Does the external knowledge environment matter? A study on firms´ learning processes and performance under different knowledge environmental conditions

Following a process-based view of learning, this article aims to discover whether firms selectively activate different learning processes to optimize innovation and financial performance under different knowledge environments. Data from a survey of Chinese firms confirms the above hypothesis. It contributes to the literature by confirming empirically that firms do not usually activate all learning processes because of resource constraints. Besides, this article further details what combinations of learning processes firms use as the tacitness of their knowledge environment varies. This lends important insights into how firms survive the tension between resource constraints and learning. Another contribution of this article is that by integrating an organizational antecedent-communication - into this research, it is able to capture the “systematic” change in knowledge processes.