Embracing Micro-Foundations of Organizational Routines: A Dynamic Perspective on the Strategic Management of Intellectual Capital

The role of knowledge resources in inter-organizational relationships and their impact on knowledge flows has been extensively researched in the previous decade: knowledge spillovers and intellectual capital transactions reportedly play an important role in the firm's ability to derive valuable benefits from partnerships, networks, alliances as well as co-opetitive relationships. However, research in the field of knowledge management and intellectual capital exclusively focuses on intra-firm processes. This sets the background of previous literature, from which emerges a lack of integrative research examining the creation and management of intangible assets both within and beyond a firm's boundaries. This paper responds to calls for the development of academic contributions adopting micro-foundations perspectives. Its purpose is twofold: first, it aims to provide a first representation of the extent and level to which a firm's intangible knowledge assets are grounded in micro-foundational phenomena. Based on the knowledge-based view of the firm and existing research on firm level capabilities emerging from routines, a new framework is proposed, encompassing individuals' interactions, behaviors, skills and abilities. Second, it proposes to use organizational routines as well as strategic management research literature to explore, review, and develop micro-foundational opportunities and application perspectives for current and future intellectual capital management research. Empirical observations in a case company are used to illustrate the expression of routines in relation to organizational processes and individual level mechanisms. This article embraces micro-level challenges and issues, thus attempting to advance knowledge management research through a new theoretical lens. In this regard, the development of a conceptual framework encompassing micro-level dynamics, routines and knowledge processes allows to address operational implications for human capital researchers and practitioners. The analysis of the role of individuals in a micro-foundational perspective, enables to enhance and enrich current understanding of routines related knowledge mechanisms (i.e. knowledge acquisition and management), and, more specifically, aims to enhance professionals' ability to shape, adopt, and adapt relevant managerial practices.