The relationship between knowledge sharing capability and innovation performance within industrial clusters. Evidence from China
| Date | 01 January 2018 |
| Published date | 01 January 2018 |
| Pages | 32-48 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCEFTS-06-2017-0018 |
| Author | Ying Han,Guohong Chen |
| Subject Matter | Economics,International economics |
The relationship between
knowledge sharing capability and
innovation performance within
industrial clusters
Evidence from China
Ying Han and Guohong Chen
School of Economics and Management, Fuzhou University, Fujian, China
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to clarify the influence of knowledge sharing on innovation
performancefrom the knowledge-based dynamic capabilitiesperspective within industrial clusters.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper designed a five-point Likert questionnaire measuring
knowledge sharing,dynamic capabilities, trust and innovationperformance, and a sample was collected from
the industrialclusters within Fujian province in China. Empirical analysiswas applied to test the hypotheses.
Findings –Significant relationshipswere found between knowledge sharing and innovation performance.
Three key characteristics of dynamic capabilities were distinguished, namely, knowledge acquisition
capability, knowledge integration capability and knowledge creative capabilities. On this basis, further
analysis found that dynamic capabilities played a mediating role in this relationship, and trust was a
significantmoderator.
Practical implications –This paper helps to understand the mechanism between knowledge sharing,
knowledge-based dynamic capabilities, trust and innovation. Managers should focus on contributing to
knowledge sharing activities, dynamic capabilities and trustful environment to improve innovation
effectively.
Originality/value –This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on the relationship between
knowledge sharing and innovation performance in China. Further, it highlights the crucial role of cluster
knowledgemanagement in contributing to innovation and managementpractices.
Keywords China, Trust, Dynamic capabilities, Knowledge sharing, Innovation performance
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Over the past few decades, scholarshave been increasingly committed to the research of the
relationship between knowledgemanagement and innovation in industrial clusters (Connell
and Voola, 2013;Rinallo et al.,2016;Camis
on et al.,2017;Hervas-Oliver et al., 2017).
Industrial cluster is a new form of organization that aims to strengthen the regional
development. By forming clusters, companies can reduce investment costs, promote the
capabilities of professionaltechnology, acquire high-quality suppliers, cultivate skillfulstaff
and enhance competitiveness (Wang and Wu, 2016;Wang and Guo, 2017). Because the
knowledge needed by enterprise innovation activities is more complex, in view of the
scarcity of resources, even large enterprises are faced with the shortage of knowledge.
Enterprises are trying to work with others to acquire knowledge and resources, engage in
cross-organizational sharing and improve innovation performance (Lai et al.,2014;Wang
et al.,2016).
JCEFTS
11,1
32
Journalof Chinese Economic and
ForeignTrade Studies
Vol.11 No. 1, 2018
pp. 32-48
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1754-4408
DOI 10.1108/JCEFTS-06-2017-0018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1754-4408.htm
With the advent of knowledge economy, knowledge management has become a very
important aspect of any organization, especially knowledge sharing (Lefika and Mearns
2015). According to Marshall, cluster enterprisescould benefit from a variety of ways in the
industrial atmosphere if one was to obtain the “knowledge in the air”or cluster-level
knowledge (Marshall,1890). Such accesses are achieved through common conventions,rules
and languages for the transfer and sharing and interpretation of knowledge in industrial
cluster (Sengün,2015).
In addition, knowledge is seen as a dynamic entity basedon the past experiences and is
continually updated with new skills and experience (Pariyar et al., 2014). According to
Teece’s view, dynamic capabilities refer to superior performancethat depends on the ability
to identify key changes and updates the enterprise knowledge base in the operating
environment (Teece et al., 1997;Bergman et al.,2004). Dynamic capability can also help to
manage tacit and explicit knowledge among enterprises and create new products and
services. It is crucial to understand the future direction of knowledge sharing and how the
dynamic capabilities of enterprises can promote innovation performance (Dangelico et al.,
2016).
Apart from dynamic capabilities, trust also seems to be the necessary factor that
influences knowledge sharing and innovation performance (Gilsing and Nooteboom,
2006). Besides, trust is a key factor in solving the knowledge sharing problem in the
innovative process and a central element that affects effectiveness and success of
organizations. Knowledge is created by individual enterprise; thus, the interactions
among enterprises are important to develop and create new knowledge for the entire
cluster. Trust, however, is a key factor in enabling enterprises to interact with each
other (Wang et al., 2014). Therefore, it is important for the managers to understand the
link between enterprises so as to strengthen knowledge sharing and innovation
behavior among cluster (Tufail et al., 2016).
Though there is a wealth of literature about knowledge sharing, dynamic
capabilities, trust and innovation, these concepts are seldom studied collectively. It is
only caused by the fact that most extant literature has focused on the bilateral
relationship and interaction between knowledge sharing, trust, dynamic capabilities
and innovation but failed to explore determinants of innovation in a more holistic and
structural manner. It is possible that knowledge sharing, dynamic capabilities and trust
have a combined influence on innovation. But what role do dynamic capabilities play?
Whether trust has an effect on their relationship? To address these research gaps, this
paper aims to investigate the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation
performance and whether knowledge-based dynamic capabilities act as a mediator in
the Chinese context. In addition, we shed light on whether trust moderates the
relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation performance. This research
helps to explain the importance of the role knowledge sharing plays in relation to
innovation and clarifies the debate on the effect of dynamic capabilities and trust
relationship in other emerging contexts (Han and Li, 2015). Figure 1 presents the
proposed conceptual model.
The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 presents the theoretical
background and develops research hypotheses. Subsequently, the study methodology,
including methods and data,is discussed in Section 3, followed by Section 4, which presents
empirical results of the hypothesis test. Finally, the discussion and conclusions including
contributions, implications, limitations and future research directions are proposed in
Sections 5 and 6.
Industrial
clusters
33
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