Conceptualising knowledge acquisition and mobilisation in ethnic minority small businesses: Insights from West Yorkshire

Description

Knowledge has become one ofthe most valuable strategic resources and is considered an important driver forbusiness growth (Altinay et al., 2014;Amoako et al., 2018; Bojica et al., 2017; Denicolai et al., 2014; Pérez‐Luño etal., 2016; Polo Peña et al., 2016). Davenport et al. (1997,p. 4)define knowledge as: ‘information thathas been combined with experience, context, interpretation, and reflection.’According to Ipe (2003, p. 340), knowledge is created when the ‘flow of messages interacts with beliefs and commitments of its holders.’Knowledge is acquired in two different forms, tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge.The former is acquired through experience, while the latter comes witheducation and training (Ipe, 2003; Wang andWang, 2012). Moreover,there are two types of sources of knowledge acquisition – internal sources(also known as experience-based knowledge or know-how) and external sources(also referred to task-based knowledge or know-what) (Ipe, 2003; Liu et al.,2010; Denicolai et al., 2014; Pérez‐Luño et al., 2016). Internalsources are individuals and business units within a firm, which share theavailable knowledge with each other, whereas external sources of knowledgecreation are alliances and collaborative relationships of a firm with otherbusinesses and/or individuals (Liu et al., 2010; Ipe,2003; Bojica et al., 2017).Once acquired externally or internally, for knowledge to become a usefulresource, it has to be disseminated to individuals within or across firms because it is the shared knowledge that has animpact on firm-level efficiencies (Wang and Noe, 2010;Wang and Wang, 2012).

Period	26 Jun 2019
Held at	Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management 2019
Event type	Conference
Location	Lisbon, Portugal
Degree of Recognition	International