Workforce education diversity, work organization and innovation propensity

Abstract

PurposeDiversity of people, knowledge and resources has been identified as a determinant of firms' growth. This paper focusses on innovation propensity as a critical dimension of firm's growth path, aiming to analyse the effects of the firm's horizontal educational diversity (HED) on the propensity to conduct different technological innovation activities (TIAs). In addition, considering the evidence showing that these effects are neither direct nor linear, the authors analyse the moderating role of the firm's organizational practices oriented to knowledge sharing (KS) on the association between HED and the adoption of TIAs.Design/methodology/approachFollowing the theoretical arguments of the resource-based view (RBV), the evolutionary economics and the dynamic capabilities approach and related empirical evidences, the authors proposed four hypotheses regarding the effect of HED on TIAs and the moderating role of work organization practices oriented to promote KS. Empirically, the authors calculated different HED diversity indexes capturing two basic dimensions: variety and balance. Hence, using instrumental variables and panel data techniques to control endogeneity biases, the authors tested the proposed hypotheses using a data set of Uruguayan manufacturing firms between 2004 and 2015.FindingsIn line with previous evidence, results showed idiosyncratic context effects. The authors found a robust, linear, positive and significant relationship between HED and TIAs, but the effect can only be consistently associated with the adoption of internal or external research and development (R&D) activities. Moreover, the moderating role of work organization practices oriented to promote KS is positive and significant when firms engage in TIAs. For technological innovations that only involve the acquisiton of technology (AT), a positive effect is also observed but always associated to organizational practices oriented to promote KS.Originality/valueThis paper revisits the analysis of workforce diversity for a relatively less explored context. This research contributes to the field by linking HED and work organization practices to understand firm's innovation propensity in a developing context. Moreover, while other studies have focussed only on top management or R&D team diversity, the authors have analysed the whole professional's workforce. It allows the authors to discuss the effects of diversity on innovation propensity in the light of the ongoing debate on the effects of innovation in employment.

Resource-based View: A new strategic perspective for public health service managers

“…[4,29] It is the capabilities and core competencies within the organisation that have been far more significant in explaining competitive advantage and performance than resources alone. [30,21,29] The distinctive competencies and capabilities can simply be individual tacit knowledge which makes them difficult to replicate or can also involve a unique pattern of links that synergistically provide the uniqueness. [30,22,4] For example, organisational reputation is a unique intangible resource that organisations acquire, usually by the goodwill of the firm, and as such is a critical resource for an organisation.…”

“…[30,21,29] The distinctive competencies and capabilities can simply be individual tacit knowledge which makes them difficult to replicate or can also involve a unique pattern of links that synergistically provide the uniqueness. [30,22,4] For example, organisational reputation is a unique intangible resource that organisations acquire, usually by the goodwill of the firm, and as such is a critical resource for an organisation. [20] This more contemporary extension of RBV theory argues that while it is necessary for an organisation to possess VRIN resources, organisations must also demonstrate the ability to alter them to their full potential in order to gain superior performance and competitive advantage.…”

“…Distinctive competencies and capabilities have not been as widely studied by strategic management theorists as tangible resources have been. [30,29] The importance of strategic planning concentrating on developing an organisational livelihood and good reputation, which it enables the organisation to cope and recover from external challenges, such as economic and social upheaval, has yet to be explored.…”

Influence of task-related diversity of R&D employees on the development of organisational innovations: a gender perspective

“…The empirical evidence fuelling this debate generally analyses the impact of workforce diversity on the achievement of technological innovations. Research shows that workforce diversity influences: the firm’s propensity to undertake technological innovations (Bello-Pintado and Bianchi, 2020; Ostergaard et al , 2011; Solheim and Herstad, 2018); the firm’s R&D investment (Asad et al , 2023; Midavaine et al , 2016); the type of innovations achieved (Arslan et al , 2021; Mohammadi et al , 2017); the firm’s patenting propensity (Faems and Subramanian, 2013; Lee and Chung, 2022; Yoo et al , 2023), the number of the firm’s patent applications (Subramanian et al , 2016); and the firm’s strategic innovation orientation (Hemmert et al , 2022; Talke et al , 2011; Zouaghi et al , 2020).…”

The impact of gender diversity on digital reporting in the USA

“…These last two diversity attributes, which are referred to as 'variety' and 'balance', respectively, can be combined in a 'dual concept' measure of diversity. In addition to their application in economics research, such measures are used widely across a variety of scientific and sociological fields, including genetics, ecology, linguistics, communications, and cultural studies (Cooke et al, 2013;Bello-Pintado & Bianchi, 2020;Shin & Throsby, 2022;Jahnke et al, 2022). The first of the two measures used here is known as the Blau index (Blau, 1977), which is formulated as follows:…”