The role of organisational culture, trust and mechanisms in inter-project knowledge sharing

Knowledge has been recognised as a powerful yet intangible asset, which is difficult to manage. This is especially true in a project environment where there is the potential to repeat mistakes, rather than learn from previous experiences. The literature in the project management field has recognised the importance of knowledge sharing (KS) within and between projects. However, studies in that field focus primarily on KS mechanisms including lessons learned (LL) and post project reviews as the source of knowledge for future projects, and only some preliminary research has been carried out on the aspects of project management offices (PMOs) and organisational culture (OC) in KS. This study undertook to investigate KS behaviours in an inter-project context, with a particular emphasis on the role of trust, OC and a range of knowledge sharing mechanisms (KSM) in achieving successful inter-project knowledge sharing (I-PKS). An extensive literature search resulted in the development of an I-PKS Framework, which defined the scope of the research and shaped its initial design. The literature review indicated that existing research relating to the three factors of OC, trust and KSM remains inadequate in its ability to fully explain the role of these contextual factors. In particular, the literature review identified these areas of interest: (1) the conflicting answers to some of the major questions related to KSM, (2) the limited empirical research on the role of different trust dimensions, (3) limited empirical evidence of the role of OC in KS, and (4) the insufficient research on KS in an inter-project context. The resulting Framework comprised the three main factors including: OC, trust and KSM, demonstrating a more integrated view of KS in the inter-project context. Accordingly, the aim of this research was to examine the relationships between these three factors and KS by investigating behaviours related to KS from the project managers‘ (PMs‘) perspective. In order to achieve the aim, this research sought to answer the following research questions: 1. How does organisational culture influence inter-project knowledge sharing? 2. How does the existence of three forms of trust — (i) ability, (ii) benevolence and (iii) integrity — influence inter-project knowledge sharing? 3. How can different knowledge sharing mechanisms (relational, project management tools and process, and technology) improve inter-project knowledge sharing behaviours? 4. How do the relationships between these three factors of organisational culture, trust and knowledge sharing mechanisms improve inter-project knowledge sharing? a. What are the relationships between the factors? b. What is the best fit for given cases to ensure more effective inter-project knowledge sharing? Using multiple case studies, this research was designed to build propositions emerging from cross-case data analysis. The four cases were chosen on the basis of theoretical sampling. All cases were large project-based organisations (PBOs), with a strong matrix-type structure, as per the typology proposed by the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) (2008). Data were collected from project management departments of the respective organisations. A range of analytical techniques were used to deal with the data including pattern matching logic and explanation building analysis, complemented by the use of NVivo for data coding and management. Propositions generated at the end of the analyses were further compared with the extant literature, and practical implications based on the data and literature were suggested in order to improve I-PKS. Findings from this research conclude that OC, trust, and KSM contribute to inter-project knowledge sharing, and suggest the existence of relationships between these factors. In view of that, this research identified the relationships between different trust dimensions, suggesting that integrity trust reinforces the relationship between ability trust and knowledge sharing. Furthermore, this research demonstrated that characteristics of culture and trust interact to reinforce preferences for mechanisms of knowledge sharing. This means that cultures that facilitate characteristics of Clan type are more likely to result in trusting relationships, hence are more likely to use organic sources of knowledge for both tacit and explicit knowledge exchange. In contrast, cultures that are empirically driven, based on control, efficiency, and measures (characteristics of Hierarchy and Market types) display tendency to develop trust primarily in ability of non-organic sources, and therefore use these sources to share mainly explicit knowledge. This thesis contributes to the project management literature by providing a more integrative view of I-PKS, bringing the factors of OC, trust and KSM into the picture. A further contribution is related to the use of collaborative tools as a substitute for static LL databases and as a facilitator for tacit KS between geographically dispersed projects. This research adds to the literature on OC by providing rich empirical evidence of the relationships between OC and the willingness to share knowledge, and by providing empirical evidence that OC has an effect on trust; in doing so this research extends the theoretical propositions outlined by previous research. This study also extends the research on trust by identifying the relationships between different trust dimensions, suggesting that integrity trust reinforces the relationship between ability trust and KS. Finally, this research provides some directions for future studies.

