Knowledge capability and innovation performance are essential drivers of organizational success, with managerial work playing a crucial role in fostering these factors. This paper examines planned and unplanned managerial work from a knowledge creation perspective, analyzing 21 short interviews and 21 days of shadowing seven leaders, alongside interactive analyses with management teams in four manufacturing SMEs. A four-step analysis of 2125 activities revealed four categories of managerial work, with unplanned activities accounting for 52% of work time, highlighting the complexity and ad-hoc nature of managerial work. Internally initiated unplanned managerial work was crucial for tacit knowledge conversion. If policymakers want to support lifelong learning initiatives and strengthen innovation capabilities in manufacturing SMEs, they need to encourage the unplanned aspect of managerial work, as it is crucial for knowledge creation, fostering the evolutionary aspect of organizational learning and enhancing innovation capabilities.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to shed light on different types of knowledge created and how this links to the project design, process, and content. Design/methodology/approach In this paper the authors investigate participants' experiences from a three-year interactive research project, designed to trigger reflection among the participants. They apply a knowledge creation perspective on experiences expressed by participants as a result of different research project activities. Findings The study resulted in five categories of insights with potential for sustainable influence on the participating organizations: an understanding of concepts and theories; an understanding of the impacts of collaborative, reflective work processes; an understanding of the meaning of one's own organizational context; an understanding of the importance of increased organizational self-awareness; and an understanding of the potential for human interaction and communication. Practical implications The author's findings suggest that it is possible to design a project to promote more profound and sustainable effects on a business beyond the explicit purpose of the project. They advise practitioners to make room for iterative reflection; be mindful to create a trustful and open environment in the team; challenge results with opposing views and theories; and make room for sharing experiences and giving feedback. Originality/value This study contributes to unraveling key practices which can nurture conditions for knowledge creation in interactive research projects and business projects alike.

Manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are important as they contribute to economic growth, employment opportunities and social integration. Their innovation capability is central to strengthening competitiveness, adaptability, and developing new sustainable solutions. However, these organisations often lack the resources to have separate research and development departments. As a result, the same employees are often responsible for both keeping operations running and developing the organisation’s innovation capabilities. This dissertation adopts an intra-organisational perspective on knowledge creation to strengthen innovation capabilities and for this, managerial work is key. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to investigate managerial work in the context of manufacturing SMEs to understand innovation capabilities through a knowledge creation perspective.

This research involved a collaborative and interactive approach, as the researcher worked closely with six manufacturing SMEs. Studies were conducted using a variety of in-depth, qualitative research methods, including workshops, focus groups, diaries, interviews, shadowing and feedback sessions. These methods allowed for a comprehensive understanding of SMEs’ managerial work from different perspectives.

Three key characteristics of managerial work in manufacturing SMEs were identified. First, managerial work is initiated externally or internally. Second, managerial work is planned or unplanned where the former supports the explicit and the latter supports the implicit dimensions of managerial work processes. Third, it results in both matched and mismatched activities. For knowledge creation to take place, both planned and unplanned managerial work are important. The findings suggest that by embracing the multidimensional managerial work and providing opportunities for both planned and unplanned work, including individual and joint reflection, manufacturing SMEs can enhance their innovation capabilities to thrive in a rapidly changing business environment.

Små och medelstora tillverkande företag (SMF) är viktiga då de bidrar till ekonomisk tillväxt, arbetstillfällen och social integration. Deras innovationsförmåga är central för att stärka konkurrenskraften, anpassningsbarheten och utveckla nya hållbara lösningar. Dessa organisationer saknar emellertid ofta resurser för att ha separata forsknings- och utvecklingsavdelningar, vilket innebär att de behöver driva verksamheten samtidigt som de utvecklar den. Denna avhandling antar ett intraorganisatoriskt perspektiv där kunskapsveckling, det vill säga lärande, anses stärka innovationsförmågan, och för detta är ledningsarbetet avgörande. Syftet med denna avhandling är att undersöka ledningsarbetet i kontexten av tillverkande SMF för att förstå innovationsförmågan genom ett lärande perspektiv.

