Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Knowledge integration mechanisms in high-technology business-to-business services vendors

  • Article
  • Published:
Knowledge Management Research & Practice

Abstract

Employing a multidisciplinary approach this paper addresses an important area of how born global high-technology firms develop knowledge integration capability through their internal and external networks. Knowledge integration is noted as a critical capability in the innovation process. Our exploratory study contributes by: presenting evidence from India’s high-technology IT/BPO offshore outsourcing business-to-business (B2B) vendors; adding to the theoretical body of knowledge by identifying the three critical operational routines of learning, market and quality orientations that are critical in developing knowledge integration capability and supporting innovation processes; and develops a theoretical framework for future researchers to test it through survey designs. We conclude by identifying future research and managerial implications for firms operating in such milieus.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abernathy W and Clark K (1985) Innovation: mapping the winds of creative destruction. Research Policy 14(1), 3–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahuja G and Novelli E (2011) Knowledge structures and innovation: useful abstraction and unanswered questions. In Handbook of Organizational Learning & Knowledge Management, 551–578.

  • Argyris C and Schon D (1978) Organizational Learning. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Athreye A (2005) The Indian software industry and its evolving service capability. Industrial and Corporate Change 14(3), 393–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azadegan A, Dooley K, Carter P and Carter J (2008) Supplier innovativeness and the role of interorganizational learning in enhancing manufacturer capabilities. Journal of Supply Chain Management 44(4), 14–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker W and Sinkula J (1999a) Learning orientation, market orientation, and innovation: integrating and extending models of organizational performance. Journal of Market-Focused Management 4(4), 295–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker W and Sinkula J (1999b) The synergistic effect of market orientation and learning orientation on organizational performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 27(4), 411–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banerjee P (2004) The Indian Software Industry: Business Strategy and Dynamic Co-Ordination. Palgrave Macmillan, New Delhi, India.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Berggren C, Bergek A, Bengtsson L, Hobday M and Söderlund J (2013) Knowledge Integration and Innovation: Critical Challenges Facing International Technology-Based Firms. Oxford University Press, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buaron R (1981) New-game strategies. McKinsey Quarterly 1(Spring), 24–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calantone R, Cavusgil S and Zhao Y (2002) Learning orientation, firm innovation capability, and firm performance. Industrial Marketing Management 31(6), 515–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das A, Narasimhan R and Talluri S (2006) Supplier integration – Finding an optimal configuration. Journal of Operations Management 24(5), 563–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day G (1994) The capabilities of market-driven organizations. The Journal of Marketing 58(4), 37–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dean JR JW and Snell S (1991) Integrated manufacturing and job design: moderating effects of organisational inertia. Academy of Management Journal 34, 776–804.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deshpande R and Webster F (1989) Organizational culture and marketing: defining the research agenda. Journal of Marketing 47, 101–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenhardt K (1989) Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review 14, 532–550.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eppinger S and Chitkara A (2006) The new practice of global product development. MIT Sloan Management Review 47(4), 22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erkelens R, Hooff B, Vlaar P and Huysman M (2010) Knowledge integration in global R&D networks global sourcing of information technology and business processes. In Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing (Oshri I and Kotlarsky J, Eds.), pp. 82–102, Springer, Heidelberg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ethiraj S, Kale P, Krishnan M and Singh J (2005) Where do capabilities come from and how do they matter? A study in the software services industry. Strategic Management Journal 26, 25–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garvin D (1993) Building a learning organization. Harvard Business Review 71(July–August), 53–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grandori A (2001) Neither hierarchy nor identity: knowledge-governance mechanisms and the theory of the firm. Journal of Management and Governance 5(3–4), 381–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant R (1996a) Prospering in dynamically-competitive environments: organizational capability as knowledge integration. Organization Science 7(4), 375–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant R (1996b) Towards a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal 17(S2), 109–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helfat C (2000) Guest editor’s introduction to the special issue: the evolution of firm capabilities. Strategic Management Journal 21(10–11), 955–960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helfat C and Peteraf M (2003) The dynamic resource-based view: capability lifecycles. Strategic Management Journal 24(10), 997–1010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helfat C and Raubitscheck R (2000) Product sequencing: co-evolution of knowledge, capabilities and products. Strategic Management Journal 21(10–11), 961–997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson R and Clark K (1990) Architechural innovation: the reconfiguration of existing product technologies and failure of established firms. Administrative Science Quarterly 35(1), 9–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson R and Cockburn I (1994) Measuring competence? Exploring firm effects in pharmaceutical research. Strategic Management Journal 15(Winter Special Issue), 63–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber G (1991) Organizational learning: the contributing processes and the literatures. Organization Science 2(1), 88–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurley R and Hult G (1998) Innovation, market orientation, and organizational learning: an integration and empirical examination. The Journal of Marketing, 42–54.

  • Johansson M, Axelson M, Enberg C and Tell F (2013) Knowledge integration in inter-firm R&D collaboration. In Knowledge Integration and Innovation: Critical Challenges Facing International Technology-Based Firms (Berggren C, Bergek A, Bengtsson L, Hobday M and Soderlund J, Eds), pp 148–169, Oxford University Press, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch A (2011) Firm-internal knowledge integration and the effects on innovation. Journal of Knowledge Management 15(6), 984–996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohli A, Jaworski B and Kumar A (1993) MARKOR: a measure of market orientation. Journal of Marketing Research 30(4), 467–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane P, Koka B and Pathak S (2006) The reification of absorptive capacity: a critical review and rejuvenation of the construct. Academy of Management Review 31(4), 833–863.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lema R (2010) Adoption of open business models in the West and innovation in India’s software industry. Research Report No. 62, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Sussex, UK.

