TMT transactive memory system and business model design: the moderating effect of strategic orientation
Journal of Knowledge Management
ISSN: 1367-3270
Article publication date: 1 February 2023
Issue publication date: 19 October 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Top management team (TMT) serves as the critical designer of a firm’s business model, whose cognition exerts key influence on business model design (BMD). Drawing insights from the managerial cognition and knowledge-based views, this paper aims to examine the effect of TMT transactive memory system on BMD and investigate how the relationship between TMT transactive memory system and BMD is contingent upon the firm’s strategic orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data collected from 210 Chinese firms was used to test the research hypotheses through multivariate regression analysis.
Findings
This paper reveals that TMT transactive memory system facilitates novelty- and efficiency-centered BMD. Furthermore, both differentiation orientation and cost leadership orientation can strengthen the effect of TMT transactive memory system on novelty-centered BMD; the impact of TMT transactive memory system on efficiency-centered BMD is weakened by differentiation orientation but strengthened by cost leadership orientation.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the business model literature by unraveling the effect of TMT transactive memory system on BMD, which not only enriches the internal cognitive antecedents of BMD but also provides an in-depth understanding of how TMTs can use their knowledge structure to proactively design a certain business model. Moreover, this paper also offers insights into how TMTs can better use transactive memory system to design business models according to the specific strategic orientation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editors and anonymous reviewers of Journal of Knowledge Management for their valuable insights and comments on earlier versions of this paper.
This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 72172121 and 71672142).
Declarations of interest: None.
Citation
Chen, Y. and Yi, Y. (2023), "TMT transactive memory system and business model design: the moderating effect of strategic orientation", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 27 No. 8, pp. 2302-2328. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-07-2022-0546
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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