Essays on the Replication of Organizational Routines
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University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2006 Essays on the Replication of Organizational Routines: The Effect of Templates on Knowledge Transfer, the Mechanisms Underlying Knowledge Transfer Methods, and Variation Through Replication Robert James Jensen University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Jensen, Robert James, "Essays on the Replication of Organizational Routines: The Effect of Templates on Knowledge Transfer, the Mechanisms Underlying Knowledge Transfer Methods, and Variation Through Replication" (2006). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 956. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/956 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/956 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Essays on the Replication of Organizational Routines: The Effect of Templates on Knowledge Transfer, the Mechanisms Underlying Knowledge Transfer Methods, and Variation Through Replication Abstract The replication of organizational routines is at the heart of gaining competitive advantage through leveraging the most important firm esourr ce, knowledge. This dissertation fills important gaps in the literatures on replication, knowledge transfer, and the Resource Based View by extending our understanding of the dynamics of replication in three ways. First, it empirically tests the fundamental replication hypothesis that the use of a template in the replication process increases the effectiveness of the transfer. Second, it empirically explores the dimensions underlying various transfer methods, uncovering, in the process, the primary mechanisms involved in the replication process. Finally, it empirically explores the extent, effects, and causes of variation in replicator systems, concluding that the ability to manage variation is a key strategic capability in replicator firms. Concerning the first question, the effect of template use, the dissertation finds that template use increases the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. Concerning the second question, the underlying mechanisms, it finds the primary mechanisms to be Reference and Persuasion. The dissertation validates these labels and finds that they have a differential impact on transfer difficulty depending on the stage of the ansftr er process in which they are applied. Concerning the third question, variation in replicator firms, the dissertation finds that replicator firms exhibit significant degrees of variation both within and between units. It also finds that adaptation of the standardized business model has a curvilinear relationship with performance with moderate degrees of adaptation positively related. However, adaptation of any degree early or late in a unit's life is detrimental. It also finds that the most significant sources of unit level variation are differences in organizational inputs and differences in local environments. In total, the dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge concerning replication not only by filling specific gaps but suggesting that replication phenomena may be tractable to a variety of methods as all three essays are empirical in nature and use widely varying methods. Beyond the replication literature, the dissertation makes specific contributions ot the larger body of literature on the Resource Based View, increasing our understanding of the dynamics of leveraging knowledge assets. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Managerial Science and Applied Economics First Advisor Sidney G. Winter Keywords social sciences, templates, knowledge transfer, franchising, organizational routines Subject Categories Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods | Organizational Behavior and Theory | Social and Behavioral Sciences This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/956 ESSAYS ON THE REPLICATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL ROUTINES: THE EFFECT OF TEMPLATES ON KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER, THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER METHODS, AND VARIATION THROUGH REPLICATION Robert James Jensen A DISSERTATION in Management For the Graduate Group in Managerial Science and Applied Economics Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2006 Supervisor of Dissertation Graduate Group Chairperson Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COPYRIGHT Robert James Jensen 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedication and Acknowledgements This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Ann, and my children, Jennifer, Sarah, and Benjamin, who, with patience and incredible support, breathlessly awaited its completion and to Gabriel Szulanski, my mentor and friend, who has walked selflessly with me on the path of scholarship during the incubation and arrival of this work. I also wish to acknowledge and thank my dissertation committee for their contributions and tremendous advice. In alphabetical order they are Dan Levinthal, Nicolaj Siggelkow, Gabriel Szulanski, Christophe Van den Bulte, and Sidney Winter, my outstanding advisor. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT ESSAYS ON THE REPLICATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL ROUTINES: THE EFFECT OF TEMPLATES ON KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER, THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER METHODS, AND VARIATION THROUGH REPLICATION Robert James Jensen Sidney G. Winter Deloitte and Touche Professor of Management The replication of organizational routines is at the heart of gaining competitive advantage through leveraging the most important firm resource, knowledge. This dissertation fills important gaps in the literatures on replication, knowledge transfer, and the Resource Based View by extending our understanding of the dynamics of replication in three ways. First, it empirically tests the fundamental replication hypothesis that the use of a template in the replication process increases the effectiveness of the transfer. Second, it empirically explores the dimensions underlying various transfer methods, uncovering, in the process, the primary mechanisms involved in the replication process. Finally, it empirically explores the extent, effects, and causes of variation in replicator systems, iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. concluding that the ability to manage variation is a key strategic capability in replicator firms. Concerning the first question, the effect of template use, the dissertation finds that template use increases the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. Concerning the second question, the underlying mechanisms, it finds the primary mechanisms to be Reference and Persuasion. The dissertation validates these labels and finds that they have a differential impact on transfer difficulty depending on the stage of the transfer process in which they are applied. Concerning the third question, variation in replicator firms, the dissertation finds that replicator firms exhibit significant degrees of variation both within and between units. It also finds that adaptation of the standardized business model has a curvilinear relationship with performance with moderate adaptation positively related to performance. However, adaptation of any degree early or late in a unit’s life is detrimental. It also finds that the most significant sources of unit level variation are differences in organizational inputs and differences in local environments. In total, the dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge concerning replication not only by filling specific gaps but suggesting that replication phenomena may be tractable to a variety of methods as all three essays are empirical in nature and use widely varying methods. Beyond the replication literature, the dissertation makes specific contributions to the larger body of literature on the Resource Based View, increasing our understanding of the dynamics of leveraging knowledge assets. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents 1. Theoretical Background ................................................................................................... 1 1.1. The Exploitation of Knowledge Assets ..................................................................1 1.2. The Replication of Routines ....................................................................................2 1.3. Overview of Essays ...................................................................................................9 2. Template Use and the Effectiveness of Knowledge Transfer ......................................12 2.1. The Advantages of Using Templates .................................................................... 12 2.2. Setting ......................................................................................................................15 2.3. Data Collection .......................................................................................................16 2.4. Analysis of the Effectiveness of Template Use ....................................................19