Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Strategy and Knowledge Management in Humanitarian Organizations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Decision-making in Humanitarian Operations

Abstract

Building on the knowledge-based view of the firm, this chapter provides a social capital approach for knowledge sharing, creation, and retention as a way to attain sustainable competitive advantage for humanitarian organizations. Based on the case of the World Health Organization, we focus on the role of individual internal networks provided by initiatives such as (i) staff-mobility programs across international offices, (ii) eHealth collaborations, and (iii) eLearning Networks for knowledge exploitation and exploration. We argue that these networks are particularly relevant for humanitarian organizations as they face the challenge of managing the knowledge gathered by individuals engaged in operations in various parts of the world. The chapter also discusses implications for humanitarian organizations facing knowledge challenges derived from geographically dispersed operations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Knowledge exploitation refers to an organization’s repeated use of its existing knowledge, leading to the further development of its competencies. Knowledge exploration instead refers to the acquisition of new knowledge that can result in new competencies (March, 1991). While knowledge exploitation results in moderate but certain returns, knowledge exploration is uncertain and its returns are unpredictable (Liu, 2006). Knowledge retention deals with the firm’s storage of and capability to use the knowledge it creates (Argote, McEvily, & Reagans, 2003).

  2. 2.

    We follow Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s view on social capital (1998), which defines it as “the sum of the actual and potential resources embedded within, available through, and derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit. Social capital thus comprises both the network and the assets that may be mobilized through the network” (p. 243).

  3. 3.

    Also known as embeddedness (Granovetter, 1985).

  4. 4.

    While Zika affected 76 countries in the Americas, South-East Asia, and the Western Pacific Regions, the impact of Ebola was limited to the WHO African Regions, where it took approximately 11,310 lives.

  5. 5.

    According to the WHO, eHealth refers to the use of information and communication technologies for health (World Health Organization, 2017). In 2005, the WHA acknowledged the potential of eHealth to strengthen health systems and recommended that the WHO’s member states incorporate eHealth into their health systems and services.

  6. 6.

    Collaboration established in 2002 and still ongoing by mid-2018.

References

  • Adler, P., Goldoftas, B., & Levine, D. (1999). Flexibility versus efficiency? A case study of model changeovers in the toyota production system. Organization Science, 10, 43–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adler, P., & Kwon, S. W. (2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept. Academy of Management Review, 27, 17–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Argote, L., McEvily, B., & Reagans, R. (2003). Managing knowledge in organizations: An integrative framework and review of emerging themes. Management Science, 49(4), 571–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asia eHealth Information Network. (2012). Workshop proceedings, United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand, August 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asia eHealth Information Network. (2017). Retrieved July 2017, from http://Www.Aehin.Org/

  • Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berdrow, I., & Lane, H. W. (2003). International joint ventures: Creating value through successful knowledge management. Journal of World Business, 38(1), 15–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosua, R., & Venkitachalam, K. (2013). Aligning strategies and processes in knowledge management: A framework. Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(3), 331–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carnabuci, G., & Operti, E. (2013). Where do firms’ recombinant capabilities come from? Intraorganizational networks, knowledge, and firms’ ability to innovate through technological recombination. Strategic Management Journal, 34(13), 1591–1613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, M. A., & Westphal, J. D. (2001). The strategic context of external network ties: Examining the impact of director appointments on board involvement in strategic decision making. Academy of Management Journal, 44(4), 639–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casanueva, C., & Gallego, Á. (2010). Social capital and individual innovativeness in university research networks. Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, 12, 105–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cross, R., Borgatti, S. P., & Parker, A. (2002). Making invisible work visible: Using social network analysis to support strategic collaboration. California Management Review, 44(2), 25–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, A. (Ed.). (1997). Striking a balance: A guide to enhancing the effectiveness of non-governmental organisations in international development. Earthscan, London. 

