalent, view that Western science is "objective and neutral." As more scholars from multiple disciplines and geographies focus on interdisciplinary North-South research, it is critical that researchers reflect on dominant research approaches and knowledge production. Studies can co-construct, reproduce, or control the forms of knowledge generated-whether intentional or unintentional. This paper presents an organizing framework to help researchers navigate, understand, and engage with diverse forms of knowledge in undertaking North-South research. The framework draws on empirical observations from the authors' interdisciplinary research and from empirical cross-cultural literature. It comprises three contextual levels of influence, featuring guiding principles and subsequent practical actions researchers can use to navigate the complexities of knowledge co-construction in North-South research.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-024-01478-6.

Influence of knowledge management infrastructure on knowledge creation processes. A study in the primary sector

Under the theoretical approaches of the resource-based view of the firm, the dynamic capabilities and the knowledge-based view of the firm, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence that the knowledge management infrastructure has on knowledge creation processes in primary sector companies, specifically, the aquaculture sector. For the empirical analysis, the SEM-PLS approach was used on a sample of 186 shrimp farms in Ecuador. Results confirm that the environment and organizational structure, and culture influence knowledge creation, while technological resources are not significant. This can be explained by the characteristics of the central activities of the shrimp companies and the assignment of functions. From a theoretical point of view, this paper links the knowledge-based view of the firm with the activities of the primary sector. Specifically, a theoretical model is developed in which the variables that can influence the knowledge creation processes of shrimp farms are studied. Existing works in the scientific literature that analyze both perspectives are practically nil. From a managerial perspective, given the importance of the creation and renewal of knowledge to develop organizational capabilities in the face of the dynamism of the market, the findings of this study can guide managers to understand how the combination of resources can help increase stocks of knowledge useful to business objectives.

Hope and work: From the pandemic to possibility, purpose, and resilience

The global pandemic shifted the relationship between workers and workplaces. This paper explores the role that hope might be playing in phenomena like the Great Resignation. Peer reviewed literature on hope and work published since 2020 reveal two key themes (across cultures): (a) hope is a special ingredient in thriving workplaces, and (b) hope acts as an important source of resilience during crisis and challenge. Taken together, we suggest that the pandemic spurred more individuals to generate hope in their working lives by setting positive, personally meaningful, valued goals, by marshalling their willpower, and by generating multiple pathways to their goals, with too many organizations missing the opportunity to co-create hopeful workplaces where workers can perform as well as thrive.

The Directional Knowledge Sharing Paradigm: A Mixed-Methods Case Study of the Interaction Between Organisational Culture and Intra-Organisational Knowledge Sharing

A partially mixed-methods case study in a Fortune 50 technology company was conducted to delineate the interaction between organisational culture (OC) types (competitive, bureaucratic and clan) and intra-organisational knowledge sharing (KS). This study provided empirical evidence that show differences in KS horizontally (peer-to-peer) and vertically (between direct-report and manager) within an organisation. By focussing on “socialization” adopted from the organisational knowledge creation theory, the iceberg theory and the competing values framework, we addressed an unexamined area within the body of knowledge. Survey data of 82 employees and interview data of 23 employees were analysed. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyse the quantitative survey data. The qualitative interview data were analysed through content analysis. A triangulation design was then followed to merge the data through an equivalent status ([Formula: see text]) interpretation to derive meta-inferences. MANCOVA displayed a statistically significant interaction between OC and KS via socialisation. The triangulated results showed that OC types distinctly impacted KS via socialisation with differences between seeking, contributing and the direction of knowledge flow (vertical and horizontal). The empirical evidence shows that organisations must consider the direction of knowledge flow (vertical or horizontal) when enforcing cultural values to drive KS via socialisation. Similarly, researchers should not ignore the directional knowledge sharing paradigm, nor the organisational knowledge creation theory, when examining intra-organisational KS.

It’s a knowledge centric world! Does ethical leadership promote knowledge sharing and knowledge creation? Psychological capital as mediator and shared goals as moderator

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of ethical leadership and psychological capital on knowledge sharing and knowledge creation in organizations. It also investigates the mediating effect of psychological capital and moderating effect of shared goals in the relationship between ethical leadership and knowledge sharing and between ethical leadership and knowledge creation.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a quantitative research design wherein the survey questionnaire has been used to gather data from 700 respondents in public sector research organizations, information technology companies and central universities and colleges. Hypotheses of the study have been tested using structural equation modelling.

Findings

The findings unveil that ethical leadership and psychological capital have a positive impact on knowledge sharing and knowledge creation. Psychological capital mediates and shared goals moderates the relationships of ethical leadership with knowledge sharing and knowledge creation. Knowledge sharing mediates between ethical leadership and knowledge creation.

Research limitations/implications

The study exploits quantitative research methodology, which may be supplemented by other research methodologies by future researchers.

