The insights for this article came from research the authors have performed singly and collectively over the past several years while studying and/or visiting about 50 organizations. In each case, we examined the contributions that knowledge and innovation made to organizational performance.
Our research has primarily been qualitative, executed by conducting multiple interviews within each organization studied, then performing content analysis of those interviews to identify themes and validate the research framework. We have supplemented this research with several quantitative surveys.
We used two primary frameworks in conducting our research. The framework used to examine the knowledge position-product/market position relationship is described in Zack.i This article identifies a key set of questions regarding the knowledge strategy relationship that formed the basis for our interviews.
A second framework was used for a quantitative and qualitative study of global innovation performed by three of the authors. In this study we examined the innovation position/ knowledge position-product/market position relationship. This framework is outlined in a working paper.ii
We continually moved back and forth between developing the framework and testing it with case studies from research that each of us had done previously. The final case study presented in the article provided a comprehensive exemplar of the framework. More data regarding that organization is available.iii
i. M.H. Zack, “Developing a Knowledge Strategy,” California Management... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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