Date of Award
3-2010
Thesis Type
PhD
Document Type
Thesis
Divisions
Faculty of Business and Economics (formally known as Faculty of Business and Accountancy)
Institution
Universiti Malaya
Abstract
The aim of this study is to develop and confirm a research model that interconnects strategy to performance by integrating combinative capabilities and explorative learning as mediating variables. In discussing strategy and performance, knowledge is found to be the missing link: an attempt to forge a link between strategy and organisational learning is constrained by the narrow conceptualisation of organisational learning in relation to strategy. Based on Miles and Snow (1978) strategic typology, the study uses contingency framing to investigate the mediation of combinative capabilities and explorative learning in the relationship between prospector strategic orientation and firm performance. A cross-sectional survey design was employed and responses from 208 manufacturing firms in Malaysia were analysed using Structural Equation Modeling. The findings of this study strongly supported the mediation role of combinative capabilities and explorative learning in strategy-performance relationship. Firstly, explorative learning fully mediates the relationship between prospector strategic orientation and performance, and between combinative capabilities and performance, and secondly, combinative capabilities partially mediate the relationship between prospector strategic orientation and explorative learning. With regards to direct relationships, system capabilities are negatively related to both prospector strategic orientation and explorative learning, while coordination capabilities are positively related to both constructs. The most interesting finding is the positive relationship that emerged between socialisation capabilities and both prospector strategic orientation and explorative learning, which contradicts March’s (1991) conceptualisation of explorative learning. This study advances the organisational learning literature and stresses the importance of developing appropriate combinative capabilities to enhance explorative learning. Significantly, the findings give credence to the importance of tacit knowledge. Therefore, future discussion of explorative learning should be extended to explicate the process of re-combining internal knowledge as a source of explorative learning.
Additional Information
Thesis (PhD) – Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, 2010.
Recommended Citation
Abdullah, Nor Liza, "The mediating roles of combinative capabilities and explorative learning in the prospector strategic orientation-performance relationship." (2010). Student Works (2010-2019). 49.
https://knova.um.edu.my/student_works_2010s/49
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
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