  • Levitt B and March J (1988) Organizational learning. Annual Review of Sociology 14(1), 319–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin B and Chen C (2006) Fostering product innovation in industry networks: the mediating role of knowledge integration. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 17(1), 155–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malik A (2009) Training drivers, competitive strategy and clients’ needs: case studies of three business process outsourcing organisations. Journal of European Industrial Training 33(2), 160–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malik A and Blumenfeld S (2012) Six sigma, quality management systems and the development of organisational learning capability: evidence from four business process outsourcing organisations in India. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management 29(1), 71–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malik A and Rowley C (2015) Business Models and People Management in the Indian IT Industry: From people to profits. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malik A, Sinha A and Blumenfeld S (2012) Role of quality management capabilities in developing market-based organisational learning capabilities: case study evidence from four Indian business process outsourcing firms. Industrial Marketing Management 41(4), 639–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles B and Huberman A (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd edn, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narver J and Slater S (1990) The effect of a market orientation on business profitability. Journal of Marketing 54(October), 20–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NASSCOM (2012) Indian IT-BPO industry. NASSCOM: New Delhi. [WWW document] http://www.nasscom.org/indian-itbpo-industry, (accessed 29 June 2012).

  • Nelson R (1991) Why do firms differ, and how does it matter? Strategic Management Journal 12(Winter Special Issue), 61–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson R and Winter S (1982) An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Okhuysen B and Eisenhardt K (2002) Integrating knowledge in groups: how formal interventions enable flexibility. Organization Science 13(4), 370–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavitt K (2005) Innovation processes. In The Oxford Handbook of Innovation (Fagerberg J, Mowery DC and Nelson RR, Eds), pp 86–114, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peteraf MA (1993) The cornerstones of competitive advantage: a resource based view. Strategic Management Journal 14(3), 179–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perdomo-Ortiz J, González-Benito J and Galende J (2006) Total quality management as a forerunner of business innovation capability. Technovation 26(10), 1170–1185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell T (1995) Total quality management as competitive advantage: a review and empirical study. Strategic Management Journal 16(1), 15–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prajogo D and McDermott C (2005) The relationship between total quality management and organizational culture. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 25(11), 1101–1122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed R, Lemak D and Mero N (2000) Total quality management and sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of Quality Management 5(1), 5–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed R, Lemak D and Montgomery J (1996) Beyond process: TQM content and firm performance. Academy of Management Review 21(1), 173–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmickl C and Keiser A (2008) How much do specialists have to learn from each other when they jointly develop radical innovations. Research Policy 37(3), 301–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senge P (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinkula J (1994) Market information processing and organisational learning. Journal of Marketing 58(January), 46–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinkula J, Baker W and Noordeweir T (1997) A framework for market-based organisational learning: linking values, knowledge, and behaviour. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 25(4), 305–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sitkin S, Sutcliffe K and Schroeder R (1994) Distinguishing control from learning in total quality management: a contingency perspective. Academy of Management Review 19(3), 537–564.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slater S and Narver J (1995) Market orientation and the learning organization. Journal of Marketing 59(3), 63–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snell S and Dean J (1992) Integrated manufacturing and human resource management: a human capital perspective. Academy of Management Journal 35(3), 467–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sosa M, Eppinger S and Rowles C (2004) The misalignment of product architecture and organizational structure in complex product development. Management Science 50(12), 1674–1689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teece D, Pisano G and Shuen A (1997) Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal 18(7), 509–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tell F (2013) Knowledge integration and innovation: a survey of the field. In Knowledge Integration and Innovation: Critical Challenges Facing International Technology-Based Firms (Berggren C, Bergek A, Bengtsson L, Hobday M and Soderlund J, Eds, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiwana A, Bharadwaj A and Sambamurthy V (2003) The antecedents of information systems development capability in firms: a knowledge integration perspective. Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth International Conference in Information Systems, Association for Information Systems AIS Electronic Library (AISeL), Paper presented at 24th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) (Massey A, March ST and DeGross JI, Eds), pp 246–258, Seattle, Washington, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyre M and Orlikowski W (1994) Windows of opportunity: temporal patterns of technological adaptation in organizations. Organization Science 5(1), 98–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van de Ven A and Drazin R (1985) The concept of fit in contingency theory. In Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 7 (Cummings LL and Staw BM, Eds), pp 333–365, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner S and Boutellier R (2002) Capabilities for managing a portfolio of supplier relationships. Business Horizons 45(6), 79–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wernerfelt B (1984) A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal 5(2), 171–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter S (2003) Understanding dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management Journal 24(10), 991–995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin R (2003) Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 3rd edn, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zollo M and Winter S (2002) Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities. Organization Science 13(3), 339–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, Australia

    Ashish Malik

  2. University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Venkataraman Nilakant

Authors
  1. Ashish Malik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Venkataraman Nilakant
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashish Malik.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Malik, A., Nilakant, V. Knowledge integration mechanisms in high-technology business-to-business services vendors. Knowl Manage Res Pract 14, 565–574 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2015.9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2015.9

Keywords

Search

Navigation