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, C., & Birkinshaw, J. (2004). The antecedents, consequences and mediating role of organizational ambidexterity. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 209–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giuffre, K. (2013). Communities and networks: Using social network analysis to rethink urban and community studies. John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360–1380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3), 481–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M. (1992). Problems of explanation in economic sociology. In N. Nohria & R. Eccles (Eds.), Networks and organizations: Structure, form and action. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, R. M. (1996). Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17, 109–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Güttel, W. H., & Konlechner, S. W. (2009). Continuously hanging by a thread: Managing contextually ambidextrous organizations. Schmalenbach Business Review, 61, 149–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, M. T. (1999). The search transfer problem: The role of weak ties in sharing knowledge across organizational sub-units. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44, 82–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harryson, S. J., Dudkowski, R., & Stern, A. (2008). Transformation networks in innovation alliances—The development of volvo c70. Journal of Management Studies, 45, 745–773.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Im, G., & Rai, A. (2008). Knowledge sharing ambidexterity in long-term interorganizational relationships. Management Science, 54, 1281–1296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inkpen, A., & Tsang, E. W. K. (2005). Social capital, networks, and knowledge transfer. Academy of Management Review, 30, 146–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansen, J. J. P., Simsek, Z., & Cao, Q. (2012). Ambidexterity and performance in multiunit contexts: Cross-level moderating effects of structural and resource attributes. Strategic Management Journal, 33, 1286–1303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansen, J. J. P., Van Den Bosch, F. A. J., & Volberda, H. (2006). Exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation, and performance: Effects of organizational antecedents and environmental moderators. Management Science, 52, 1661–1674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Josserand, E., Schmitt, A., & Borzillo, S. (2017). Balancing present needs and future options: How employees leverage social networks with clients. Journal of Business Strategy, 38, 14–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang, S.-C., & Snell, S. A. (2009). Intellectual capital architectures and ambidextrous learning: A framework for human resource management. Journal of Management Studies, 46, 65–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kauppila, O.-P. (2010). Creating ambidexterity by integrating and balancing structurally separate interorganizational partnerships. Strategic Organization, 8, 283–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kogut, B., & Zander, U. (1992). Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities and the replication of technology. Organization Science, 3, 383–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotabe, M., Jiang, C. X., & Murray, J. Y. (2011). Managerial ties, knowledge acquisition, realized absorptive capacity and new product market performance of emerging multinational companies: A case of China. Journal of World Business, 46(2), 166–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwankam, S. Y. (2004). What e-Health can offer. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 82(10), 800–802.

    Google Scholar 

  • Landry, R., Amara, N., Pablos-Mendes, A., Shademani, R., & Gold, I. (2006). The knowledge-value chain: A conceptual framework for knowledge translation in health. Bulletin of The World Health Organization, 84(8), 597–602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leahey, E., Beckman, C. M., & Stanko, T. L. (2017). Prominent but less productive: The impact of interdisciplinarity on scientists’ research. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(1), 105–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lechner, C., Frankenberger, K., & Floyd, S. W. (2010). Task contingencies in the curvilinear relationships between intergroup networks and initiative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 53, 865–889.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, Z., Yang, H., & Demirkan, I. (2007). The performance consequences of ambidexterity in strategic alliance formations: Empirical investigation and computational theorizing. Management Science, 53, 1645–1658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, W. (2006). Knowledge exploitation, knowledge exploration, and competency trap. Knowledge and Process Management, 13(3), 144–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • March, J. G. (1991). Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science, 2(1), 71–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maurer, I., & Ebers, M. (2006). Dynamics of social capital and their performance implications: Lessons from biotechnology start-ups. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51, 262–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mcfadyen, M. A., & Cannella, A. A. (2004). Social capital and knowledge creation: Diminishing returns of the number and strength of exchange relationships. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 735–746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mom, T. J. M., Van Den Bosch, F. A. J., & Volberda, H. (2009). Understanding variation in managers’ ambidexterity: Investigating direct and interaction effects of formal structural and personal coordination mechanisms. Organization Science, 20, 812–828.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23, 242–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Payne, T. G., Moore, C. B., Griffis, S. E., & Autry, C. W. (2011). Multilevel challenges and opportunities in social capital research. Journal of Management, 37, 491–520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E. (1985). The competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance (p. 167). New York, NY: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Probst, G., & Schmitt, A. (2005). The World Health Organization: Change in an international organization. The Case Centre: Reference No. 405-047-1, Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raisch, S., & Birkinshaw, J. (2008). Organizational ambidexterity: Antecedents, outcomes, and moderators. Journal of Management, 34, 375–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raisch, S., Birkinshaw, J., Probst, G., & Tushman, M. L. (2009). Organizational ambidexterity: Balancing exploitation and exploration for sustained performance. Organization Science, 20, 685–695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reagans, R., & Zuckerman, E. W. (2001). Network, diversity and performance: The social capital of r&d teams. Organization Science, 12, 502–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruef, M. (2002). Strong ties, weak ties and islands: Structural and cultural predictors of organizational innovation. Industrial And Corporate Change, 11(3), 427–449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, A., Borzillo, S., & Probst, G. (2012). Don’t let knowledge walk away: Knowledge retention during employee downsizing. Management Learning, 43, 53–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simsek, Z. (2009). Organizational ambidexterity: Towards a multilevel understanding. Journal of Management Studies, 46, 597–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simsek, Z., Heavey, C., Veiga, J. F., & Souder, D. (2009). A typology for aligning organizational ambidexterity’s conceptualizations, antecedents, and outcomes. Journal of Management Studies, 46, 864–894.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stettner, U., & Lavie, D. (2014). Ambidexterity under scrutiny: Exploration and exploitation via internal organization, alliances, and acquisitions. Strategic Management Journal, 35, 1903–1929.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, A., & Helfat, C. E. (2009). Organizational linkages for surviving technological change: Complementary assets, middle management, and ambidexterity. Organization Science, 20, 718–739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urrea, G., Villa, S., & Gonçalves, P. (2016). Exploratory analyses of relief and development operations using social networks. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 56, 27–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (1946). Constitution of the World Health Organization. Retrieved July 2017, from http://www.who.int/governance/eb/who_constitution_en.pdf

