Building knowledge stock and facilitating knowledge flow through human resource management practices toward firm innovation

• Author: Jin Nam Choi,Sun Young Sung
• Date: 01 November 2018
• Published date: 01 November 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21915

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Building knowledge stock and facilitating knowledge flow

through human resource management practices toward firm

innovation

Sun Young Sung

1

| Jin Nam Choi

2

1

School of Business, Nanjing University,

Nanjing, P.R. China

2

College of Business Administration, Seoul

National University, Seoul, South Korea

Correspondence

Jin Nam Choi, College of Business

Administration, Seoul National University,

1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742,

South Korea.

Email: jnchoi@snu.kr

Funding information

This work was supported by the National

Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC

71472092) and the Ministry of Education of

the Republic of Korea and the National

Research Foundation of Korea

(NRF-2015S1A5A2A03048150).

The present study theoretically identifies the meaningful human resource management (HRM)

practices that explain the emergence of two distinct dimensions of firm-level knowledge man-

agement, namely, firm knowledge stock and flow, which are critical drivers of firm innovation.

We also propose that these knowledge dimensions interact synergistically and that their effects

on firm innovation are accentuated in firms with strong innovation strategy. The proposed theo-

retical framework was tested using multisource, large-scale data collected from 203 manufactur-

ing companies at three time points over a 5-year period. Analysis confirmed that stock-building

and flow-facilitating HRM practices increase firm-level knowledge stock and flow, respectively.

Firm knowledge flow (but not knowledge stock) exhibited a significant positive main effect on

firm innovation. Firm knowledge stock was not related significantly to firm innovation, but it

became a significant predictor of firm innovation when existing along a high level of firm knowl-

edge flow, as well as in firms adopting innovation strategies. The present study provides signifi-

cant insights for researchers and practitioners by offering comprehensive understanding of the

nomological network of firm-level knowledge management enhanced by effective HRM

practices.

KEYWORDS

HR and technology, innovation, knowledge management, strategic HR

“Knowledge management has become ubiquitous in organizational

research and has served as a foundation for both theoretical and

empirical advances in major management fields”(Minbaeva, Foss, &

Snell, 2009, p. 477). Scholars taking the knowledge-based view (KBV)

particularly emphasize the implications of knowledge on innovation,

which enables firms to adapt flexibly to changing environmental

demands by developing or frequently adopting new products, ser-

vices, programs, or innovative ideas (Donate & Guadamillas, 2011;

Mabey & Zhao, 2017; Özba

g, Esen, & Esen, 2013). This emphasis can

be attributed to knowledge resources and effective knowledge utiliza-

tion being fundamental sources of higher-order forms of thinking and

creative solutions (C. J. Chen & Huang, 2009; Jiménez-Jiménez &

Sanz-Valle, 2011; Mabey & Zhao, 2017). Drawing on the KBV of inno-

vation (Grant, 1996; Lopez-Cabrales, Perez-Luno, & Cabrera, 2009),

the present study extends the literature by specifying critical human

resource management (HRM) practices that promote firm-level knowl-

edge management, which in turn enhances firm innovation.

Various attempts have been made to understand the inter-

section and cross fertilization between HRM practices and knowledge

management (Chang, Gong, Way, & Jia, 2013; Chen & Huang, 2009;

Swart & Kinnie, 2013). This is not surprising, considering the prevailing

emphasis on the role of people as core carrier and processor of knowl-

edge (Felin & Hesterly, 2007; Mahoney & Kor, 2015; Wright, Dun-

ford, & Snell, 2001). Nonetheless, due to the lack of consensus on the

conceptualization and operationalization of the HRM practices as well

as on knowledge management constructs, previous studies suffer

from a fragmented and limited understanding of how HRM practices

explain the emergence and development of firm-level knowledge-

related processes.

The present study responds to the call for theoretically identifying

HRM practices pertinent to knowledge management at the firm level

(Mabey & Zhao, 2017). Such efforts should be driven by a systematic

theory of knowledge management that informs core dimensions of

knowledge management that need to be shaped by appropriate

DOI: 10.1002/hrm.21915

Hum Resour Manage. 2018;57:1429–1442. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrm © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1429