Practical implications

This study offers new insights into the sharing and creating of knowledge by employees under the influences of ethical leadership and psychological capital. It will encourage future researchers and practitioners to further explore these dimensions for a more detailed investigation and explanation at work place. This study suggests that organizational leaders should behave in an ethical manner and should emphasise on various organizational interventions to increase psychological capital and shared goals to strengthen knowledge sharing and knowledge creation.

Originality/value

This study is among early attempts for investigating the linkage of ethical leadership and psychological capital with knowledge sharing and knowledge creation.

Knowledge creation in IT projects to accelerate digital innovation: two decade systematic literature review

The interactivity and ubiquity of digital technologies are exerting a significant impact on the knowledge creation in information technology (KC-IT) projects. According to the literature, the critical relevance of KC-IT is highly associated with digital innovation (DI) for organisational success. However, DI is not yet a fully-fledged research subject but is an evolving corpus of theory and practise that draws from a variety of social science fields. Given the preceding setting, this study explores the interaction of KC-IT with DI. This work provides a systemic literature review (SLR) to examine the literature in KC-IT and its connection to DI. A SLR of 527 papers from 2001 to 2021 was performed across six online databases. The review encompasses quantitative and qualitative studies on KC-IT factors, processes and methods. Three major gaps were found in the SLR. Firstly, only 57 (0.23%) papers were found to examine the association between KC and IT projects. These works were analysed for theories, type of papers, KC-IT factors, processes and methods. Secondly, the convergence reviews indicate that scarce research has examined TMS and trust in KC-IT as factors. Thirdly, only 0.02% (5) core papers appeared in the search relevant to KC in IT projects to accelerate DI. The majority of the papers examined were not linked to DI. A significant gap also exists in these areas. These findings warrant the attention of the research community.

Rethinking companies’ culture through knowledge management lens during Industry 5.0 transition

Purpose

Through the human resources (HR) and knowledge management (KM) perspective as human-centric processes, the aim of this study is to explore how companies’ engagement in diversity (DIV), inclusion (INC) and people empowerment (PEMP) policies influences companies’ organizational performance, to support organizations in the shift to the Industry 5.0 framework.

Design/methodology/approach

Combining the HR management and the KM-driven organizational culture, a conceptual model is proposed for explaining companies’ higher organizational performance. Proposed hypotheses are tested with reference to a set of listed international companies traced by Refinitiv on a five-year time horizon (2016–2020) through 24,196 firm-year observations.

Findings

This research shows that companies engaged in DIV policies, INC practices and PEMP through education have higher profitability and are more valued by capital markets’ investors.

Originality/value

This paper draws attention to the need to overcome the reductionist view of HR and rethink KM architecture to cope with the growing challenge of HR integration according to the Industry 5.0 paradigm.

Knowledge Management Processes and Performance: Key Role of IS Strategies in Knowledge Capture and Utilisation

This research examines the interrelation of knowledge generation (KG) and knowledge sharing (KC) and how they influence IT infrastructure (ITI) and strategic decision support systems (SDSS) to enhance business process performance (BPP) and firm performance (FP). Furthermore, the objective of this study is to emphasise the importance of applying information systems strategies (ISS) such as knowledge capture and utilisation to make better firm processes to boost firm performance in knowledge management process-intensive organisations. The study surveyed 261 Brazilian companies and used partial least squares path modelling to test the hypotheses proposed herein. The research findings showed that KG and KC influence ITI. Additionally, it also showed that ITI has full mediation in its relationship with KG and SDSS and partial mediation in its relationship with KC on the SDSS. Finally, BPP demonstrated full mediation in its relationship with SDSS and FP. The research findings contribute to firms understand how BPP and FP are affected through ISS embedded into knowledge and utilisation coupled with knowledge generation and sharing.

Does ethical leadership and psychological capital promote knowledge creation? An empirical study of research organizations

Purpose

This study aims to empirically examine the relationship of ethical leadership and psychological capital with knowledge creation. It also investigates the effect of psychological capital as a mediator in the relationship between ethical leadership and knowledge creation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on quantitative research methodology. The data was gathered using a survey questionnaire from 286 members of public-sector research organizations (PSROs) in India. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used for hypotheses testing.

Findings

The findings of this study show that ethical leadership and psychological capital have a positive influence on knowledge creation. Further, psychological capital mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and knowledge creation.

Research limitations/implications

This study is a quantitative cross-sectional study. However, future researchers may use qualitative research methodology and longitudinal data collection to supplement this study.

Practical implications

This study provides new understanding into the creation of knowledge by emphasizing on the critical role played by ethical leadership and psychological capital and, thus, makes significant theoretical contribution. It emphasizes that managers should not only be ethical but also use interventions to strengthen psychological capital of employees to strengthen knowledge creation.