Four years on – are the Gazelles still running? A longitudinal study of firm performance after a period of rapid growth

Gazelles, or very rapidly growing firms, are important because they contribute disproportionately to economic growth. There is a concern that some of these firms pursue growth too aggressively resulting in lower subsequent performance. We investigate the relationship between growth and subsequent profitability for gazelle firms, and how this is moderated by firm strategy. Previous empirical research regarding the growth-profitability relationship for firms in general is rather inconclusive, with only one study specifically investigating gazelle firms. Likewise, there are theoretical arguments both for and against growth leading to profitability that equally apply to gazelle firms. Further, while contingency theory might suggest the relationship depends on the firm’s strategy, earlier studies have not investigated this relationship. We address these questions using longitudinal data (seven years) for a sample of 964 Danish Gazelle firms. Our study finds a clear positive relationship between growth and subsequent profitability among gazelle firms. Moreover, this relationship is stronger for firms pursuing a broad market strategy rather than a focus or niche strategy. An important managerial implication is that the growth strategy should be clearly integrated with the general strategic orientation of the firm.

A world map of knowledge in the making : Wikipedia's Inter-Language Linkage as a dependency explorer of global knowledge accumulation

Analysis of Wikipedia's inter-language links provides insight into a new mechanism of knowledge sharing and linking worldwide.

Investigating the dynamics of the psychological contract : how and why individuals' contract beliefs change

The overall objective of this thesis is to explore how and why the content of individuals' psychological contracts changes over time. The contract is generally understood as "individual beliefs, shaped by the organisation, regarding the terms of an exchange agreement between individuals and their organisation" (Rousseau, 1995, p. 9). With an overall study sampling frame of 320 graduate organisational newcomers, a mixed method longitudinal research design comprised of three sequential, inter-related studies is employed in order to capture the change process. From the 15 semi-structured interviews conducted in Study 1, the key findings included identifying a relatively high degree of mutuality between employees' and their managers' reciprocal contract beliefs around the time of organisational entry. Also, at this time, individuals had developed specific components of their contract content through a mix of social network information (regarding broader employment expectations) and perceptions of various elements of their particular organisation's reputation (for more firm-specific expectations). Study 2 utilised a four-wave survey approach (available to the full sampling frame) over the 14 months following organisational entry to explore the 'shape' of individuals' contract change trajectories and the role of four theorised change predictors in driving these trajectories. The predictors represented an organisational-level informational cue (perceptions of corporate reputation), a dyadic-level informational cue (perceptions of manager-employee relationship quality) and two individual difference variables (affect and hardiness). Through the use of individual growth modelling, the findings showed differences in the general change patterns across contract content components of perceived employer (exhibiting generally quadratic change patterns) and employee (exhibiting generally no-change patterns) obligations. Further, individuals differentially used the predictor variables to construct beliefs about specific contract content. While both organisational- and dyadic-level cues were focused upon to construct employer obligation beliefs, organisational-level cues and individual difference variables were focused upon to construct employee obligation beliefs. Through undertaking 26 semi-structured interviews, Study 3 focused upon gaining a richer understanding of why participants' contracts changed, or otherwise, over the study period, with a particular focus upon the roles of breach and violation. Breach refers to an employee's perception that an employer obligation has not been met and violation refers to the negative and affective employee reactions which may ensue following a breach. The main contribution of these findings was identifying that subsequent to a breach or violation event a range of 'remediation effects' could be activated by employees which, depending upon their effectiveness, served to instigate either breach or contract repair or both. These effects mostly instigated broader contract repair and were generally cognitive strategies enacted by an individual to re-evaluate the breach situation and re-focus upon other positive aspects of the employment relationship. As such, the findings offered new evidence for a clear distinction between remedial effects which serve to only repair the breach (and thus the contract) and effects which only repair the contract more broadly; however, when effective, both resulted in individuals again viewing their employment relationships positively. Overall, in response to the overarching research question of this thesis, how and why individuals' psychological contract beliefs change, individuals do indeed draw upon various information sources, particularly at the organisational-level, as cues or guides in shaping their contract content. Further, the 'shapes' of the changes in beliefs about employer and employee obligations generally follow different, and not necessarily linear, trajectories over time. Finally, both breach and violation and also remedial actions, which address these occurrences either by remedying the breach itself (and thus the contract) or the contract only, play central roles in guiding individuals' contract changes to greater or lesser degrees. The findings from the thesis provide both academics and practitioners with greater insights into how employees construct their contract beliefs over time, the salient informational cues used to do this and how the effects of breach and violation can be mitigated through creating an environment which facilitates the use of effective remediation strategies.