  • World Health Organization. (2005). Bridging the “Know-Do” gap. Meeting on knowledge translation in Global Health, Geneva, 2005. Retrieved July 2017, from https://www.measureevaluation.org/resources/training/capacity-building-resources/high-impact-research-training-curricula/bridging-the-know-do-gap.pdf

  • World Health Organization. (2007). Everybody business: Strengthening health systems to improve health outcomes: WHO’s framework for action. Retrieved July 2017, from http://www.who.int/healthsystems/strategy/everybodys_business.pdf

  • World Health Organization. (2008). World Alliance for patient safety. Progress report 2006–2007. Retrieved July 2017, from http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/75169

  • World Health Organization. (2013a). Human resources: Annual report. Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly, May 2013. Retrieved July 2017, from http://apps.who.int/gb/e/e_wha66.html

  • World Health Organization. (2013b). eHealth and health Internet domain names. Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly, May 2013. Retrieved July 2017, from http://apps.who.int/gb/e/e_wha66.html

  • World Health Organization. (2014). eHealth and innovation in women’s and children’s health: A baseline review: Based on the findings of the 2013 survey of CoIA countries by the WHO Global Observatory for eHealth, March 2014. Retrieved July 2017, from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/111922/1/9789241564724_eng.pdf

  • World Health Organization. (2015). The transformation agenda of the World Health Organization Secretariat in the African region 2015–2020. Retrieved July 2017, from http://www.afro.who.int/sites/default/files/pdf/generic/Transformation_agenda_english.pdf

  • World Health Organization. (2016a). WHO country cooperation strategy. Guide 2016. Retrieved July 2017, from http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/251734

  • World Health Organization. (2016b). Mid-term programmatic and financial report for 2016–2017. Retrieved July 2017, from http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA70/A70_40-en.pdf?ua=1

  • World Health Organization. (2016c). Geographical mobility policy. Retrieved July 2017, from http://www.who.int/employment/WHO-mobility-policy.pdf

  • World Health Organization. (2017). Retrieved July, 2017, from http://www.who.int/en/

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, HES-SO // University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Margarita Cruz & Achim Schmitt

Authors
  1. Margarita Cruz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Achim Schmitt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Margarita Cruz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

    Sebastián Villa

  2. Kelley School of Business Indiana University, Bloomington, USA

    Gloria Urrea

  3. School of Management Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia

    Jaime Andrés Castañeda

  4. Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Erik R. Larsen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Cruz, M., Schmitt, A. (2019). Strategy and Knowledge Management in Humanitarian Organizations. In: Villa, S., Urrea, G., Castañeda, J.A., Larsen, E.R. (eds) Decision-making in Humanitarian Operations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91509-8_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation