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Influence of intellectual capital upon knowledge creation in Spanish subsidiaries: an empirical study

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Knowledge Management Research & Practice

Abstract

Knowledge creation is one of the most important dynamic capabilities that firms can use to develop new assets, which can represent the basis for future innovations. Within a context of growing globalisation, the acquisition and creation of knowledge is one of the main objectives sought with international expansion. The consideration of intellectual capital within the knowledge creation process in subsidiaries offers an innovative way to undertake knowledge management practices in multinationals. Theoretical and empirical works can be found in the literature about intellectual capital. However, very few studies link intellectual capital to knowledge creation in multinationals. Seeking to fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that includes the main intangibles belonging to structural and relational capital that can influence knowledge creation in Spanish subsidiaries of foreign multinational firms belonging to high-technology and knowledge-intensive sectors. Theoretical, empirical and managerial contributions result from this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain

    Patrocinio Zaragoza-Sáez, Enrique Claver-Cortés, Bartolomé Marco-Lajara & Mercedes Úbeda-García

Authors
  1. Patrocinio Zaragoza-Sáez
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  2. Enrique Claver-Cortés
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  3. Bartolomé Marco-Lajara
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  4. Mercedes Úbeda-García
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Appendix

Appendix

Wording of questionnaire items

  1. 1

    Initiative: To what extent have these activities – (1) the development of new products and/or services sold internationally; (2) the new international business activities that were first implemented in Spain; and (3) the corporate investment in R&D, production and marketing obtained by the Spanish management – taken place in your firm over the past 10 years? (1=never; 7=very often).

  2. 2

    Leadership: Please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement when describing your firm. (1) The firm has leaders of internationally recognised prestige; (2) the top management’s credibility is high; and (3) the CEO works in close collaboration with managers focusing all efforts on achieving the firm’s aims (1=I completely disagree; 7=I completely agree).

  3. 3

    Autonomy: To what extent does your firm have the authority to make the following decisions: (1) Changing the product design/service characteristics; (2) subcontracting part of the production process/service; and (3) changing towards a new production process or service? (1=very low degree; 2=very high degree).

  4. 4

    Internal network: Two questions constitute the measure of this variable.

    1. a)

      Please indicate the level of investment made by your firm during the previous 3 years in the following functional areas: (1) R&D; (2) production of goods or services; and (3) marketing (1=very limited; 7=substantial).

    2. b)

      Please assess the impact of three internal organisations – (1) internal customers; (2) internal providers; and (3) internal R&D units – upon the development of your firm’s competences (1=no impact; 7=very decisive impact).

  5. 5

    External network: Two questions constitute the measure of this variable.

    1. a)

      Please assess the impact of three external organisations – (1) customers; (2) providers; and (3) external R&D centres – upon the development of your firm’s competences (1=no impact; 7=very decisive impact).

    2. b)

      Please assess the Spanish business environment where your firm has to compete with regard to the following dimensions: (1) availability of professionals for the business; (2) availability of raw material providers; (3) providers’ quality; (4) competition level; (5) governmental support; and (6) existence of research centres (1=very low; 7=very high).

  6. 6

    Control variables: (1) Age: When was the Spanish subsidiary founded by the parent company? (2) CKO or person responsible for knowledge issues: Is there a CKO or any other manager responsible for knowledge issues in your firm? (Yes/No).

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Zaragoza-Sáez, P., Claver-Cortés, E., Marco-Lajara, B. et al. Influence of intellectual capital upon knowledge creation in Spanish subsidiaries: an empirical study. Knowl Manage Res Pract 14, 489–501 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2015.20

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