Multiple founders and firm value

In this paper, we highlight the existence of multi-founder firms, which were founded by multiple individuals (with no family connections) who are still actively involved in the firm as directors and/or managers. These firms provide a unique setting to shed further light on the net valuation effects of founder involvement. In particular, multi-founder firms provide us with the opportunity to examine the benefits and costs to shareholders of multiple founders involved as directors, CEOs and managers in the same firm. Our analysis indicates that multi-founder firms are more valuable than all other types of firms, including single-founder firms and family firms, with the valuation premium positively related to the number of founders involved in the firm. Further analysis confirms that this valuation premium is linked to the direct involvement of the multiple founders as directors and CEOs. However, further founder involvement in vice president positions has a negative relationship with firm value.

Waving or drowning? Managing resource constraints in entrepreneurial firm with bricolage as a response to the global financial crisis

These are challenging times for new entrepreneurial firms. The development of the Global Financial Crisis shook the very foundations of global markets and institutions that most firms relied on to do business (Claessens, et al., forthcoming). In the midst of institutional flux and resource constraints, entrepreneurial firms, which have been shown to make a range of contributions to the economy (van Praag & Versloot 2007) faced increasing constraints. The Australian Federal Government quickly implemented the Green Loan program in response to the financial crisis. Unfortunately, the green loans program was flawed with obsolete processes and information (Faulkner, 2011), further constraining new firms. Prior research provides few clues regarding how resource-constrained entrepreneurial firms deal with these institutional flaws within institutional change and how they might overcome these challenges and prosper. One promising theory that evaluates behavioural responses to constraints and institutional flaws is bricolage (Levi Strauss, 1967). Bricolage aligns with notions of resourcefulness: defined here as “making do by applying combinations of the resources at hand to new problems and opportunities” (Baker and Nelson 2005: 333). Using three case studies, we consider how institutional flaws impact firm behaviours and illustrate the use of bricolage in attempts to reinforce, shape and change the GL program further extending bricolage domains of Baker and Nelson (2005).

The relationship between firm survival and innovation : an introduction to the literature

The rapid growth in use of the Internet as a business tool provides a new perspective in the study of the organizational challenges of new technologies. The innovation literature has grown vastly since its establishment in the 1920s, covering a broad range of disciplines (Foxall 1984) and measures a wide variety of variables (Rogers 1995). At first glance, studies that look at the relationship between innovation and firm survival appear contradictory. However, the results appear compatible when additional factors, such as industry type, organizational age, company size or the duration of the study are taken into account.

