Firm-Specific, Industry-Specific, and Occupational Human Capital and the Sourcing of Knowledge Work

Authors:
Kyle J. Mayer;Deepak Somaya;Ian O. Williamson
Affiliations:
Department of Management and Organization, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089;College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, Illinois 61820;Melbourne Business School, Melbourne, Victoria 3053, Australia
Venue:
Organization Science
Year:
2012

Citing 11
Cited 2

Strategic factor markets: expectations, luck, and business strategy

Management Science
Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage

Management Science
Action characteristics as predictors of competitive responses

Management Science
The acquisition, transfer, and depreciation of knowledge in service organizations: productivity in franchises

Management Science
On the Strategic Accumulation of Intangible Assets

Organization Science
Selective Intervention and Internal Hybrids: Interpreting and Learning from the Rise and Decline of the Oticon Spaghetti Organization

Organization Science
Learning to Contract: Evidence from the Personal Computer Industry

Organization Science
A Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm--The Problem-Solving Perspective

Organization Science
Antecedents and Performance Implications of Contracting for Knowledge Workers: Evidence from Information Technology Services

Organization Science
Combining Patent Law Expertise with R&D for Patenting Performance

Organization Science
Capabilities, Transaction Costs, and Firm Boundaries

Organization Science

Organizational Economics of Capability and Heterogeneity

Organization Science
Supply Portfolio Concentration in Outsourced Knowledge-Based Services

Organization Science

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

Whereas capability differences are known to impact governance decisions, what drives heterogeneity in firm capabilities? We propose that capability differences may arise from governance choices related to the focal activity and study how firms accumulate capabilities in the firm-specific, industry-specific, and occupational human capital necessary to perform knowledge work. We theorize that prior outsourcing decisions influence the development of firm-and industry-specific human capital and that buyer–supplier differences in the management of skilled employees can produce systematic differences in capabilities based on occupational human capital. Additionally, we explore some contingencies in the development of these types of human capital and their impacts on outsourcing knowledge work. These propositions are tested with a unique data set on the outsourcing of legal work involved in filing patents (i.e., patent prosecution).