Abstract
This paper proposes a simple framework to examine organizational methods of knowledge protection. The framework highlights a basic trade-off between improving decision-making and innovation through communication and mitigating security risks by imposing restrictions on communication flows. The trade-off is mediated by factors such as the sensitivity of information, the degree to which employees can be trusted to handle sensitive information appropriately, and firms’ investments in legal protection mechanisms. Evidence from HP Labs supports the basic predictions of the model, in particular the importance of employee trustworthiness and internalized codes of behavior in promoting open communication. Our interviews also suggest a potential conflict between two of the most important appropriability mechanisms: secrecy and lead-time advantage.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 179-193 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | European Management Review |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We are very grateful to the staff of HP Labs Bristol for sharing with us their experiences and for their help in conducting this study. We also thank Ashish Arora, Wes Cohen, Pavlo Ulianiuk and two anonymous reviewers for insightful comments. The authors acknowledge the following financial support: Patacconi, Swierzbinski and Williams from the UK Technology Strategy Board funded project “Cloud Stewardship Economics”, under grant agreement number 400091 and Williams from the European Commission seventh framework project “SECONOMICS” under grant agreement number 285223.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 European Academy of Management
Keywords
- appropriability mechanisms
- information security
- innovation
- organization design
- Secrecy
- trust
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business and International Management
- Strategy and Management