Actional intelligence, a critical competence for innovation performance. A research multi-case analysis

Actional intelligence, a new suggested conceptual construct, is introduced to understand the application and actioning of knowledge and link it with firm innovation performance. It is defined as the capacity of an organisation, to identify useful knowledge, develop its activity to learn and apply it to perform in an optimum way. This paper aims at covering the gap in which most knowledge management approaches and studies fail to address: the relationship between knowledge management and innovation, since innovation, and not just organisational efficiency or quality management, is a primary source of competitive advantage. This research is based in a multicase analysis. © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.