Research in organizational learning has demonstrated processes and occasionally performance implications of acquisition of declarative (know-what) and procedural (know-how) knowledge. However, considerably less attention has been paid to learned characteristics of relationships that affect the decision to seek information from other people. Based on a review of the social network, information processing, and organizational learning literatures, along with the results of a previous qualitative study, we propose a formal model of information seeking in which the probability of seeking information from another person is a function of (1) knowing what that person knows; (2) valuing what that person knows; (3) being able to gain timely access to that person’s thinking; and (4) perceiving that seeking information from that person would not be too costly. We also hypothesize that the knowing, access, and cost variables mediate the relationship between physical proximity and information seeking. The model is tested using two separate research sites to provide replication. The results indicate strong support for the model and the mediation hypothesis (with the exception of the cost variable). Implications are drawn for the study of both transactive memory and organizational learning, as well as for management practice.

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Technology foresight has received growing attention among those involved in the shaping and implementation of science and technology (S&T) policies. However, although evaluative analyses of foresight exercises have supplied evidence on acclaimed benefits -- such as the generation of futureoriented knowledge and strengthening of collaborative networks -- they also point to challenges in translating foresight results into actions within research and technology development (RTD) organizations. In this paper, we address these challenges by considering the work of the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF) which has sought to promote the conception, development and diffusion of wireless communication technologies. Specifically, by contrasting this work with well-known government-initiated foresight exercises, we typify so-called explicit, emergent, and embedded foresight activities and explore their interrelationships. Our comparative analysis points to conditions under which policy interventions may not be needed for the emergence of foresight activities that exert a major influence on RTD agendas.

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Building on the literature of dynamic capability and organizational learning, we examine strategy execution in hyper-competition as a problem of how organizations can re-configure their learning capability to match with their radically different learning demands. Organizations in hyper-competitive environments face an increasing gap between their learning opportunities and needs, and actual learning performance. In order to survive they must improve their absorptive capacity so that they can learn simultaneously broad, deep and fast. We define such a learning contingency as hyper-learning. To do so, the organization must systematically interlace exploration—that seeks to maximize learning breadth— and exploitation—that seeks to maximize learning depth. Unlike in traditional learning cycles, exploration and exploitation during periods of hyper-learning are not insulated from each other through time or structure. We explore seven software firms engaged in Web system development during the hey-day on dot.com frenzy and investigate how these companies were able to hyper-learn. We distinguish two mechanisms to speed up exploration: distributed gate-keeping and extended grafting of external knowledge; and two mechanisms to speed up exploitation: simple design patterns and peer networks.

This paper maintains that the consistent application of subjectivism helps to reconcile contemporary entrepreneurship theory with strategic management research in general, and the resource−based view in particular. The paper synthesizes theoretical insights from Austrian economics and Penrose’s (1959) resources approach, arguing that entrepreneurship is inherently subjective and firm specific. This new synthesis describes how entrepreneurship is manifested in teams, and is driven by both heterogeneity of managerial mental models and shared team experiences.

This paper deals with management challenges in emergent business networks in times of radical technological change. First, a framework describing the environment of emergent networks is proposed. Second, the processes which constitute the proposed phases of emergence are discussed. Finally, the core company-level tasks in each phase are identified and dynamic capabilities for managing these tasks are suggested.

The digital divide is a complex and dynamic phenomenon. Despite extensive studies on the digital divide and its impact, developing countries, in particular, are still searching for sustainable solutions to reduce the digital gap in order to leverage their investments in information and communication technologies (ICT) toward the attainment of greater economic and social benefits and increased global competitiveness. Research has shown that the earlier focus on this phenomenon targeted physical access and diffusion of ICT as an indicator of digital readiness to reap ICT benefits. However, there has been growing attention to the effectiveness of deployment and use. In this paper we set out to extend the analysis by providing another perspective, involving a digital effectiveness framework (DEF), which describes progressive levels of capabilities and associated benefits along a path toward digital effectiveness. The DEF is derived from the theoretical foundations and scholarly work in knowledge management, diffusion of innovation, and institutionalism and includes constructs such as knowledge acquisition, access, adoption, exploitation and innovation. The implications for research are discussed. 1.

The dynamics of change and the path−dependent evolution of resources and capabilities are central concerns of contemporary strategic management. This paper integrates the resource−based and dynamic capabilities literatures to explain why development of dynamic capabilities is especially important for firms that transition from regulated to deregulated environments. We develop a theoretical model and specific propositions concerning the pattern and sequencing of dynamic capability development within environments experiencing substantial change, specifically in newly deregulated industries. We discuss implications of the proposed theoretical model for both research and managerial practice.

Emerging organizational research has proposed increasingly nuanced links between capabilities and routines, which in turn play vital roles in organizational survival and prosperity. We draw on prior work to define capabilities as involving some consistency in potential outcomes in a particular domain. This contrasts with routines, which involve consistency in processes. We report results of an inductive study of patterns linking capabilities and routines in 60 young firms, drawing on 1,725 transcript pages. Many capabilities arose through deliberate design or combinations of existing routines. In rare cases organizations repeatedly improvised in a particular area and thereby sustained capabilities that did not rely on consistent routines in the relevant action domain. We also found several ways in which organizational capabilities sometimes harmed overall organizational performance, although in some cases the organizations learned from harmful capabilities. Routines arose from multiple sources. We highlight three forms of “making do ” with routines available from varied sources, all forms of bricolage. Finally, routines played several roles in organizational transformation in addition to their contribution to inertia. The paper suggests that we can theoretically distinguish capabilities from routines even as they are intertwined over time in organizations, and that improvisation and bricolage play roles in organizational entrepreneurial learning.