Denna forskning genomfördes i nära samarbete med sex tillverkande SMF. Med en interaktiv ansats utfördes tre studier med hjälp av djupgående kvalitativa forskningsmetoder, såsom workshops, fokusgrupper, dagböcker, intervjuer, skuggning och feedbacksessioner. Dessa studier möjliggjorde en bred förståelse för SMFs ledningsarbete från olika perspektiv.

Tre karaktärsdrag för ledningsarbetet i de medverkande SMFs identifierades. För det första initieras ledningsarbetet antingen externt eller internt. För det andra kan ledningsarbetet vara planerat eller oplanerat, där det planerade stödjer de explicita dimensionerna och det oplanerade stödjer de implicita dimensionerna av ledningsarbetets processer. För det tredje resulterar ledningsarbetet i både matchade och omatchade aktiviteter. För att lärande ska äga rum är både planerat och oplanerat ledningsarbete viktigt. Resultaten visar att genom att omfamna det mångdimensionella ledningsarbetet och öppna upp för och värdesätta både planerat och oplanerat arbete, inklusive individuell och gemensam reflektion, kan tillverkande SMF stärka sin innovationsförmåga för att bättre klara sig i en snabbt föränderlig affärsmiljö.

Learning processes have an impact on both specific problems and provide wider knowledge of different work processes. For this, managerial work has been identified as crucial. Managerial work is ad hoc and full of daily disturbances, and as learning in organisations often occurs unplanned, it is of interest to study learning processes during unplanned managerial work. A theoretical framework with two learning logics, developmental and executional learning were used. These logics are interpreted as an interdependent duality and not only as two equally important entities. The purpose of this study is to understand learning processes during unplanned managerial work in practice, from an ambidextrous perspective. An in-depth qualitative approach was used, where four learning processes were identified and analysed. We identify two ambidextrous learning logics, within complex work processes, based on either the executional or developmental mode, as a complement to existing knowledge on learning in organisations.

Organizational Ambidexterity (OA)–the ability to simultaneously pursue exploration and exploitation–is increasingly being advocated as a way to gain competitive advantage. Most of the work on OA has focused on large, multi-divisional organizations, resulting in frameworks and prescriptions that have little utility for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With this in mind, we report on the first year of an exploratory, quasi-experimental study of ambidexterity within six small-to-medium manufacturing enterprises in Sweden. The research is characterized by an emic, ‘invented here’ approach, where companies closely examine their current exploration and exploitation practices, use their findings to formulate more advanced OA approaches uniquely suited to their values and circumstances, and iteratively apply and refine these over a four year period. It appears that the construct of ‘unplanned’ and associated sub-constructs such as ‘disturbance, crashes, and interruption’ could be an important key to framing and improving OA within these SMEs and perhaps more generally.

To be competitive, it is important for companies to create a breeding ground for innovation without jeopardizing productivity. The challenge posed by industrial companies and the innovation research community is how to promote innovation while achieving efficient execution. The ability to balance execution and innovation is referred to as organizational ambidexterity (OA), which includes several dimensions, concepts and approaches where a central task can be identified. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what consequences result from different dimensions of a task in relation to the types of its actions, and their effects on OA. The focus of the task is firstly investigated, followed by the development of nine scenarios via combining the designers’ and the performers’ perspectives of the task. A brief analysis of the scenarios indicates that there is no single optimal scenario; rather, the scenarios represent different states that are appropriate for certain conditions, and dynamic adaptation should be encouraged in relation to the changing conditions. This type of dynamics is particularly expected to prevail in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) because the roles that are responsible for tasks in these organizations are less specialized. Therefore, SMEs must define tasks that include both explorative and exploitative parts, either simultaneously or sequentially, to stimulate employees to work ambidextrously and thereby develop the concept of task-based ambidexterity.