Perspective Chapter: The Role of Knowledge Employees’ Voices in Creating Knowledge in Digital Startups

Abstract

Knowledge capital is the most important asset for an organization in today’s context. Digitalization and platformalization of the economy transformed the organizational ecosystem where we need continuous improvement through innovation and creativity. To that end, knowledge employees play an important role in raising their voices with feedback and ideas. This chapter explores the role of knowledge employees in digital startups and how top management can ensure an organizational ecosystem where knowledge employees can flourish and contribute to the competitive advantage of the firms. Our analysis shows that top management needs to create both conducive organizational culture and infrastructure of the organization to fully explore and exploit the knowledge of employees’ expertise and experience for organizational advantages.

1. Introduction

The global economic crisis of 2008/2009 has drastically affected all types of organizations, including service and manufacturing firms [1]. Consequently, public policymakers, top management, and managers were recommended to implement new mechanisms in their organizations to institutionalize organizational systems that can foster creativity and innovation. Researchers also believe that creativity is the outcome of intricate interactions between individuals and their circumstances, rather than an inherent quality of an individual [2]. They were also asked to use critical resources rationally, including intellectual capital [3]. The lack of comprehensive valuation of the available intangible resources, particularly in intellectual and financial capital, has been regarded as one of the main reasons for such a failure [4]. Accordingly, successful organizations consider the effective use of strategic resources, such as human resources as one of the important drivers for competitive advantages that lead toward organizational success [5, 6]. In addition, according to the resource-based view (RBV), it might be difficult for organizations to have access to such resources and capabilities, and it cannot be imitated by other organizations [7]. Companies can overcome internal resource constraints, increase profitability, and increase their chances of long-term survival through working and teaming with external partners [8]. As a result, organizations need to nurture knowledge employees and create a conducive environment by developing an organizational culture that can contribute to innovation and competitiveness [9]. Munir and Beh [10] discovered that an organization’s creative atmosphere has a large impact on innovative work behavior, an organization’s climate has a positive impact on knowledge sharing, and knowledge sharing has a big impact on innovative work. Companies can benefit greatly from leveraging teams and teamwork both within and outside of the company. If the team possesses certain basic features, it is more likely to succeed [8].

Knowledge employees are known as the main resource of the organization and their development takes place within the organizational ecosystem, and cannot be duplicated by other organizations [11]. The organizational culture plays an important role in developing human capital through effective knowledge management and transfer. Thus, they can create a sustainable competitive advantage [12]. Knowledge employees have a high level of skills, training, and experience, and they intend to create, share, and implement knowledge with intraorganizational and interorganizational peers [13]. So, up to two-thirds of each company’s employees can be included in this definition [14]. Given the growing importance of knowledge employees in organizations, management should welcome and evaluate their constructive suggestions and opinions [15]. Therefore, managers should provide employees with opportunities to propose feedback and suggestions so that they can make successful organizational changes [7, 16]. Consequently, it can be stated that the main value of knowledge employees for their companies is their ability to collect and analyze the data and make decisions accordingly [17]. They are capable of working together and learning from each other [18]. Therefore, organizational performance, innovation, security, and operational development process can be highly influenced by knowledge employees’ expression of their opinions and willingness of sharing their knowledge with other organizational peers [19]; besides, the timely information that is provided to decision-makers improves the quality and accuracy of the decisions taken by senior managers [20].

Moreover, the knowledge employees’ voices should be re-evaluated in terms of time and space to observe the nature and the content of the relationship with different types of tasks, jobs, and industries [21]. Factors that can contribute to the effectiveness of feedback and knowledge sharing depend on the organizational culture, infrastructures, ecosystem as well as the institutional frameworks that contribute to the governance of the concept of voice in organizations, corporate management, and business ethics, which affect individual and collective voice rights [22]. Hence, the issue of knowledge employees’ voices is crucial. Firstly, making constructive suggestions is considered the primary step in the innovation process. Secondly, unlike organizational silence, employees’ voice demonstrates employees’ dissatisfaction with the present situation, which helps identify and revise the mistakes, improve processes, and provide new solutions to solve organizational problems. At the same time, knowledge employees’ voices can lead to the recognition of the employees’ competencies [23]. Furthermore, research on knowledge employees’ voices will be highly dynamic and challenging in the future, and it will also be mentally involved with more common concepts for policy, practice, and theory. Accordingly, knowledge employees’ voices have been one of the critical issues that have attracted a lot of attention. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to review the role of knowledge employees in creating knowledge in digital startups.

2. Knowledge employees, voices and knowledge transfer

Knowledge employees collaborate with other employees and contribute to developing knowledge-embedded products, both intangible and tangible products, and services [24]. With the transformation of the economy through digitalization and platformatization, the role of knowledge employees with advanced knowledge, skills, and competency becomes very important to develop, create, produce, and distribute intangible resources. Greene [25] also added different features of knowledge employees, such as high cognitive power, conceptual reasoning, as well as new insights and perspectives. Greene [25] further argued that responsibility is characterized in the following terms—knowledge employees refer to those people who are responsible for their occupational life. They are constantly striving to have a better understanding of the organizational world and to refine their working approaches and behaviors to achieve organizational and personal goals more efficiently [26]. They are self-motivated and strive to achieve excellence in the organization. It is commonly impossible to force knowledge employees to work, bribe, or cheat; moreover, they are particularly motivated to do a better job without any extra money or imaginary technology [11]. Knowledge employees have different views toward occupational benefits. They are not working for a wage, and are responsible for the work and its improvement [25].

These unique characteristics enable knowledge employees to identify and resolve potential problems [27]. They use their personal books, websites, and networks to develop efficient solutions. They also employ their own knowledge in decision-making. In addition, they are considered effective, efficient, and productive assets to the business or society [11]. HRM plays a key role in programs aimed at empowering employees and encouraging them to participate in innovation in established businesses [28]. According to some metaphors from ancient myths, such as Ulysses or Icarus, it is believed that knowledge employees are those who dedicate their lives to the process of sustainable transformation, as well as further development and research for the ultimate objective of the group [29]. Furthermore, higher education is regarded as a critical characteristic of knowledge employees [30, 31]. Drucker proposes these characteristics by emphasizing the degree of competency that is required during formal and informal learning [32]. This proposal has changed higher education programs and encouraged existing educational experts to articulate and propose free education using the specialized information needed in the global economy [33].

When crucial issues in organizations are identified and knowledge is regarded as a process rather than a product [34, 35], knowledge employees will be responsible for the knowledge to activate such processes [36]. Therefore, the effectiveness of the expertise will be based on the level of familiarity with the existing tasks and the level of progress [37]. Employees who are capable of obtaining respect, glory, and fame and having a good chance of promotion in the future can further express the psychological mechanism of voice behaviors [38]. When such employees perceive their work as a meaningful task, they would prefer internal rewards compared to external rewards [39, 40]. Moreover, managers are required to allow their employees to voice their ideas and participate in decision-making activities if they are looking to hear their real opinions [41].

Wolff [42] has classified knowledge employees’ skills into three groups, which are substantive skills (e.g., coordination, analytical, mathematical, and verbal intelligence that are developed as a result of individual education); interactive skills (e.g., coaching, negotiation, training, supervision and providing culture-based service); and mechanical skills (e.g., coordination, device operator, transportation, and technology use) [42]. According to Grant, employees who seem to express their opinions in a constructive way mostly employ effective strategies to moderate their emotions [43]. The importance of knowledge employees’ voices refers to the fact that innovative and fresh ideas are not solely developed and presented by senior managers in today’s competitive and dynamic environment. That is because the knowledge employees’ performance and productivity are considered critical to the success or failure of the company. They have obtained knowledge that is difficult to imitate. Knowledge employees in digital startups tend to ensure the survival of the organization in a highly competitive environment by producing and developing knowledge, and they can produce, maintain, and implement the knowledge. These issues can clearly demonstrate the close relationship between knowledge management and human resource management in a digital startup. Therefore, the departure of knowledge employees might gradually lead to communication breaches within the organization and also between the organizations, as well as the weakening of the employees and social groups in an organization. It may eventually result in negative psychological effects on people related to the separated employee, affect the organizational culture of the company, and dramatically reduce its efficiency.

3. Digital startups

Digital startups are considered as the heart and impetus of the knowledge-based economy. Although the term “small and medium enterprises” has been used extensively in the management and economic literature for many years due to its special functions, the term “digital startups” or “technology-based companies” is relatively new and there is no clear definition for this term in many countries [1]. Some researchers have proposed that “digital startups” refer to organizations that use their knowledge- and technology-based assets as the main resource to create a competitive advantage for the organization. Digital startups are different from other companies or institutions since digital startups employ a greater number of knowledge employees and experts, there are greater technological changes in these institutions compared to traditional industries, research and development have been done more frequently in these companies, and growth mainly relies on technology-based development [44]. In addition, technological innovation is regarded as their competitive advantage, and ultimately these companies will quickly conquer new markets. These firms are relatively small and innovative and offer products and services across the border and are very often called high-tech-born global firms.

It is also noteworthy that knowledge capital is regarded as the main asset of digital startups. Besides, the competitive advantage of a digital startup is achieved through knowledge and the effective implementation of knowledge [32]. Regardless of their main products, digital startups carry out different levels of their activities with a focus on innovation [11]. Such companies aim to transform knowledge into power and create a knowledge-based business; hence, digital startups perform their economic activities based on research and development activities and help promote a knowledge-based economy in society [45]. To develop such firms, organizational flexibility and culture play an important role where knowledge employees are embedded in the development process of the organization and they feel like part of the organization. Digital startups may overlap with the following concepts—small- and medium-sized companies, startups, high-tech industries, new technology-based companies, and reproductive companies [44]. Digital startups are required to implement innovation in their processes constantly to retain effectively and survive in the competitive environment of new technologies. Thus, they will be able to meet the growing needs of their surroundings.

Such companies will allow their countries to maintain their competitiveness against developing economies, where the workforce and production cost is lower; these countries will also be able to achieve the desired level of employment [46]. A digital startup refers to a private or cooperative company or institution that aims to integrate science and wealth, develop a knowledge-based economy, achieve scientific and economic goals (including the expansion and application of inventions and innovations), and commercialize research and development findings in superior technology fields with a great deal of added value, especially in the production of related software. Consequently, it can be concluded that such digital startups rely on the intellectual capital of the organization to help discover respective opportunities [47]. For this purpose, it is crucial to pay attention to knowledge employees’ voices. Knowledge employees’ comments and suggestions can lead to new ideas that are relevant to the internal and external problems of the company, which will result in a competitive advantage over other companies.

4. The significance of knowledge employees’ voice in digital startups

Digital startups are companies whose main property is knowledge capital [48]. Digital startups create a competitive advantage by developing knowledge and implementing it effectively [49]. These companies refer to learning organizations whose employees tend to work in groups and individually to enhance their knowledge production capacity [50].

Digital startups invest in programs that can increase the participation of knowledge employees [51]. That is because all the employees are not regarded as a source of competitive advantage for the company [52]. Welbourne [53] also highlighted that most social scientists, staff, and managers have a consensus over knowledge employees’ involvement; therefore, when knowledge employees demonstrate an activity, they indicate there is a great difference between them and robots that conduct simple and repetitive tasks. As a result, it can show that companies are growing and developing [53]. In fact, the resource-based perspective helps understand the differences in the growth and performance of digital startups [54].

The value of any company is reliant on its employees and the value of the employees relies on the knowledge that they have provided or stored for the future [55]. Thus, knowledge employees refer to those who create new ideas, are involved in the dissemination of knowledge, use knowledge as a resource, participate in research and development, and are actively involved in the advancement of knowledge [56]. According to the expectancy theory of motivation, human beings have the ability to achieve their objectives if they are motivated and they perceive the value of their ideas, and also if managers prepare the ground for the employees to express their opinions. Motivation will lead to high productivity in the organization [57]. If employees’ voice is discouraged and employees tend to deny their voice rights, they become more frightening than the credible bodies that can hold the responsibilities [58]. Hence, it is crucial to develop a sense of trust among the employees and the managers, which leads to creating an atmosphere of comprehensive employee participation, increasing their motivation and providing creative comments [59]. It can also help create the appropriate context and infrastructure for the knowledge employees’ voices to achieve organizational goals [60]. Therefore, when managers demonstrate ethical standards to their employees, they will feel free to express their opinions and suggestions [61]. These employees will also show more responsibility and a positive attitude toward the organization [62, 63, 64].

Digital startups are among the coordinators of the relationship between industry and universities and can be considered the driving force of self-sufficiency in the country [32]. Because of the importance of science and technology development in the economic cycle and directing research in the country to turn research ideas and results into wealth creation, it is necessary for the managers of digital startups to become more familiar with the factors of development and success so that they can manage their company toward achieving its objectives [65]. In these circumstances, digital startups often promote the transfer of knowledge and technology from research centers to the private sector and facilitate the commercialization of academic results [66, 67]. Consequently, given the digital startups’ need to create an innovative, capable, and adaptable organizational environment in competitive environments, they ask for constructive suggestions and criticisms from knowledge employees to maintain their position in a highly competitive environment [68]. Nevertheless, the upcoming dynamics in developing countries have created new challenges for the management of digital startups [67]. Digital startups seek the optimum approaches to operate and strengthen the relationships based on mutual cooperation to achieve organizational objectives [69]. Accordingly, digital startups will need the opinions of their knowledge employees to be able to make successful organizational changes.

5. Conclusion

Societies have experienced a great number of changes compared to the past; thus, digital startups are required to pay special attention to the necessary factors to remain competitive in a dynamic environment. According to previous studies, it can be argued that effective knowledge sharing is now regarded as a crucial determinant of success in management. It refers to the occupational atmosphere where employees are free to voice their work-related ideas without any fear and reprimand. Therefore, sharing knowledge among colleagues is likely to improve the efficiency of the organization, reduce training costs, and minimize the risk of uncertainty in the organization. This type of voice is particularly related to human resource management, organizational culture, behavior, and leadership, which highlights the creation of the appropriate conditions (structure, technology, and supportive environment) for growth and development. These factors can help create a competitive advantage for the organization in the business environment. If colleagues demonstrate any resistance against new ideas and opinions, knowledge employees will try to resolve this resistance through the organizational objectives with official authority. Since these employees can perceive that their supervisors are introducing themselves in an integrated manner and helping them with empowerment skills, they will have enough confidence and courage to communicate freely without the fear of retaliation or aggression. In addition, they can persuade their leaders to revise any potential mistakes, change inappropriate and unnecessary organizational rules, and consider their leaders as the power behind the new structures, technologies, or approaches to improve productivity. Therefore, the knowledge employees’ voice helps create knowledge in digital startups and improves the performance of that company toward more success in competition with rival companies. To that end, top management needs to focus on nurturing human capital and creating an organizational ecosystem where employees might have the opportunity to grow, feel part of the organization, and enable them to share their opinions and feedback, as well as share knowledge across the organization.