International tax cooperation in the Post-GFC era

Over the last five years we have observed the fallout from the global financial crisis (GFC). International cooperation and jointly adopted policies have dominated many of the solutions to the problems which have arisen. Initially, many nations in response to the GFC, implemented a two pronged short term solution by undertaking fiscal intervention and delivering rescue packages aimed at first, bailing out financial institutions and second, preventing or minimising the impact of a recession. Both programs involved large amounts of domestic spending. It was difficult in early 2007 to foresee the reduction that nations were about the face in domestic revenue collected. Five years on, not only have the first line effects of the GFC reduced the revenue raised by governments around the world, but the consequential costs associated with the rescue packages have also depleted domestic revenue bases. The response by stakeholders has been to attempt to secure domestic revenue bases through fiscally sustainable measures. Domestic sovereignty allows the levying of taxes as a nation chooses. However, rather than raise domestic taxes, revenue may also be increased by stemming the flow of income and capital to low and no-tax jurisdictions. The intervening five-year period since the GFC allows a unique insight into the response by nations and international organisations to tax evasion, tax avoidance and aggressive tax competition through the cross border flows of capital and the resulting affect that the GFC has had on international tax cooperation. By investigating the change in the international tax landscape over the last five years, which reveals the work done by stakeholders in developing fiscally responsible responses to the problems that have arisen, it may be possible to predict the trajectory of the international tax landscape over the next five years.

The governance of inter-organisational decision-making : understanding the impacts of informal networks on formal decision-making regimes in the Brisbane Airport region

Airports and cities inevitably recognise the value that each brings the other; however, the separation in decision-making authority for what to build, where, when and how provides a conundrum for both parties. Airports often want a say in what is developed outside of the airport fence, and cities often want a say in what is developed inside the airport fence. Defining how much of a say airports and cities have in decisions beyond their jurisdictional control is likely to be a topic that continues so long as airports and cities maintain separate formal decision-making processes for what to build, where, when and how. However, the recent Green and White Papers for a new National Aviation Policy have made early inroads to formalising relationships between Australia’s major airports and their host cities. At present, no clear indication (within practice or literature) is evident to the appropriateness of different governance arrangements for decisions to develop in situations that bring together the opposing strategic interests of airports and cities; thus leaving decisions for infrastructure development as complex decision-making spaces that hold airport and city/regional interests at stake. The line of enquiry is motivated by a lack of empirical research on networked decision-making domains outside of the realm of institutional theorists (Agranoff & McGuire, 2001; Provan, Fish & Sydow, 2007). That is, governance literature has remained focused towards abstract conceptualisations of organisation, without focusing on the minutia of how organisation influences action in real-world applications. A recent study by Black (2008) has provided an initial foothold for governance researchers into networked decision-making domains. This study builds upon Black’s (2008) work by aiming to explore and understand the problem space of making decisions subjected to complex jurisdictional and relational interdependencies. That is, the research examines the formal and informal structures, relationships, and forums that operationalise debates and interactions between decision-making actors as they vie for influence over deciding what to build, where, when and how in airport-proximal development projects. The research mobilises a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods to examine three embedded cases of airport-proximal development from a network governance perspective. Findings from the research provide a new understanding to the ways in which informal actor networks underpin and combine with formal decision-making networks to create new (or realigned) governance spaces that facilitate decision-making during complex phases of development planning. The research is timely, and responds well to Isett, Mergel, LeRoux, Mischen and Rethemeyer’s (2011) recent critique of limitations within current network governance literature, specifically to their noted absence of empirical studies that acknowledge and interrogate the simultaneity of formal and informal network structures within network governance arrangements (Isett et al., 2011, pp. 162-166). The combination of social network analysis (SNA) techniques and thematic enquiry has enabled findings to document and interpret the ways in which decision-making actors organise to overcome complex problems for planning infrastructure. An innovative approach to using association networks has been used to provide insights to the importance of the different ways actors interact with one another, thus providing a simple yet valuable addition to the increasingly popular discipline of SNA. The research also identifies when and how different types of networks (i.e. formal and informal) are able to overcome currently known limitations to network governance (see McGuire & Agranoff, 2011), thus adding depth to the emerging body of network governance literature surrounding limitations to network ways of working (i.e. Rhodes, 1997a; Keast & Brown, 2002; Rethemeyer & Hatmaker, 2008; McGuire & Agranoff, 2011). Contributions are made to practice via the provision of a timely understanding of how horizontal fora between airports and their regions are used, particularly in the context of how they reframe the governance of decision-making for airport-proximal infrastructure development. This new understanding will enable government and industry actors to better understand the structural impacts of governance arrangements before they design or adopt them, particularly for factors such as efficiency of information, oversight, and responsiveness to change.