Originality/value

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the underlying mechanism of psychological capital in explaining the links of ethical leadership with knowledge creation.

Impact of mass collaboration on knowledge sharing process using mediating role of innovation capability

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of mass collaboration on the knowledge-sharing process in the manufacturing sector of Iraq in the mediation of innovation capability.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is quantitative in nature in which the data has been gathered from the primary sources of information through a survey questionnaire from 225 respondents. The structural equation structural equation modeling technique has been used to analyze the data along with the path assessment and confirmatory factor analysis confirmatory factor analysis.

Findings

The results of this study determined that in the context of the interactive system and mutual adjustment, the mediation of innovation capability is partial whereas, in the context of shared understating, the mediation is full. In addition to this, an interactive system and mutual adjustment had a significant effect on the knowledge sharing process, while the shared understanding was determined to have an insignificant effect on the knowledge sharing process.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study are limited to the manufacturing sector of Iraq. In addition to this, the study includes a limited sample size which must be increased by future researchers.

Originality/value

This paper ensures originality in the context of Iraq, as the associations tested in this study have not been tested previously considering Iraq.

Knowledge strategy planning and information system strategies enable dynamic capabilities innovation capabilities impacting firm performance

Purpose

Many studies have not fully explored the relationship between knowledge and information system strategies (ISS) and their overall impact on firm performance (FP). In an attempt to address this knowledge gap, this study draws on the dynamic capabilities view, and on recent literature on knowledge strategy planning (KSP), and examines the alignment between KSP and ISS to enable dynamic capabilities innovation capabilities (DCIC) to gain FP.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey examined empirical data from 234 Brazilian companies using the partial least squares path modeling to test the hypotheses proposed herein.

Findings

The empirical results confirmed that both KSP and ISS have a positive impact on DCIC. Furthermore, the results indicated that FP was positively impacted through DCIC. The results indicated that the alignment between KSP and ISS positively impacts DCIC and ultimately FP.

Research limitations/implications

The data was collected from 234 Brazilian companies in a country classified as a developing economy. Future studies could investigate the impact of KSP and ISS on FP in developed economies. The practical implication of the study required managers to be knowledgeable about the value of alignment between KSP and IT capabilities involving more practitioners in the strategy-as-practice to create innovation capabilities and enhance FP.

Originality/value

This is one of the earliest studies that has investigated the relationships between KSP and ISS and their impact on FP within a developed economy context. The relationship between all constructs that have not been addressed previously contributes to extend the literature on KSP, ISS and dynamic capabilities view.

Influence of national culture on knowledge management process: literature review and research agenda

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore, understand and investigate the relationship between national culture and knowledge management (KM) process.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on systematically and objectively capturing the contents of extant research papers published by researchers in this area by using the literature review methodology.

Findings

The study demonstrates significant relationship between national culture and KM process. Further, it also provides directions for future research.

Practical implications

The study will help top management to understand and appreciate the impact of national culture on KM process in organization, where people from different nations are working together. The management may apply appropriate organizational interventions to manage people of different national cultures in effective manner and effective utilization of knowledge of the organization through KM process. This paper will be considered as a quick reference and resource for anyone interested in this area.

Originality/value

This study is a comprehensive literature review of influence of national culture on KM process. Further, it also sets the research agenda for future researchers.

Social media as a tool of knowledge sharing in academia: an empirical study using valance, instrumentality and expectancy (VIE) approach

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that determine the knowledge exchange intention and behavioural nature of academics by the help of social media tools in the Indian higher education.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has used valance–instrumentality–expectancy (VIE) theory to determine the knowledge exchange behaviour of academics. The study has considered the effects of knowledge contributor (KC) and knowledge seeker (KS) as moderators. The model has been validated by using a survey with 320 usable respondents.

Findings

The results highlight that if the stakeholders of higher education institutions feel the deficits of knowledge exchange, they realize importance of knowledge sharing and use social media to increase effect of knowledge exchange. Besides, perceived usefulness impacts on the use of social media for knowledge exchange by the concerned stakeholders. Moreover, it is observed that experience of the use of social media impacts the use of this tool for knowledge exchange.

Research limitations/implications

The use and application of VIE theory have successfully been able to interpret the factors affecting use of social media for knowledge exchange in higher educational institutes. The use of VIE theory has also been able to explain the proposed model better as the model could achieve a high explanative power (87%).

Practical implications

This study has provided meaningful insights to the practitioners and policymakers to realize how the stakeholders of the higher education institutions in India can be motivated to feel the need of sharing of knowledge and how they can use social media with ease for this purpose.

Originality/value

Not much research has been conducted with regard to the usage of social media as a tool for knowledge sharing in higher education sector in India. In that sense, this study is a novel attempt to undertake such research.