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

Organizational Strategy and Research Productivity: A
Comparison <strong>of</strong> two Academic Institutions
Simon Cadez and Vlado Dimovski
Faculty <strong>of</strong> Economics, University <strong>of</strong> Ljubljana, Slovenia
Simon.cadez@ef.uni-lj.si
Vlado.dimovski@ef.uni-lj.si
Abstract: Universities and o<strong>the</strong>r academic institutions play a central role in knowledge development and its
transfer to productive use. Academic researchers usually transfer new knowledge to <strong>the</strong> wider public by
publishing scientific articles. The number <strong>of</strong> publications is usually regarded as a robust indicator <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> creation
<strong>of</strong> new knowledge as well as its transfer into productive use (direct transfer to companies and indirect transfer to
students). In <strong>the</strong> present study we examine <strong>the</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> organizational strategy on research productivity in
academic institutions. The method deployed is a case study. For comparative reasons we investigate two
academic institutions from <strong>the</strong> same discipline, i.e. business, but different with respect to <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> interest,
i.e. organizational strategy and organizational culture. The Faculty <strong>of</strong> Economics <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Ljubljana is a
business school with a long tradition, dominant position within Slovenia and international recognition. The Faculty
<strong>of</strong> Management <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Primorska on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand is a young school without tradition, but aiming to
secure its recognition both domestically and internationally. Organizational strategy was deduced from published
documents <strong>of</strong> both institutions. Research productivity was measured using a bibliometric method, operationalized
as articles published in journals included in <strong>the</strong> SCI/SSCI database in <strong>the</strong> period from 2000 to 2009. The main
findings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> study are: (1) research productivity in <strong>the</strong> period examined increased in both institutions, (2) vast
differences exist in research productivity and research quality across institutions and researchers, (3) research
output seems to be relatively consistent with organizational strategy in both schools (i.e. regional
leadership/recognition), and (4) organizational culture does not seem to be an important factor affecting research
productivity.
Keywords: Organizational strategy, organizational culture, research productivity, bibliometric method, academic
institutions.
1. Introduction
In <strong>the</strong> current turbulent environment, <strong>the</strong> ability to create and apply knowledge is <strong>the</strong> most important
source <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sustainable competitive advantage <strong>of</strong> companies, organizations, and entire economies
(Lanciano-Morandat, 2006; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Due to market changes, new technologies,
and new competitors, products or services can become redundant literally overnight. In such
circumstances only those companies can be successful that constantly create new knowledge and
successfully apply such in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> new products and services (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995).
Being aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> knowledge for <strong>the</strong> competitiveness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir economies, many
developed countries have developed national research infrastructure for <strong>the</strong> development and transfer
<strong>of</strong> new knowledge (Abramo and D'Angelo, 2009). Universities and research institutes play <strong>the</strong> leading
role in such research infrastructure (Colyvas et al., 2002; David, 2006; Lanciano-Morrandat, 2006),
representing, by means <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir processes entailing <strong>the</strong> creation and transfer <strong>of</strong> knowledge, <strong>the</strong>
cornerstone <strong>of</strong> societal progress and development (Tian et al., 2009). Researchers at universities and
public research institutes usually transfer new knowledge to <strong>the</strong> wider public by publishing scientific
articles (Van Raan, 2005). O<strong>the</strong>r codified (e.g. patents, databases) and non-codified (e.g.
consultation) methods exist to transfer new knowledge, but in <strong>the</strong> EU and <strong>the</strong> USA more than 90
percent <strong>of</strong> all newly created knowledge is transferred in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> scientific publications (Abramo et
al., 2008). Research shows <strong>the</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> a positive correlation between <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> articles
published and <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> patents (Abramo et al., 2008; Van Looy et al., 2006), as well as between
<strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> research and academic work (Arnold, 2008; Bonaccorsi et al., 2006, Lindsay et al.,
2002), which is why many researchers are <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> opinion that <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> articles published can
represent a strong indicator <strong>of</strong> both <strong>the</strong> creation <strong>of</strong> new knowledge as well as its transfer into
productive use (direct transfer to companies and indirect transfer to students).
The purpose <strong>of</strong> this study is to examine how organizational strategy affects <strong>the</strong> research productivity
<strong>of</strong> academic institutions. The method deployed is a case study. For comparative reasons we
investigate two academic institutions from <strong>the</strong> same discipline, i.e. business, but different with respect
to <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> interest, i.e. organizational strategy and organizational culture. The Faculty <strong>of</strong>
Economics <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Ljubljana is a business school with a long tradition, dominant position
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