Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how organizational factors such as cultural values, leadership and human resource (HR) practices influence knowledge exploration and exploitation practices and innovation via an empirical study.Design/methodology/approach: From the knowledge‐based view of the firm, six hypotheses were established and statistically tested in a sample of 111 Spanish companies belonging to innovative industries. Survey methodology was used with the aim of gathering data regarding knowledge management (KM) practices and certain, related organizational aspects in firms.Findings: This paper provides evidence of a moderating effect of knowledge‐centered culture, knowledge‐oriented leadership and knowledge‐centered HR practices in the relationship between knowledge exploration and exploitation practices and innovation outcomes of companies. In line with previous literature, it is suggested that although KM practices are important on their own for innovation purposes, when certain enablers – organizational factors to overcome human barriers to KM – are properly established, the innovation capacity of the firm can be more successfully exploited.Research limitations/implications: The research is limited to high rate innovation industries. Future studies will include other industries and a more diverse sample of firms.Practical implications: The results of this study suggest that managers should place attention on knowledge exploration and exploitation practices along with several organizational enablers in order to achieve high levels of innovation results for the company.Originality/value: This paper provides new empirical evidence on the relationships between KM, organizational elements such as culture, leadership, HR practices, and innovation in a large sample of firms. To date, the empirical research of these relations has been mainly limited to descriptive case studies and there is thus a lack of empirical evidence with large samples of firms.

Purpose: This paper concentrates on the antecedents of external knowledge acquisition of companies based on their inter-organizational relationships. Specifically, it considers social capital (i.e., the result of a firm’s inter-organizational relationships) as an essential precursor of knowledge identification capabilities and deliberated knowledge acquisition strategies. This study aims to propose that cognitive and relational dimensions of a firm’s inter-organizational social capital are mediating factors of the relationship between structural social capital and knowledge identification capabilities and the relationship between structural social capital and the deliberated acquisition of external knowledge, respectively. The relationship between knowledge identification capability and external knowledge acquisition is also analyzed.Design/methodology/approach: This is a cross-sectional quantitative study with a sample of 87 firms from Spanish biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. From an extensive literature review, we developed three hypotheses that were tested using the partial least squares technique and structural equations model.Findings: The results only support a mediating effect of cognitive social capital in the relationship between structural social capital and knowledge identification capability and a partial mediation effect of relational social capital in the relationship between structural social capital and knowledge acquisition. In addition, the findings show that firms with more advanced abilities to identify and assess the value of external knowledge will be likely to develop optimal deliberated strategies to acquire effectively such knowledge from its network partners.Research limitations/implications: The limitations of this study are small sample size and the cross-sectional nature of the study. The study also focuses on only two specific and innovative industries.Practical implications: Managers should understand that “good” management of inter-organizational social capital allows the firm to develop dynamic capabilities for the identification and acquisition of valuable knowledge. The results of the study show that managers should concentrate on building knowledge identification capabilities and should also be aware of the possibilities that social capital can provide to a firm to formulate and implement effective strategies for external knowledge acquisition.Originality/value: To date, there are relatively few studies focussing on knowledge identification capability and its relationships with the dimensions of a company’s social capital as enablers of external knowledge acquisition. For managers, the identification of valuable knowledge by using inter-organizational relationships and networks is an essential issue, especially in innovative industries characterized by continuous change. Theoretically, this research highlights that social capital contributes to the development of dynamic capabilities, allowing the firm to sense and seize business opportunities based on external knowledge acquisition to achieve competitive advantages.

Purpose: This paper aims to present a novel way to conceive knowledge strategy (KS). It suggests that a firm could outperform another by establishing a coherent and integrated KS depending on the objectives pursued and the understanding of knowledge management (KM) by managers, the use of KM tools, and organizational aspects to support KS implementation.Design/methodology/approach: A cluster analysis was used to study the effect of KS on business performance and innovation based on a cross‐sectional sample of Spanish firms. Additional statistical analyses were used in order to develop a taxonomy of KSs.Findings: The paper shows that the way an organization approaches knowledge management has major implications on the development of their strategy and the outcomes of KS application. Four types of KS are thus described based on the empirical analysis, i.e. proactive, moderate, passive and inconsistent, each of them having different effects on business performance and innovation.Research limitations/implications: The research is limited to high rate innovation industries. Future studies could include other industries and a more diverse sample of firms.Practical implications: The conception of KS presented here is a powerful approach that can lead an organization to achieve further innovation and higher levels of business performance.Originality/value: An integrated and coherent KS has the potential to produce optimal results in terms of technological innovation and business performance.