All authors contributed equally. The names are arranged in alphabetical order

Suzanne Weisband for their advice in the development of the paper. We also thank employees at American Institutes for Research for their participation. Expertise and Collaboration in the Geographically Dispersed Organization The knowledge-based view of the firm has led to greater theoretical interest in how organizations integrate their knowledge resources embedded in people’s expertise. We examine the knowledge integration problem in geographically dispersed professional organizations in which experts work in project teams. From consideration of coordination costs and local ties, we argue that (1) the organization will develop specialized expertise within local sites, (2) managers will not cross geographic boundaries to staff a project unless bringing on a distant expert helps meet customer requirements, (3) cross-site connections help less needed members participate in dispersed projects, and (4) dispersed projects that have a better match of expertise generate higher net earnings. We tested these hypotheses using archival data and interviews in a geographically dispersed professional service organization. We examined how managers staffed 493 local and dispersed projects over a five-year period, and the financial outcomes of these projects. Managers created dispersed projects comparatively rarely; they did so when scarce

In the twenty-first-century landscape, firms must compete in a complex and challenging context that is being transformed by many factors, from globalization, technological development, and increasingly rapid diffusion of new technology, to the development and use of knowledge (Hitt, Keats, & DeMarie, 1998). This new landscape requires firms to do things differently in order to survive and prosper. Specifically, they must look to new sources of competitive advantage and engage in new forms of competition. This, in turn, requires a clear understanding of the nature of competition and competitive dynamics. One popular approach to understanding competitive dynamics is the resource-based view of the firm. According to this view, the explanation for why some firms ultimately succeed and others fail can be found in understanding their resources and capabilities. A firm’s resources and capabilities influence both the strategic choices that managers make and the implementation of those chosen strategies. (The recent debate over this model suggests there are challenges involved in applying it; see Priem & Butler,

Differences in competences are widely believed to be an important source of enduring competitive advantage. However empirical studies investigating the sources of firm differences in terms of both human resource types, levels and degrees of heterogeneity remain sparse to date. Because firm competence rest on human resources and their relation, this study demonstrates with a uniquely comprehensive data set that human resource types, levels, and heterogeneity in engineering consulting firms are empirically separable constructs that have significant and yet different influences on firm performance in terms of productivity and profitability. Our results indicate that educational diversity matters more for explaining performance differences than levels of experience and tenure of human resources.

Knowledge management practice in Australian law firms A law firm can be understood as a social community specializing in the speed and efficiency in the creation and transfer of legal knowledge. Knowledge management was introduced to law firms to help them to create, share, and use knowledge more effectively. Information technology can play an important role in successful knowledge management initiatives. This article draws on research from a sample of law firms in Australia to explore links between knowledge sharing, rewards and use of information technology. Research results indicate a significant relationship between knowledge sharing and use of information technology. In firms that focus on end user tools for lawyers, knowledge sharing attitudes are significantly different from firms that focus on storing information from lawyers. 2 Knowledge management practice in Australian law firms

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.

Abstract The current study provides a model that aims to explain the origin of the competitive advantage of organizations in terms of the ownership structure. We have also studied the interactions between IT use and ownership structure. To reach these objectives, we have classified the organizations in two groups using the cooperative character criterion. The results show that cooperative firms achieve a superior competitive advantage regardless of the amount of IT that the firms use. The study is focused on the Spanish Pharmaceutical Distribution Industry. 1.

Knowledge management was introduced to law firms to help create, share, and use knowledge more effectively. Information technology can play an important role in successful knowledge management initiatives. In this paper, information technology support for knowledge management is linked to stages of growth. A model of growth stages is proposed consisting of four stages. The first stage is end-user tools that are made available to knowledge workers, the second stage is information about who knows, the third stage is information from knowledge workers, and the final stage is information systems solving knowledge problems. The model can be used to empirically assess the growth stage of law firms as well as indicate future evolution of law firms in the area of knowledge management technology.

expertise. We thank Mark Edwards of Recombinant Capital for making their various databases available to us. We thank Shanti Agung for research assistance and Megan Hess for editorial assistance. All opinions expressed as well as

This study analyzes the relationship between the direction of corporate diversification, technological resources and performance, proposing a dynamic framework between the three. To do this, the Resource-Based View of the Firm (RBV) is taken as a basis. The model proposed analyzes a series of points in a combined way, so differentiating itself from other work in this field in which a partial and non-dynamic vision is set forth. An integrated analysis is useful, and one which introduces the dynamic aspects inherent in development. The analysis of these aspects within one model, with the use of an adequate technique such as the simultaneous equation model, make it possible to reach a better understanding of the phenomenon and to build a greater explicative power. This study uses the Survey of Business Strategies (Encuesta Sobre Estrategias Empresariales) for the period 1990-97 and for 828 firms. The results appear to support the RBV postulates, considered from a dynamic perspective.