Organizational knowledge assets and innovation capability : Evidence from Spanish manufacturing firms

Purpose – Organizational knowledge assets are key organizational factors responsible for firm innovation, as well as effective management. Traditionally, a good piece of research takes the innovation processes from an external perspective, leaving aside the internal complexity that characterizes innovation dynamics. Nevertheless, the innovation capability of a certain firm depends very closely on the intellectual assets and organizational knowledge that it possesses, as well as on its ability to deploy them. In this sense, this paper aims to test empirically the relationships between organizational knowledge assets and the innovation capability of the firm. Design/methodology/approach – The data collection was carried out through a questionnaire on a sample of 251 Spanish high and medium‐high manufacturing firms. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and multiple linear regressions were also used. Findings – Based on the literature review, this work explores the nature and measurement of organizational capital as well as its role on innovation performance in high and medium‐high manufacturing firms. Practical implications – This paper proposes a theoretical and empirical model of technological innovation that, based on organizational knowledge assets, highlights the importance of culture and CEO commitment towards innovation, as well as the role played by communication and information technologies (CITs) applied to management on product innovation capability within high and medium‐high manufacturing firms. Originality/value – The scarcity of empirical works analyzing the innovation phenomena from an internal point of view adds value to the current academic literature, specifically from an intellectual capital‐based view.