IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v5y2015i3p123-141.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knowledge management capabilities of lead firms in innovation ecosystems

Author

Listed:
  • Chander Velu

Abstract

Knowledge management is a key capability for innovation. Prior research has typically conceptualized and examined knowledge management capabilities as a property of an individual firm or business unit. More recently, however, the locus of competition and innovation has started to shift from the individual firm to firms working together as an ecosystem. In light of these changing realities, we explicate a set of capabilities that are built, maintained, and exercised by the lead firm in order to enhance innovation within ecosystems. We highlight three knowledge management capabilities: (1) knowledge acquisition, (2) knowledge sharing, and (3) knowledge utilization. Drawing on open and closed action strategies firms use to foster team-based innovation, we develop propositions for the knowledge management capabilities of the lead firm. Our approach highlights three salient tensions that arise from team based innovation: autonomy–control, dissent–consent and uncertainty–certainty. We highlight how the three tensions need to be managed across knowledge management capabilities in order to increase the rate of innovation of the ecosystem. In doing so, we contribute to the evolving marketing literature on sensing and responding in ecosystems in order to provide customers with superior value. We discuss the implications for both managers and theory. Copyright Academy of Marketing Science 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Chander Velu, 2015. "Knowledge management capabilities of lead firms in innovation ecosystems," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 5(3), pages 123-141, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:5:y:2015:i:3:p:123-141
    DOI: 10.1007/s13162-015-0068-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s13162-015-0068-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13162-015-0068-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diether Gebert & Sabine Boerner & Eric Kearney, 2010. "Fostering Team Innovation: Why Is It Important to Combine Opposing Action Strategies?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 593-608, June.
    2. Jonathan Wareham & Paul B. Fox & Josep Lluís Cano Giner, 2014. "Technology Ecosystem Governance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 1195-1215, August.
    3. Clarysse, Bart & Wright, Mike & Bruneel, Johan & Mahajan, Aarti, 2014. "Creating value in ecosystems: Crossing the chasm between knowledge and business ecosystems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1164-1176.
    4. Jane E. Dutton & Susan J. Ashford & Regina M. O’ Neill & Erika Hayes & Elizabeth E. Wierba, 1997. "Reading the wind: how middle managers assess the context for selling issues to top managers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 407-423, May.
    5. Jerker Denrell & Christina Fang & Sidney G. Winter, 2003. "The economics of strategic opportunity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 977-990, October.
    6. Henrik Bresman, 2010. "External Learning Activities and Team Performance: A Multimethod Field Study," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 81-96, February.
    7. Carvalho, M.M. & Fleury, André & Lopes, Ana Paula, 2013. "An overview of the literature on technology roadmapping (TRM): Contributions and trends," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(7), pages 1418-1437.
    8. Mark Easterby‐Smith & Marjorie A. Lyles & Eric W. K. Tsang, 2008. "Inter‐Organizational Knowledge Transfer: Current Themes and Future Prospects," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 677-690, June.
    9. Ron Adner & Rahul Kapoor, 2010. "Value creation in innovation ecosystems: how the structure of technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology generations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 306-333, March.
    10. Bruce A. Heiman & Jack A. Nickerson, 2004. "Empirical evidence regarding the tension between knowledge sharing and knowledge expropriation in collaborations," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(6-7), pages 401-420.
    11. Ray Reagans & Ezra W. Zuckerman, 2001. "Networks, Diversity, and Productivity: The Social Capital of Corporate R&D Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 502-517, August.
    12. Steven Dahlquist & David Griffith, 2015. "A framework for the formation of governance portfolios in international interfirm marketing collaborations," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 5(1), pages 45-59, June.
    13. Kevin Boudreau, 2010. "Open Platform Strategies and Innovation: Granting Access vs. Devolving Control," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(10), pages 1849-1872, October.
    14. Ancori, Bernard & Bureth, Antoine & Cohendet, Patrick, 2000. "The Economics of Knowledge: The Debate about Codification and and Tacit Knowledge," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(2), pages 255-287, June.
    15. Sarah Kaplan, 2008. "Framing Contests: Strategy Making Under Uncertainty," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(5), pages 729-752, October.
    16. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    17. Steven H. Dahlquist & David A. Griffith, 2015. "A framework for the formation of governance portfolios in international interfirm marketing collaborations," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 5(1), pages 45-59, June.
    18. James G. March & Zur Shapira, 1987. "Managerial Perspectives on Risk and Risk Taking," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(11), pages 1404-1418, November.
    19. Lori Rosenkopf & Atul Nerkar, 2001. "Beyond local search: boundary‐spanning, exploration, and impact in the optical disk industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 287-306, April.
    20. Avadikyan, Arman & Llerena, Patrick & Matt, Mireille & Rozan, Anne & Wolff, Sandrine, 2001. "Organisational rules, codification and knowledge creation in inter-organisation cooperative agreements," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 1443-1458, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hock-Doepgen, Marianne & Clauss, Thomas & Kraus, Sascha & Cheng, Cheng-Feng, 2021. "Knowledge management capabilities and organizational risk-taking for business model innovation in SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 683-697.