Within-subject intra- and inter-method consistency of two experimental risk attitude elicitation methods

We compare the consistency of choices in two methods to used elicit risk preferences on an aggregate as well as on an individual level. We asked subjects to choose twice from a list of nine decision between two lotteries, as introduced by Holt and Laury (2002, 2005) alternating with nine decisions using the budget approach introduced by Andreoni and Harbaugh (2009). We find that while on an aggregate(subject pool) level the results are (roughly) consistent, on an individual(within-subject) level,behavior is far from consistent. Within each method as well as across methods we observe low correlations. This again questions the reliability of experimental risk elicitation measures and the ability to use results from such methods to control for the risk aversion of subjects when explaining e�ects in other experimental games.

Linking three-dimensional geological modelling and multivariate statistical analysis to define groundwater chemistry baseline and identify inter-aquifer connectivity within the Clarence-Moreton Basin, Southeast Queensland, Australia

The Clarence-Moreton Basin (CMB) covers approximately 26000 km2 and is the only sub-basin of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) in which there is flow to both the south-west and the east, although flow to the south-west is predominant. In many parts of the basin, including catchments of the Bremer, Logan and upper Condamine Rivers in southeast Queensland, the Walloon Coal Measures are under exploration for Coal Seam Gas (CSG). In order to assess spatial variations in groundwater flow and hydrochemistry at a basin-wide scale, a 3D hydrogeological model of the Queensland section of the CMB has been developed using GoCAD modelling software. Prior to any large-scale CSG extraction, it is essential to understand the existing hydrochemical character of the different aquifers and to establish any potential linkage. To effectively use the large amount of water chemistry data existing for assessment of hydrochemical evolution within the different lithostratigraphic units, multivariate statistical techniques were employed.

The role of knowledge intermediaries in developing firm learning capabilities

Regional innovation systems (RISs) literature has emphasized the critical role of interactive learning and knowledge exchange amongst firms and a variety of spatially connected innovation institutions as the foundation of regional innovation. Knowledge intermediaries have been analysed in terms of the technology-transaction services they provide firms and/or knowledge producers such as universities and therefore the role they play in facilitating interaction within the RIS. However, innovation also depends on the capability of the firm to learn. Some studies have suggested that intermediaries also play a role in that regard as participation in intermediary knowledge transfer programmes can contribute to the development of firm capabilities for problem-solving and learning. Our research is based on two case study intermediary programmes involving interviews with facilitators and participants. Our data show that knowledge intermediaries affect organizational learning capabilities by impacting on firms' network relationships, internal and external communication channels and internal learning processes which in turn affect the ability to interpret and use knowledge within the firm. This suggests that the role of knowledge intermediaries might be greater than facilitating interactions in the innovation system, as knowledge intermediation may affect the ability of firms to learn and absorb knowledge from their environment.

International entrepreneurship for SME business growth : a resource and dynamic capability view of the firm : an internet context

This research explores the relationship between international business Internet capabilities and international entrepreneurial characteristics. It has been suggested, that the accumulation of a firms Internet capability can assist international operations, especially when operating in fast changing dynamic environments. However, the international entrepreneurial characteristics which are seen as a precursor to leveraging such capabilities are still vague. Given this finding a conceptual framework is constructed and research issues are then developed in order to focus attention on the relationship between the Internet and a firm’s resource base, dynamic capabilities and international market performance.