Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Evgeny Blagov
(0 – absolutely unimportant; 5 – relatively important among o<strong>the</strong>rs; 10 – this factor was one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> key
factors).
An independent variable for this question was designed using <strong>the</strong> following logic:
x = {0, if <strong>the</strong> factor have been absolutely unimportant; 5, if <strong>the</strong> factor have been relatively important
among o<strong>the</strong>rs; 10, if it have been one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> key factors}.
All o<strong>the</strong>r independent variables were described analogously except for those related to <strong>the</strong> factors <strong>of</strong>
orientation on cost- or quality-based competition that are not ordinal but binary.
A questionnaire item for <strong>the</strong>se questions is <strong>the</strong> following:
Was <strong>the</strong> firm in <strong>the</strong> last 10 years more oriented on price- or quality-based competition?
(0 – a firm was oriented primarily on cost-based competition; 5 – a firm was nearly equally oriented on
both; 10 – a firm was oriented primarily on quality-based competition).
The independent variables for <strong>the</strong>se factors were built using <strong>the</strong> following logic:
For <strong>the</strong> orientation on cost-based competition:
х = {0, if a firm was oriented primarily on quality-based competition; 1, if a firm was nearly equally
oriented on both or primarily on cost-based competition}.
For <strong>the</strong> orientation on quality-based competition:
х = {0, if a firm was oriented primarily on cost-based competition; 1, if a firm was nearly equally
oriented on both or primarily on quality-based competition}.
4. Results
The questionnaire constructed for <strong>the</strong> quantitative research was sent via e-mail to <strong>the</strong> sample <strong>of</strong> 300
Russian companies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> industry classification “Heavy, energetic and transport engineering”
randomly selected by region. The response rate was <strong>of</strong> 10%, thus giving <strong>the</strong> resulting sample <strong>of</strong> 30
companies.
At <strong>the</strong> 0.05 significance level most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> equations resulted to be not statistically significant, except
for <strong>the</strong> equation testing <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis 3 for a technological knowledge renovation source <strong>of</strong> creating
a long-term alliance relationship with a necessary knowledge provider (<strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis is partly not
supported because <strong>the</strong> coefficient <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> uniqueness variable is negative (-2,32) along with <strong>the</strong>
positive coefficient (2,07) <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ability to control variable) and all <strong>the</strong> equations testing <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>ses
8 and 9.
From <strong>the</strong> equations testing <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis 8, <strong>the</strong> equation for making necessary knowledge by owns
strength is supporting <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis due to <strong>the</strong> positive coefficient <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> independent variable
(0.186). The equation for buying necessary knowledge on <strong>the</strong> open market is statistically significant
but <strong>the</strong> coefficient <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> independent variable (0.053) is not significant. The equation for acquisition <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> necessary knowledge provider is not supporting <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis due to <strong>the</strong> negative coefficient <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> independent variable (-0.164). Finally, <strong>the</strong> equation for creating long-term alliance relationship
with <strong>the</strong> necessary knowledge provider is not supporting <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis due to <strong>the</strong> negative
coefficient <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> independent variable <strong>of</strong> necessity <strong>of</strong> support and fur<strong>the</strong>r development <strong>of</strong> focal
knowledge resource (-0.387) along with <strong>the</strong> positive coefficient <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> variable <strong>of</strong> a focal firm’s ability to
control <strong>the</strong> actions <strong>of</strong> a potential counterparty (0,473).
From <strong>the</strong> equations testing <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis 9, <strong>the</strong> equation for making necessary knowledge by own
strength is not able to be used for <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis testing due to <strong>the</strong> insignificance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> independent
variables <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> congruence factor (p-values for <strong>the</strong> results congruence and ability to control a
potential counterparty are respectively 0.084 and 0.414). The equation for buying necessary
knowledge on <strong>the</strong> open market is partly supporting <strong>the</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis: <strong>the</strong> variable <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> focal firm’s
ability to control <strong>the</strong> actions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> potential counterparty is not significant (<strong>the</strong> p-value <strong>of</strong> this variable
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