    2. Diane Coyle, 2021. "The idea of productivity," Working Papers 003, The Productivity Institute.
    3. Nathaniel D. Line & Rodney C. Runyan & Tracy Gonzalez-Padron, 2019. "Multiple stakeholder market orientation: a service-dominant logic perspective of the market orientation paradigm," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(1), pages 42-60, June.
    4. Chipo Nancy Ngongoni & Sara (Saartjie) Grobbelaar & Cornelius Stephanus Schutte, 2022. "Making Sense of the Unknown: Using Change Attractors to Explain Innovation Ecosystem Emergence," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 227-252, April.
    5. Antje S. J. Hütten & Torsten Oliver Salge & Thomas Niemand & Florian U. Siems, 2018. "Advancing relationship marketing theory: exploring customer relationships through a process-centric framework," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 8(1), pages 39-57, June.
    6. Yihui (Elina) Tang & Detelina Marinova, 2020. "When less is more: the downside of customer knowledge sharing in new product development teams," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 288-307, March.
    7. Marek Lavčák & Oto Hudec & Žofia Sinčáková, 2019. "Local and Institutional Factors of Start-Up Ecosystems: Common and Inherited Attributes," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(4), pages 1765-1783, December.
    8. Johannes Habel & Sascha Alavi & Nicolas Heinitz, 2023. "A theory of predictive sales analytics adoption," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 13(1), pages 34-54, June.
    9. Jeandri Robertson, 2020. "Competition in Knowledge Ecosystems: A Theory Elaboration Approach Using a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chander Velu, 2015. "Knowledge management capabilities of lead firms in innovation ecosystems," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 5(3), pages 123-141, December.
    2. Shi, Xianwei & Liang, Xingkun & Luo, Yining, 2023. "Unpacking the intellectual structure of ecosystem research in innovation studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    3. Elizabeth J. Altman & Frank Nagle & Michael L. Tushman, 2013. "Innovating Without Information Constraints: Organizations, Communities, and Innovation When Information Costs Approach Zero," Harvard Business School Working Papers 14-043, Harvard Business School, revised Sep 2014.
    4. Gomes, Leonardo Augusto de Vasconcelos & Flechas, Ximena Alejandra & Facin, Ana Lucia Figueiredo & Borini, Felipe Mendes, 2021. "Ecosystem management: Past achievements and future promises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    5. Chao Zhang & Jiancheng Guan, 2017. "How to identify metaknowledge trends and features in a certain research field? Evidences from innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(2), pages 1177-1197, November.
    6. Brea, Edgar, 2023. "A framework for mapping actor roles and their innovation potential in digital ecosystems," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. Maximilian Julius Krome & Ulrich Pidun, 2023. "Conceptualization of research themes and directions in business ecosystem strategies: a systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 873-920, June.
    8. Jacobides, Michael G. & Cennamo, Carmelo & Gawer, Annabelle, 2024. "Externalities and complementarities in platforms and ecosystems: From structural solutions to endogenous failures," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    9. Ramya K. Murthy & Anoop Madhok, 2021. "Overcoming the Early‐stage Conundrum of Digital Platform Ecosystem Emergence: A Problem‐Solving Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(7), pages 1899-1932, November.
    10. Tsujimoto, Masaharu & Kajikawa, Yuya & Tomita, Junichi & Matsumoto, Yoichi, 2018. "A review of the ecosystem concept — Towards coherent ecosystem design," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 49-58.
    11. Gomes, Leonardo Augusto de Vasconcelos & Facin, Ana Lucia Figueiredo & Salerno, Mario Sergio & Ikenami, Rodrigo Kazuo, 2018. "Unpacking the innovation ecosystem construct: Evolution, gaps and trends," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 30-48.
    12. Jan Frederic Nerbel & Markus Kreutzer, 2023. "Digital platform ecosystems in flux: From proprietary digital platforms to wide-spanning ecosystems," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-20, December.
    13. Panos Constantinides & Ola Henfridsson & Geoffrey G. Parker, 2018. "Introduction—Platforms and Infrastructures in the Digital Age," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 381-400, June.
    14. Yurii Hrinchenko, 2020. "The Ecosystem Approach to the Aviation Industry Development Policy," Journal of Applied Management and Investments, Department of Business Administration and Corporate Security, International Humanitarian University, vol. 9(2), pages 71-84, June.
    15. Stefano Brusoni & Lorenzo Cassi & Simge Tuna, 2021. "Knowledge integration between technical change and strategy making," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(5), pages 1521-1552, November.
    16. Giovanni Gavetti, 2012. "PERSPECTIVE—Toward a Behavioral Theory of Strategy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 267-285, February.
    17. Walrave, Bob & Talmar, Madis & Podoynitsyna, Ksenia S. & Romme, A. Georges L. & Verbong, Geert P.J., 2018. "A multi-level perspective on innovation ecosystems for path-breaking innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 103-113.
    18. Gomes, Leonardo Augusto de Vasconcelos & Fleury, André Leme & Oliveira, Maicon Gouvêa de & Facin, Ana Lucia Figueiredo, 2021. "Ecosystem policy roadmapping," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    19. Jung Kwan Kim & Ram Mudambi, 2020. "An ecosystem-based analysis of design innovation infringements: South Korea and China in the global tire industry," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(1), pages 38-57, March.
    20. Ryan, Paul & Geoghegan, Will & Hilliard, Rachel, 2018. "The microfoundations of firms’ explorative innovation capabilities within the triple helix framework," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 76, pages 15-27.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:5:y:2015:i:3:p:123-141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.