The role of knowledge creation modes in architectural innovation

• Date: 01 January 2020
• Published date: 01 January 2020
• Author: David Sarpong,Ala'a Azzam,Qile He
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2312

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The role of knowledge creation modes in architectural

innovation

Ala'a Azzam

1

| Qile He

1

| David Sarpong

2

1

Coventry Business School, Coventry

University, Coventry, United Kingdom

2

Brunel Business School, Brunel University,

Uxbridge, United Kingdom

Correspondence

Qile He, Coventry Business School, Coventry

University, Priory St, Coventry CV1 5FB,

United Kingdom.

Email: qile.he@coventry.ac.uk

Abstract

Knowledge creation modes (especially socialization and internalization) enhance

architectural innovation (AI) capability of U.K. manufacturing firms. AI is the

reconfiguration of product or process components and creating completely new

interfaces between them. Knowledge creation modes enhance firms' AI to create

new products while utilizing their architectural knowledge. Knowledge socialization

and internalization are the most important modes that affect AI. Socialization helps

to share tacit knowledge while internalization enables individuals to absorb and

embody accumulated know-how to envision new product ideas.

1|INTRODUCTION

In today's ever-changing environment, there is a need to respond to

external technological and market changes. This is particularly the

case in the manufacturing industry, where competition is very fierce

and customers' needs are changing. The proliferation of research that

investigate how organizations can survive in this environment was the

motivation behind this research, knowledge-processing capabilities

aim to renew firms' knowledge stock and allow firms to keep up to

date with technological and market changes. The ability to create and

manage knowledge is a prerequisite of innovation, as the process of

creating knowledge can leverage firms' resources and efforts into cre-

ative and novel outcomes (Chang, Hung, & Lin, 2014; Schulze &

Hoegl, 2008; Sujatha & Krishnaveni, 2018). Although innovation has

various prerequisites, the focus of this research is on knowledge crea-

tion. The research shows that knowledge-processing capabilities are

essential to create value and produce innovative outcomes (Chang

et al., 2014; Grant, 1996; Nonaka & Von Krogh, 2009).

The pressure to innovate has become pervasive in today's mar-

kets. Technological changes, customer demands, and revolutionary

technologies combine to place pressure on firms to constantly inno-

vate and provide cutting-edge outcomes. Developing innovative capa-

bilities (such as architectural innovation [AI] capability) enhances

firms' ability to respond to market demands by producing innovative

products and services and can has a profound impact on their

performance (Amabile, 1993; Henderson & Clark, 1990). This research

contributes to developing a framework of AI capability to optimize

performance in a rapidly changing environment.

AI is increasingly highlighted as an important driver of new prod-

uct development (NPD; Baldwin & Clark, 2006; Grunwald & Kieser,

2007; Henderson & Clark, 1990). AI is defined as rearranging the way

components are linked together while leaving the core design con-

cepts (and the basic knowledge underlying the components)

untouched (Henderson & Clark, 1990). It is the reconfiguration of

product or process components and creating completely new inter-

faces between them. AI enables the creation of new markets or

reforming existing market and may allow new entrants to make

inroads into newly developed industries. Since AI usually prevails at

the early stage of technological change and industry evolution,

researchers believe that AI can affect companies' survival and perfor-

mance (Baldwin & Clark, 2006). Hence, researchers are interested in

examining the performance enhancement that can be achieved by

exploiting AIs (Bozdogan, Deyst, Hoult, & Lucas, 1998; Galunic &

Eisenhardt, 2001; Henderson & Clark, 1990).

AIs depend on the innovator's superior architectural knowledge,

which is defined as the knowledge about “the entities of a system and

how they are related.”(Baldwin & Clark, 2006). According to Baldwin

and Clark (2006:5) architectural knowledge comprises knowledge of

(a) how the system performs its functions (the function to component

mapping); (b) how the components are linked together (the interfaces

between components); and (c) the behavior of the system, both

planned and unplanned, in different environments. However,

JEL classification codes: D83, O30.

DOI: 10.1002/jsc.2312

Strategic Change. 2020;29:77–87. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jsc © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 77