Key factors that improve knowledge-intensive business processes which lead to competitive advantage
Business Process Management Journal
ISSN: 1463-7154
Article publication date: 10 July 2018
Issue publication date: 8 February 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the knowledge-intensive process of creative problem-solving and its outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses survey data from 113 leading Italian companies. To test the structural relations of the research model the authors used the partial least square (PLS) method.
Findings
Results show that work design and training have a positive direct impact on creative problem-solving process while organizational culture has a positive impact on both creative problem-solving process and its outcomes. Finally creative problem-solving process has a strong direct impact on its outcomes and this, in turn, on firms’ competitiveness.
Practical implications
This study suggests that managers must highlight the problem-solving process as it affects a firm’s capability to find creative solutions and therefore its competitiveness. Moreover, the present paper suggests managers should invest in specific knowledge management (KM) practices for enhancing knowledge-intensive business processes.
Originality/value
The present paper fills an important gap in the BPM literature by empirically testing the relationship among KM practices, multistage processes of creative problem-solving and their outcomes, and firms’ competitiveness.
Keywords
Citation
Aureli, S., Giampaoli, D., Ciambotti, M. and Bontis, N. (2019), "Key factors that improve knowledge-intensive business processes which lead to competitive advantage", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 126-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-06-2017-0168
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited