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Analyzing ICT adoption and use

effects on knowledge creation: An
empirical investigation in SMEs
Pedro Soto

International Journal of Information Management

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 International Journal of Information Management 30 (2010) 521–528

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Information Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijinfomgt

Analyzing ICT adoption and use effects on knowledge creation: An empirical

investigation in SMEs
Carolina Lopez-Nicolas, Pedro Soto-Acosta ∗
Management and Finance Department, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: This paper investigates the influence of the adoption and use of information and communication technol-
Information technology ogy (ICT) on organizational learning (OL). The focus is on knowledge, creation, as an articulated construct
Organizational learning for the OL concept, and the SECI (Socialization, Externalization, Combination and Internalization) model
Knowledge Creation
is used as a reference for knowledge, creation. ICT use is seen here as consisting of three different orienta-
Small- and medium-sized enterprises
tions: informative, communicative and workflow. The results, based on a sample of around 300 Spanish
small- and, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), indicate that ICT has a significant positive influence on
the, four processes for creating knowledge. ICT oriented to communication and workflow is found, to
produce a significant positive impact on knowledge creation processes, except for, socialization process,
while ICT use for information does not influence any of the processes for, creating knowledge and OL.
© 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction (Small & Irvine, 2006). In addition, earlier studies on OL have

Organizational learning (OL) consists of knowledge acquisition,
information distribution, information interpretation, and organi-
zational memory (Huber, 1991), and it should be concerned with
new knowledge creation (Crossan, Lane, & White, 1999; López Saez,
Martín de Castro, & Navas López, 2008). OL is depicted as having a
great potential to affect organizational outcomes, such as organi-
zational control and intelligence, competitive advantage, and the
exploitation of knowledge and technology (Templeton, Lewis, &
Snyder, 2002). By focusing on knowledge creation, considered as
an element of OL, Nonaka and co-workers have developed the SECI
model, a well-accepted framework which encompasses the process
of knowledge creation through conversion from tacit to explicit
knowledge. It consists of four processes: Socialization, Externaliza-
tion, Combination, and Internalization (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995).
Through the conversion process, tacit and explicit knowledge
expand in both quality and quantity (Nonaka, Toyama, & Nagata,
2000), thus enhancing organizational performance. Organizations
are designing and developing information and communication
technologies (ICTs) which offer opportunities for enhancing strate-
gic learning, even at distance (Thomas, Sussman, & Henderson,
2001). Research has shown that firms overcome learning traps
by employing emerging, novel and pioneering technologies, but
how learning is undertaken through these technologies is unknown
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 868887805; fax: +34 868887537.
E-mail addresses: carlopez@um.es (C. Lopez-Nicolas), psoto@um.es
(P. Soto-Acosta).
expressed concerns about the lack of empirical research (Dawes,
Lee, & Midgley, 2007; Vince, Sutcliffe, & Olivera, 2002) and have
neglected small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) when ana-
lyzing OL (Chaston, Badger, & Sadler-Smith, 1999). Consequently,
this paper investigates the effect of ICT adoption and ICT use on OL
in SMEs in order to address these issues.
Existing research (Appiah-Adu & Sing, 1998; Berry, 1998;
Bhagwat & Sharma, 2007; Burns & Dewhurst, 1996; Ghobadian &
Gallear, 1997; Marri, Gunasekaran, & Grieve, 1998) suggests that
SMEs may differ from larger firms in a number of characteristics:
fewer financial, technological and personnel resources; person-
alized management, with little devolution of authority; informal
and flexible strategies; flat and flexible structures; reactive and
fire fighting mentality. SMEs are of great importance for economic
growth, employment and wealth creation in both large and small
economies. For example, in Europe, SMEs represent around 99% of
the total number of firms (European Commission, 2004). The lim-
ited amount of research with regard to ICT adoption in SMEs has
been attributed to the fact that SMEs started to use ICTs relatively
recently (Caldeira & Ward, 2002).
ICT investment in SMEs, especially that related to Internet tech-
nologies, continues to grow because these technologies are being
applied more and more to conducting business activities within the
firm’s boundaries and with external business agents—customers,
suppliers, business partners, etc. (Soto-Acosta & Meroño-Cerdan,
2008). As a result, researchers and practitioners face pressure to
answer how ICT has to be implemented in SMEs to outperform
traditional work practices. In this sense, learning and unlearning
are important for change and innovation in organizations (Becker,

0268-4012/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.03.004
522 C. Lopez-Nicolas, P. Soto-Acosta / International Journal of Information Management 30 (2010) 521–528
2008) because, as suggested by Rebernik and Sirec (2007), the bet-
ter a firm understands the process of creating new knowledge
and discarding obsolete knowledge, the more likely the firm will
be to develop innovation behaviour. OL in the form of accumu-
lated knowledge from past experiences and from stakeholders
(customers, suppliers, business partners, etc.) may be critical for
how processes should be re-designed around ICT by fostering the
learning of effective practices and the unlearning of the obsolete
ones (Starbuck, 1996). Moreover, having a proper ICT infrastructure
can facilitate knowledge creation. However, it does not necessar-
ily mean that this knowledge is created and transformed into OL,
since knowledge will not necessarily circulate freely firm-wide just
because accurate ICT to support such circulation is available (Brown
& Duguid, 2000). Actual ICT use may be an important link to OL. This
paper therefore distinguishes between ICT adoption and ICT use.
The former represents the implementation of ICTs to support busi-
ness operations and decision making (Fink, 1998), while the latter
considers the different business uses that ICTs can adopt. Here, ICT
use comprises three orientations: informative, communicative and
workflow.
Considering the above-mentioned points, the key research
question that motivated our work has to do with evaluating the
effect of ICT adoption/support and ICT use on OL in SMEs. The paper
consists of six sections and is structured as follows. The next sec-
tion reviews the relevant literature on ICT adoption, use and OL
in SMEs. In Section 3, research hypotheses are then formulated.
The methodology used for sample selection and data collection
is discussed next. Then, data analysis and results are examined.
Finally, the paper ends with a discussion of research findings and
concluding remarks.
2. Literature review
2.1. ICT adoption and use in SMEs
Researchers such as Henderson and Venkatraman’s (1999)
argues that ICT is evolving from its traditional back office role
towards a strategic role, supporting new business strategies.
Raymonds and Blili (1997) determined the need to implement ICT
strategies in SMEs. They proposed ICT strategies based on expe-
riences from large firms and suggested the incorporation of ICTs
in SMEs to create strategic advantages. Poon and Swatman (1999)
reported on Internet use in SMEs and found that although use of
e-mail is very popular for business communications and document
transfer, there is almost no integration between the Internet and
back-end systems. More recently, Bhagwat and Sharma (2007) con-
ducted a survey on 210 Indian SMEs and observed an increasing
trend in the use of ICTs, but also the absence of ICT capabilities in
these firms to compete in today’s global market.
Firms can use ICT for different, but compatible, uses. These are
related to offering information, communications and exchange of
information, and the automation of internal business processes. For
the particular case of Internet applications (Soto-Acosta & Meroño-
Cerdan, 2006), in general terms, three ICT use orientations are
identified: ICT informative orientation, ICT communicative orienta-
tion, and ICT workflow orientation. In ICT, informative orientation,
technologies in a company are mainly employed to provide and
distribute corporate or commercial information to diverse stake-
holders (Huzingh, 2000). In this sense, ICT can be used as a corporate
channel for information dissemination and data access across func-
tional boundaries and organizational levels (Bafoutsou & Mentzas,
2002). Therefore, ICT informative orientation is defined as the
use of ICT to provide one-way company electronic information
directed to one or more stakeholders. ICT communicative orienta-
tion, besides allowing cost reduction in comparison to traditional
communication tools, offers a unique and integrated opportunity
for interacting with several business agents (both internal and
external to the organization). In this regard, all these ICTs facilitate
the exchange of information, collaboration and the possibility of
establishing close relationships (Kalakota & Robinson, 2000). Thus,
ICT communicative orientation is defined as the use of ICT for two-
way information exchange. In the new economy, work has shifted
from the creation of tangible goods to the flow of information
through the value chain (Basu & Kumar, 2002). The establishment
and development of workflow technologies has played a funda-
mental role in this transition. ICTs, and especially Web technologies,
provide great opportunities for the automation of processes
(Fischer, 2004). Thus, ICT workflow orientation involves the estab-
lishment of predefined electronic processes through corporate
technologies.
In summary, the above literature suggests that ICT cannot
improve organizational performance in SMEs if it is not used appro-
priately. That is, ICT-based processes should be re-designed in ways
that outperform traditional work practices. Here, OL may play an
important role through, for instance, acquisition of new knowledge
and elimination of obsolete knowledge.
2.2. Organizational learning in SMEs
Organizational knowledge is seen as a resource, a capable source
of competitive advantage (Ambrosini & Bowman, 2001) resulting
from various interactive processes of OL (Johannessen, Olaisen, &
Olsen, 2001). OL consists of knowledge acquisition, information dis-
tribution, information interpretation, and organizational memory
(Huber, 1991). Learning in organizations is closely related to knowl-
edge creation and OL should be concerned with new knowledge
acquisition and creation (Crossan et al., 1999; López Saez et al.,
2008).
OL is gaining increasing mention in the literature as a mech-
anism for assisting SME survival (Chaston et al., 1999). Due to
their specificities, SMEs show a particular behaviour with regard
to the creation, development, sharing, protection and transmission
of knowledge (Basly, 2007). Firm size may influence knowledge
acquisition (Yli-renko, Autio, & Sapienza, 2001), in the sense that an
organization with several hundred employees will naturally have
a more difficult time in sharing knowledge among individuals and
groups than a firm with only a few employees (Bontis, Crossan,
& Hulland, 2002). Although a lot of research on OL describes the
application within large firms (Chaston et al., 1999), our focus is on
SMEs. Small businesses are fully aware of the need for OL (Chaston
et al., 1999), they are likely to be knowledge generators and their
organic structure and culture may foster knowledge innovations.
In short, the literature shows that different dimensions of OL are
negatively correlated to firm size, indicating that OL is higher and
more important for SMEs (Templeton et al., 2002).
Following the conceptualization of OL presented by Huber
(1991), the focus in our paper is on knowledge creation as an
articulated construct for the OL concept. The theory of organiza-
tional knowledge creation proposes that new knowledge is created
through processes of conversion between tacit and explicit knowl-
edge (Erden, Von Krogh, & Nonaka, 2008; Geisler, 2009). Through
the conversion process, tacit and explicit knowledge expands in
both quality and quantity (Nonaka et al., 2000), thus improving
corporate performance. To explore knowledge creation, our study
adopts Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) SECI (socialization, exter-
nalization, combination, internalization) model. This model seems
to have been accepted by the academic community as universally
valid in conception and in application (Glisby & Holden, 2003). As
a result, authors from diverse research areas such as OL, new prod-
uct development, and ICT, have used this model to conduct their
investigations (Chou & He, 2004).
 C. Lopez-Nicolas, P. Soto-Acosta / International Journal of Information Management 30 (2010) 521–528
Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) SECI model is made up of four
intertwined activity modes for knowledge creation: socialization
(S), externalization (E), combination (C), and internalization (I).
Socialization seeks to share tacit knowledge among individuals
by converting it into new tacit knowledge. For example, men-
toring and apprenticeships instruct tacitly through observation,
imitation, and practice (Chou, Chang, Tsai, & Cheng, 2005). Exter-
nalization codifies tacit knowledge into explicit concepts, as
in writing instruction manuals. Combination converts explicit
knowledge into more systematic sets, for instance by integrating
existing information extracted from databases and creating new
knowledge (Chou et al., 2005). Internalization is a process of
embodying explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge through a
series of iterations in which concepts become concrete and are
ultimately absorbed as an integral belief or value. OL takes place
as individuals participate in the processes in the SECI model, since
by doing so, their knowledge is shared, articulated, and made
available to others (Marwick, 2001).
3. Hypotheses development
3.1. ICT adoption/support and organizational learning
ICTs are tools that allow information and knowledge exchange,
as well as work execution by integrating information, documents
and employees. Thus, ICTs can be used to distribute and share indi-
vidual experience throughout the organization. ICTs also allow the
participation of users and partners in remote places. This empha-
sizes the instrumental role of ICT as an enabler of the formation
of virtual teams (Adamides & Karacapilidis, 2006; Kessler, 2003).
No firm can afford to ignore new ICTs which radically reduce the
time needed to create and communicate knowledge (Nonaka &
Nishiguchi, 2001).
The literature argues that the amount of information and knowl-
edge in a modern organization that needs to be captured, stored and
shared, the geographic distribution of sources and consumers, and
the dynamic evolution of information making the use of technology
support is not an option, but a necessity. Recently, Sambamurthy
and Subramani (2005) have also defended the critical role of ICTs in
shaping organizational efforts for knowledge creation, acquisition,
integration, valuation, and use. The influence of ICT on knowledge
management (KM) differs from one KM strategy to another, from
codification to personalization (Hansen, Nohria, & Tierney, 1999).
Organizations are looking to ICTs for solutions to their KM
(López-Nicolás & Meroño-Cerdán, 2009). Indeed, first approaches
to managing knowledge focused primarily on developing new
applications of ICTs to leverage codified knowledge (Zack, 1999).
Most KM projects, though, have failed due to, among other reasons,
an over-focus on technologies (Moffett, McAdam, & Parkinson,
2002). The ability of new technologies to support KM in a mean-
ingful manner depends on the types of knowledge (Flanagin, 2002)
and on the KM strategy chosen. Besides, ICTs used to support KM
present some limitations, since they reduce the very richness of
knowledge when it is codified and management and sharing of tacit
knowledge through technologies is problematic (Flanagin, 2002).
Technology offers opportunities for enhancing strategic learn-
ing. Thomas et al. (2001) show in their case study that technology
can be used to leverage strategic learning capability across distance
and multiple levels of analysis. They argue that, without the tech-
nology, the interpretive process operates at the group level, but
with the appropriate technology it operates at an organizational
level and provides a high incidence of integration. Since experts
throughout the organization participate in the process of interpret-
ing and validating new lessons, they facilitate enculturation of the
knowledge and help to create a sense of ownership. Ruiz-Mercader,
Meroño-Cerdan, and Sabater-Sánchez (2006) find, from sample of
523
ICT small businesses, that these companies are likely to use ICT tools
and OL practices more frequently and they conclude that OL can be
boosted through investing in ICT. Specifically for SECI processes,
Lee and Choi (2003) find that ICT support only has a significant
influence on combination. We believe, instead, that all four pro-
cesses for knowledge creation (SECI) can be enhanced by adopting
ICTs. In summary, the benefits derived from ICT implementation,
which include efficient information and knowledge sharing as well
as working with no distance limitations, are expected to be pos-
itively related to knowledge creation, which in turn may affect
higher levels of OL. Thus, the following hypotheses are proposed:
Hypothesis 1. ICT adoption/support is positively related to knowl-
edge creation processes.
H1a. ICT adoption/support is positively related to the socialization
process.
H1b. ICT adoption/support is positively related to the external-
ization process.
H1c. ICT adoption/support is positively related to the combination
process.
H1d. ICT adoption/support is positively related to the internation-
alization process.
3.2. ICT use orientations and organizational learning
While OL processes can be performed without supporting appli-
cations of ICT, technology allows these processes to be performed
more effectively (Robey, Ross, & Boudreau, 2002). ICTs per se can
influence OL and knowledge creation, as posited in Hypothesis
1; however, we argue that the orientation in the implementa-
tion of ICTs can also have an impact on the different processes
for creating knowledge. In other words, the processes for OL and
knowledge creation encompassed in the SECI model may be influ-
enced differently, depending on the orientation of ICT (informative,
communicative and workflow orientations) a company uses.
Informative oriented ICTs are systems designed to enhance
organizational memory (Robey et al., 2002) as they provide one-
way company electronic information by disseminating information
and data. ICT informative orientation hardly enables the creation
of new knowledge and some ICTs may even disable OL (Orlikowski,
1992). Besides, efforts to use advanced ICTs to support tacit knowl-
edge sharing have been viewed as problematic (Flanagin, 2002;
Johannessen et al., 2001). Although these shortcomings are likely
to disappear as ICTs evolve (Flanagin, 2002) and social software is
developed (Avram, 2006), difficulties in enhancing knowledge cre-
ation and OL for ICT informative orientation are still present. Thus,
we posit the following:
Hypothesis 2. The ICT informative orientation does not have a
positive influence on knowledge creation
H2a. The ICT informative orientation does not have a positive
influence on the socialization process.
H2b. The ICT informative orientation does not have a positive
influence on the externalization process.
H2c. The ICT informative orientation does not have a positive
influence on the combination process.
H2d. The ICT informative orientation does not have a positive
influence on the internationalization process.
Instead, ICT communicative and workflow orientations are
expected to be positively associated with the four processes of
SECI for knowledge creation. Communication between members
is essential to OL and can be supported by communicative oriented
524 C. Lopez-Nicolas, P. Soto-Acosta / International Journal of Information Management 30 (2010) 521–528

ICTs that provide communication links between members and by

storing historical records of decisions (Robey et al., 2002).
Socialization includes the shared formation and communication
of tacit knowledge between people. Tacit knowledge sharing is con-
nected to ideas of communities and collaboration (Marwick, 2001)
and tacit knowledge acquisition can occur only through individuals’
interactions or sharing experience (Chou & He, 2004). Socialization
also takes advantage of the tacit knowledge embedded in cus-
tomers or suppliers by interacting with them (Nonaka & Takeuchi,
1995). Those interactions can be enabled by and through ICTs, some
of which may be hosted on the corporate website as a way to
foster customer knowledge management (Lopez-Nicolas & Molina-
Castillo, 2008). This implies that ICTs oriented to communication
will best enhance socialization process.
Externalization involves translating the tacit knowledge of cus-
tomers or experts into easily understandable forms (Chou & He,
2004). When firms want to extract tacit knowledge from employ-
ees for a repository, they choose some sort of community-based
electronic discussion or chat group (Davenport & Prusak, 1998).
In order to achieve externalization, employees adopt ICTs such as
groupware and other team collaboration tools which contribute
to the benefit of all participants (Chou & He, 2004). For external-
ization, ICT communicative and workflow orientations seem to be
more appropriate.
Combination is a process of systemizing concepts into a knowl-
edge system, such as databases and knowledge bases so that the
reconfiguration of existing information through sorting, adding,
combining, and categorizing explicit knowledge can also create
new knowledge (Chou & He, 2004). Individuals exchange and com-
bine knowledge through ICT, such as communication networks,
Internet, and Intranet. The combination of explicit knowledge is
most efficiently supported in collaborative environments using ICT
(Nonaka & Konno, 1998). Thus, ICT oriented to communication and
workflow is expected to be useful approaches for combination.
In order to make internalization possible, companies seek to
encourage and facilitate informal conversations and discussions.
Thus, designing physical meeting spaces and conducting face-to-
face meetings may be essential for internalization (Chou & He,
2004). Workflow technologies oriented towards making processes
easier and more efficient can enhance OL. For instance, Luo, Zhao,
and Du (2005) argue that e-commerce (an example of ICT workflow
orientation) facilitates OL by creating multidirectional information
and business exchange. ICTs oriented to communication and work-
flow are expected to foster internalization. Based on the previous
discussion, we posit the following:
Hypothesis 3. There is a positive relationship between the ICT
communicative orientation and knowledge creation processes
H3a. There is a positive relationship between the ICT communica-
tive orientation and the socialization process.
H3b. There is a positive relationship between the ICT communica-
tive orientation and the externalization process.
H3c. There is a positive relationship between the ICT communica-
tive orientation and the combination process.
H3d. There is a positive relationship between the ICT communica-
tive orientation and the internationalization process.
Fig. 1. Theoretical model.
H4c. There is a positive relationship between the ICT workflow
orientation and the combination process.
H4d. There is a positive relationship between the ICT workflow
orientation and the internationalization process.
The relationships investigated in this study are presented in
Fig. 1.
4. Methodology
The organizations selected for this study were SMEs in Spain.
Nonetheless, to ensure a minimum firm complexity in which ITs
may be relevant, only firms with at least 10 employees were used.
4.1. Sample and data collection
The target population consisted of SMEs from the Region of Mur-
cia (Spain), with at least 10 employees. Two hundred ninety seven
valid responses were obtained from different industries. The study
assumed an error of 5.4% for p = q = 50 and a confidence level of
95.5%. A structured questionnaire consisting of close-ended ques-
tions was developed. Face-to-face surveys with the key informant
person in each company were conducted in May 2005. Studied
companies were SMEs and most interviewees were CEOs. Table 1
shows the characteristics of the sample.
4.2. Measures of variables
This section describes the variables used for measuring the
knowledge creation processes, ICT adoption/support and the ICT
use orientations. The formulation and criteria for answering the
questionnaire are described in Appendix A. All of the variables
were measured using five-point Likert-type scales. We used the
scale by Lee and Choi (2003), which consists of a total of 19
items, to measure the four knowledge creation processes in the
SECI model. ICT adoption/support was measured by 6 items, fol-
lowing the previous literature (Lee & Choi, 2003). In order to
measure the ICT use orientations, firms were requested to value
their ICT degree of use in order to inform others (ICT informa-
tive orientation), their ICT degree of debate or reception of others’
suggestions (ICT communicative orientation), and of support for
the automation of business processes (ICT workflow orientation).
Table 1
Sample characteristics (N = 297).
Business industry % Respondent title %

Textile 12.6 Managing director, CEO 58.4

Food and agriculture 40.0 Human resources manager 8.7
Hypothesis 4. There is a positive relationship between the ICT ICTs 1.6 Business operations manager 5.2
workflow orientation and knowledge creation Services to businesses 15.2 Administration/finance manager 23.5
Retail 17.7 Others 4.2
H4a. There is a positive relationship between the ICT workflow Others 12.9
orientation and the socialization process.
No. of employees %
H4b. There is a positive relationship between the ICT workflow 10–49 74.4
orientation and the externalization process. 50–249 25.6
 C. Lopez-Nicolas, P. Soto-Acosta / International Journal of Information Management 30 (2010) 521–528 525

Table 2
Variables descriptives.

Variable Mean S.D. Pearson correlations

SOC EXT COMB INT ICT support ICT information ICT communication ICT transaction

Socialization 3.5961 0.69094 1

Externalization 3.6213 0.77430 0.579*** 1
Combination 3.6703 0.80345 0.548*** 0.522*** 1
Internalization 3.2144 0.81156 0.577*** 0.634*** 0.615*** 1
ICT support 3.2908 0.84357 0.526*** 0.465*** 0.593*** 0.558*** 1
ICT information orientation 3.8513 0.97243 0.215*** 0.206*** 0.259*** 0.168*** 0.260*** 1
ICT communication orientation 2.0286 1.08291 0.134** 0.150*** 0.248*** 0.262*** 0.216*** 0.358*** 1
ICT transaction orientation 3.5443 1.05951 0.160*** 0.294*** 0.243*** 0.202*** 0.166*** 0.349*** 0.226*** 1
**
Significance level: p < 0.05.
***
Significance level: p < 0.01.

Table 3
Statistics for reliability and validity tests.

Measures Items Reliability Convergent validity (correlation of item Discriminant validity (factor loading on
(Cronbach alpha) with total store-item) single factors)

Socialization 5 0.710 0.455; 0.573; 0.403; 0.501; 0.466 0.686; 0.758; 0.538; 0.730; 0.692
Externalization 5 0.865 0.706; 0.679; 0.677; 0.739; 0.637 0.821; 0.801; 0.800; 0.844; 0.768
Combination 5 0.796 0.576; 0.558; 0.653; 0.607; 0.495 0.742; 0.726; 0.804; 0.770; 0.667
Internalization 4 0.792 0.604; 0.525; 0.679; 0.598 0.777; 0.692; 0.837; 0.783
ICT support 6 0.860 0.717; 0.641; 0.679; 0.686; 0.592; 0.603 0.816; 0.755; 0.793; 0.798; 0.718; 0.730
ICT information orientation 3 0.698 0.402; 0.399; 0.416 0.532; 0.514; 0.605
ICT communication orientation 3 0.708 0.443; 0.408; 0.542 0.754; 0.612; 0.854
ICT workflow orientation 3 0.701 0.427; 0.436; 0.400 0.673; 0.719; 0.521

The final measure of each construct used in the data analyses
was created as an average of the items included in each variable
(Table 2).
The validity of the construct is established by relating a mea-
suring instrument to a general theoretical framework in order to
determine whether the instrument is tied to the concepts and
theoretical assumptions employed. In order to obtain evidence of
construct validity, convergent validity and discriminant validity are
assessed. For the first one, the item-to-total correlation is exam-
ined. The lower limit is 0.4. Discriminant validity is checked by
a factor analysis. Each variable must have a factor loading on a
single factor over 0.5. The results (Table 3) confirm that each con-
struct is unidimensional and factorially different and that all items
employed for operationalizing a particular construct load on a sin-
gle factor. The reliability is the accuracy or precision of a measuring
instrument, that is, the extent to which the respondent can answer
the same or practically the same value each time. Internal relia-
bility was assessed by calculating the Cronbach alpha. It can also
be observed that acceptable values (above 0.70) are obtained in all
cases. Relatively high values of reliability and validity imply that the
instruments used in this study are adequate. As shown in Table 3,
tests of reliability and validity for the scales presented acceptable
values in all cases.
4.3. Analyses and results
The main objective of the empirical study is to assess the extent
to which ICT adoption/support and ICT orientations affect or con-
dition the knowledge creation processes encompassed in the SECI
model. In order to test the hypotheses posited, hierarchical linear
regressions were used for each knowledge creation process. The
analysis was performed in 2 steps. The dependent variable (each
SECI process) was initially regressed on the ICT adoption/support
variable in step 1. Then, in step 2 the three ICT use orientations
were added. To examine the suitability of using regression analy-
sis, tests were conducted to assess the normality of residuals and
the homogeneity of variance of residuals (Hair, Anderson, Tatham,
& Black, 1998). No significant violations of these assumptions were
observed.
Regression results are summarized in Table 4. Results in model
1 confirmed that the ICT adoption/support variable explains the
dependent variables. Thus, support for Hypotheses H1a, H1b, H1c
and H1d was provided. Model 2 showed that the direct effect of
ICT use orientations on externalization, combination and inter-
nalization processes was significant since the increment in the
squared multiple correlation coefficient (R2 ) was statistically sig-
nificant. The effect of the ICT informative orientation upon SECI

Table 4
Hierarchical linear regression results.

N = 297 Socialization Externalization Combination Internalization

Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Constant 2.264 2.024 2.220 1.733 1.908 1.487 1.488 1.270***
ICT support 0.504*** 0.477*** 0.460*** 0.418*** 0.581*** 0.529*** 0.540*** 0.504***
ICT information orientation 0.074 0.020 0.049 -0.052
ICT communication orientation -0.009 0.003 0.089* 0.148***
ICT workflow orientation 0.056 0.217*** 0.118** 0.103**
F-Value 100.32*** 26.20*** 79.30*** 25.80*** 150.03*** 42.99*** 121.25*** 34.80***
Adjusted R2 0.251 0.254 0.209 0.251 0.335 0.362 0.289 0.314
Sign.  in R2 – 0.253 – 0.000 – 0.002 – 0.004
*
Significance level: p < 0.1.
**
Significance level: p < 0.05.
***
Significance level: p < 0.01.
526 C. Lopez-Nicolas, P. Soto-Acosta / International Journal of Information Management 30 (2010) 521–528
processes was not statistically significant, as predicted, which
supports Hypotheses H2a, H2b, H2c and H2d. The relationship
between the ICT communicative orientation and the SECI processes
was positive and statistically significant for the combination and
internalization processes only. Through this analysis, support for
Hypotheses H3c and H3d was found, while support for H3a and
H3b was not provided. Finally, the effect of ICT workflow orien-
tation on SECI processes was positive and statistically significant
for three of the four processes (externalization, combination and
internalization). Thus, support for Hypothesis H4b, H4c and H4d
was provided, while H4a was not supported.
To test the significance of the effects further, the incremental R2
between the full models (model 2) and the partial model (without
ICT use orientations, model 1) was compared. A Wald test was per-
formed and the differences were found to be statistically significant
(except for the socialization process). These results are reported in
the lower rows of Table 4. Based on this, the partial models were
rejected in favour of the full models (Greene, 2000).
5. Discussion and conclusions
The present research examines the effect of ICT adop-
tion/support and ICT use on OL, in terms of the four processes
for creating knowledge incorporated in the SECI model by Nonaka
and Takeuchi (1995). Results from hierarchical regression analy-
ses reveal that adoption/support of ICTs by a company enhances
knowledge creation, and in turn OL, by positively influencing the
processes of socialization, externalization, combination and inter-
nalization. Similarly to our results, some earlier studies have found
that IT is a crucial element for knowledge creation (e.g. Davenport
& Prusak, 1998), as ICT facilitates rapid collection, storage, and
exchange of knowledge on a scale not practicable in the past,
thereby assisting the knowledge creation process (Roberts, 2000).
However, this finding contrasts to the earlier literature. In their
study on major companies in Korea, Lee and Choi (2003) found
that ICT adoption/support has no impact on socialization, external-
ization and internalization. In contrast, our results suggest that a
suitable ICT adoption/support is of paramount importance for cre-
ating new knowledge and improving OL. These contrasting results
may be due to the fact that our study focuses on Spanish SMEs,
while Lee and Choi (2003) analyze listed companies with more
than 100 employees. The literature suggests that the use of dif-
ferent ICT and KM solutions should support all SECI processes,
although the balance between them in a particular organization
will depend on the KM strategy used (Marwick, 2001; Hansen et
al., 1999). Although not specifically considered here, ICT adop-
tion/support may differ from one KM strategy to another, from
codification to personalization (Hansen et al., 1999). This may also
explain our finding about the fact that ICT adoption/support affects
the various SECI processes for knowledge creation differently. The
positive effect is higher in the cases of combination and internal-
ization than for socialization and externalization. The reason for
this finding may lie in the fact that both combination and inter-
nalization are processes whose input is explicit knowledge that is
later transformed into explicit and tacit knowledge, respectively.
Earlier research has highlighted the difficulties for ICTs to sup-
port tacit knowledge sharing (Flanagin, 2002; Johannessen et al.,
2001). Most of these shortcomings are likely to disappear as ICTs
evolve (Flanagin, 2002) and social software is developed (Avram,
2006) in the near future, thus allowing more tacit knowledge to be
shared using advanced ICT. Another reason may refer to the fact
that although the ICT considered in the questionnaire are diverse,
most of them are mainly used in SMEs to share explicit knowl-
edge, and leveraging combination and internalization processes to
a greater extent than socialization and externalization where tacit
knowledge is the predominant input.
The empirical analyses also demonstrate the importance of
adopting a proper ICT orientation if knowledge creation and OL
are to be empowered. Results indicate that implementing an ICT
informative orientation is not related to the knowledge creation
processes. This means that implementations of ICTs oriented only
to information may foster the organization memory (Robey et al.,
2002) but are not supportive in creating knowledge and OL. This
is consistent with the idea that individuals using corporate infor-
mative oriented ICTs may search for data and transform it into
information but may not engage in learning unless the data are
structured appropriately (Small & Irvine, 2006) and converted to
new knowledge. This study’s finding confirms that executives and
management need to be aware of the limitations of adopting an ICT
informative orientation if knowledge creation and OL is sought.
Regarding the ICT communicative and workflow orientations,
our hypotheses are partially supported. Both combination and
internalization are influenced by ICTs oriented to communication
and workflow, while externalization is only determined by the
ICT workflow orientation, and socialization by neither of the ICT
use orientations. This implies that around a third of the variance
of combination and internalization is explained by ICT adop-
tion/support and use, whereas for socialization and externalization
the explaining power of ICTs is only 25%. The scarce impact of
ICT on socialization may be due to the very definition of that pro-
cess. Socialization deals with converting new tacit knowledge, and
because tacit knowledge is difficult to formalise and often time- and
space-specific, it can be acquired only through shared experience,
such as spending time together or living in the same environment
(Nonaka et al., 2000). Here, current technologies may be of little
use even when they are oriented to communication. A promising
avenue for practitioners is to combine face-to-face interaction, cru-
cial for socialization, with new ICTs (Nonaka & Nishiguchi, 2001).
In the case of externalization, the use of ICT for improving busi-
ness processes is found to have an impact on knowledge creation.
An example of workflow ICT is one that automates processes and
allows employees to make improvements to the manufacturing
process. Such a system can support externalization by articulat-
ing the tacit knowledge accumulated on the shop floor over years
in the job (Nonaka et al., 2000).
Combination is the process of converting explicit knowledge
into more complex and systematic sets of explicit knowledge. In
this process, ICT adoption/support and use are found to have a
bigger influence. Lee and Choi (2003) report a similar result for
the impact of ICT support and combination, but in their analy-
sis they do not include the different ICT orientations studied in
the present paper. Through internalization, explicit knowledge cre-
ated is shared throughout an organization and converted into tacit
knowledge by individuals and this tacit knowledge is accumulated
at the individual level and can then set off a new spiral of knowl-
edge creation when it is shared with others through socialization
(Nonaka et al., 2000). The internalization of knowledge by the orga-
nization can be in the form of embedding that new knowledge
inside technologies for routines and processes, so giving birth to
workflow tools and ICT oriented to automate processes. The find-
ings presented here are consistent with this idea in the sense that
ICT workflow orientation has a significant positive impact on inter-
nalization.
This study has some obvious limitations, which will be
addressed in future research. First, the sample was obtained from
the Region of Murcia (Spain). In this sense, findings may be extrap-
olated to other Spanish areas and other countries, since economic
and technological development in Murcia and Spain is similar to
other OECD member countries. However, in future research, a sam-
pling frame that combines firms from different countries could be
used in order to provide a more international perspective on the
subject. Second, the sample consisted of SMEs, and according to
 C. Lopez-Nicolas, P. Soto-Acosta / International Journal of Information Management 30 (2010) 521–528
Spanish Statistics National Institute, large companies are more used
to implementing ICTs (INE, 2006). This segment is worthy of spe-
cial analysis. Third, the key informant method was used for data
collection. This method, while having its advantages, also suffers
from the limitation that the data reflect the opinions of an indi-
vidual. Future studies could consider research designs that allow
data collection from multiple respondents within an organization.
Fourth, the study is based on direct questions to the key infor-
mant person at one point in time (cross-sectional picture), which
makes it impossible to perform before–after comparisons. A lon-
gitudinal study could enrich the findings. Fifth, ICT is one of the
several resources needed to support knowledge creation processes
and, therefore, must be designed and implemented in accordance
with these other resources, in particular human resources (Nonaka
& Nishiguchi, 2001). Besides, regarding ICT, this study focuses on
the various uses of intranet, website and Internet a firm makes, as
well as on the use of different ICT applications such as collabora-
tive technologies or simulators. The interplay of different types of
ICT and those other resources supporting knowledge creation and
OL needs further research. Finally, it would be interesting to see
in a future study whether differences in the proposed model exist
between manufacturing and service companies or low-tech versus
high-tech firms by conducting a post hoc analysis and comparing
different groups of organizations.
. Adamides, E. D., & Karacapilidis, N. (2006). Information technology support for the
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers for their
highly constructive comments and suggestions which have allowed
us to improve the work. We also thank Fundación CajaMurcia for
the financial support provided.
Appendix A. Measures
Socialization
Our company stresses gathering information from sales and production sites.
Our company stresses sharing experience with suppliers and customers.
Our company stresses engaging in dialogue with competitors.
Our company stresses finding new strategies and market opportunities by
wandering inside the firm.
Our company stresses creating a work environment that allows peers to
understand the craftsmanship and expertise.
Externalization
Our company stresses creative and essential dialogues.
Our company stresses the use of deductive and inductive thinking.
Our company stresses the use of metaphors in dialogue for concept creation.
Our company stresses exchanging various ideas and dialogues.
Our company stresses subjective opinions.
Combination
Our company stresses planning strategies using the published literature,
computer simulation and forecasting.
Our company stresses creating manuals and documents on products and
services.
Our company stresses building databases on products and services.
Our company stresses building up materials by gathering management figures
and technical information.
Our company stresses transmitting newly created concepts.
Internalization
Our company stresses enactive liaising activities with functional departments
by cross-functional development teams.
Our company stresses forming teams as a model and conducting experiments,
and sharing results with entire departments.
Our company stresses searching and sharing new values and thoughts.
Our company stresses sharing and trying to understand management visions
through communications with fellows.
ICT adoption/support
Our company provides IT support for internal collaborative works regardless
of time and place.
527
Our company provides IT support for external collaborative works regardless
of time and place.
Our company provides IT support for communication among organization
members.
Our company provides IT support for searching for and accessing necessary
information.
Our company provides IT support for simulation and prediction.
Our company provides IT support for systematic storing.
ICT information orientation
Our company uses its Intranet to inform employees.
Our company uses its webpage to inform customers.
Our company uses the Internet to obtain information about suppliers,
competitors, etc.
ICT communication orientation
Our company uses its Intranet to receive/debate suggestions from employees.
Our company uses its webpage to receive/debate suggestions from customers.
Our company uses the Internet to participate in discussion forums.
ICT workflow orientation
Our company uses its Intranet to support internal processes automation.
Our company uses its webpage to support external processes automation
(sales).
Our company uses the Internet to support external processes automation
(purchases, procedures, etc.).
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Carolina Lopez-Nicolas (PhD, University of Murcia, Spain) is an Assistant Profes-
sor in the Department of Management and Finance at the University of Murcia,
Spain. She has been a Visiting Professor at Delft University of Technology in the
Netherlands and Michigan State University in USA. Her current research relates to
knowledge management, information systems, business strategy and mobile com-
munications. She has published on these topics in such journals as the Information
& Management, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, Journal of Knowledge Man-
agement, International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, and the Journal
of Enterprise Information Management.
Pedro Soto-Acosta is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of
Murcia (Spain). He holds a PhD in Management Information Systems (MISs) and
a Master’s degree in Technology Management from the University of Murcia. He
received his BA in Accounting and Finance from the Manchester Metropolitan
University (UK) and his BA in Business Administration from the University of Mur-
cia. He attended Postgraduate Courses at Harvard University (USA). His work has
been published in journals such as the European Journal of Information Systems,
the International Journal of Electronic Business, the International Journal of Informa-
tion Management, the Information Systems Management, and the Journal of Enterprise
Information Management, among others. He is also an Editorial Board Member and
Associate Editor for several International Journals and Chairman of various Interna-
tional Conferences.