Linking knowledge corridors to customer value through knowledge processes

Purpose – Spanish banks which took rescue packages are trying to find innovative ways to improve customer value. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which banks combine external knowledge with internal knowledge to build customer value. Design/methodology/approach – A firm ' s knowledge corridor is an organizational capacity, referring to the ability to absorb external knowledge and utilize it in generating innovative outputs. This paper examines the relative importance and significance of knowledge transfer and knowledge storage/retrieval processes as bridges between “potential absorptive capacity” and “realized absorptive capacity” and its effects on the application of knowledge through an empirical investigation of 76 banks. Findings – The results are calculated using structural equation modelling. This leads to the main conclusion that a “realized absorptive capacity” is unlikely without being fostered by the transference and storage of new knowledge and it therefore requires empowerment by its facilitating factors. Practical implications – The key managerial implication of this paper is that the survival and success of banks requires that administrators and the organizations they manage meet the challenge of combining external knowledge with internal knowledge. Originality/value – This paper provides empirical support for the argument that the impacts of external knowledge move up from the individuals to groups and then the entire organization. This interaction represents a single-loop learning process.