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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2012‒01‒25
seven papers chosen by Laura Stefanescu European Research Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration |
| By: | Daria Ciriaci (JRC-IPTS) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses whether European firms’ innovative performance is impacted by investments in training directly aimed at developing and/or introducing innovation, in addition to the scale of a firm's investments in innovation proxied by the number of R&D personnels. In particular, it explores the complementarity between these two factors (in the presence of a well-trained workforce, the knowledge created by a firm’s R&D personnel can be better exploited), and their dependence on a firm's knowledge intensity (high versus low % of tertiary-educated workforce) and size (SMEs versus large firms). Using European CIS non-anonymised data for the period 1998-2000, this paper estimates a system of simultaneous equations in which investments in training and stock of R&D personnel are treated as endogenous in relation to the innovative sales on which they are presumed to have an effect. The choice to use this time period rather than more recent ones – to which I had access at the Eurostat Safe Centre – is data-driven. It has better information on training expenditures and it is the last period to provide firm-level information on the number of employees with tertiary education. Unlike the majority of CIS-based studies, the main variables of interest are continuous ones, while dummy variables are used as controls only. Empirical evidence confirms most previous results – investment in training and stock of R&D personnel positively affects firms' innovativeness – but also provides some important additional insights. Ceteris paribus, returns to training and R&D personnel are not affected by the knowledge intensity of the firm, while are always statistically significantly higher in large than in small and medium sized firms. However, while in the case of training the differences in returns between SME and large firms are small, in the case of R&D personnel are quite pronounced. |
| Keywords: | Intangibles, R&D investment, human capital, CIS, CDM model |
| JEL: | O30 O31 O32 D83 D62 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201106&r=knm |
| By: | Francesco Bogliacino (JRC-IPTS); Matteo Lucchese (University of Urbino); Mario Pianta (University of Urbino) |
| Abstract: | The patterns and mechanisms of job creation in business services are investigated in this article by considering the role of innovation, demand, wages and the composition of employment by professional groups. A model is developed and an empirical test is carried out with parallel analyses on a group of selected business services, on other services and on manufacturing sectors, considering six major European countries over the period 1996-2007. Within technological activities, a distinction is made between those supporting either technological competitiveness, or cost competitiveness. Demand variables allow identifying the special role of intermediate demand. Job creation in business services appears to be driven by efforts to expand technological competitiveness and by the fast growing intermediate demand coming from other industries; conversely, process innovation leads to job losses and wage growth has a negative effect that is lower than in other industries. Business services show an increasingly polarised employment structure. |
| Keywords: | Business Services, Innovation, Employment. |
| JEL: | J20 J23 O30 O33 |
| Date: | 2011–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201104&r=knm |
| By: | Jacques Brook (Maastricht School of Management, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | The competitive advantage literature has tended to establish a strong relation between innovation leadership and high firm performance. However, we found that this is not always true. Inspired by the failure of many firms to be leaders in innovation, many other firms prefer to orient their corporate innovation strategy towards being a smart follower. Here their objective is to reduce the risks of innovations and to achieve a sustained competitive advantage. Smart followers move beyond the traditional notion of follower that focuses on the decision of not becoming a leader in particular technology domain and how to gain a cost advantage by learning from the leader. This paper discusses an institutional innovation framework based on a business system thinking approach. The objective is to assist the leadership in firms in synergizing capabilities in the interactions between the innovation dimensions. We found that firms that choose to be smart followers can become top performer if they pursue institutional innovation. |
| Keywords: | Innovation Strategy, Institutional Innovation, Competitive advantage, Business model innovation, technology innovation, process innovation, service and product innovation, social and sustainable innovation, performance. |
| JEL: | M12 M14 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2011/13&r=knm |
| By: | Jan van der Borg (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari); Erwin van Tuijl (HIS and RHV, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | The degree and the way of upgrading differ widely per industry. This article tries to give some new insights in these differences by linking the concept of upgrading to that of the knowledge base. Moreover, we try to identify barriers to upgrading as well as the appropriate spatial scale on which upgrading takes place, again for different knowledge bases. We support our argument by analysing the process of upgrading in two industries in China: the AEC industry (in Beijing and Shanghai) and the automotive industry (in Shanghai). Within these industries we focus on upgrading on two levels: within firms and within projects. Our findings for both industries suggest that the principal ways of upgrading of the symbolic knowledge base are joint brainstorming in internal and external project teams and labour mobility. Major factors that hinder the upgrading of symbolic knowledge include the development stage of China, the Chinese educational system and tensions about duplication of western designs. Upgrading of the synthetic knowledge base takes mainly place via inter-company training programmes of foreign firms, technology transfer and labour mobility on the long run. A possible barrier for upgrading of synthetic knowledge, especially in the automotive industry, is that foreign firms tend to keep certain engineering activities in their home base because of the risk of knowledge leakage. However, this is changing quickly as many foreign carmakers and their suppliers invest in engineering centres in China due to an increasing demand for cars, to governmental regulations and to intensifying competition. |
| Keywords: | Urban development, upgrading, automotive industry, AEC industry, knowledge economy, China. |
| JEL: | L2 R00 R3 O3 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2011_25&r=knm |
| By: | Inês Veloso Ferreira (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto); Aurora A. C. Teixeira (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto; INESC Porto; OBEGEF) |
| Abstract: | Export Promotion Agencies (EPAs) have been in operation in developed countries since the beginning of the 20th century to improve the competitiveness of firms by increasing knowledge and competences applied to export market development. |
| Keywords: | Export Promotion Agencies; Organizational Performance; Portugal; Ireland |
| JEL: | F13 D02 D23 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mde:wpaper:0046&r=knm |
| By: | Faridah Djellal (CLERSE - Centre lillois d'études et de recherches sociologiques et économiques - CNRS : UMR8019 - Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille - Lille I); FaÏz Gallouj (CLERSE - Centre lillois d'études et de recherches sociologiques et économiques - CNRS : UMR8019 - Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille - Lille I) |
| Abstract: | Le concept de réseau d'innovation est un concept bien établi qui a fait l'objet d'une abondante littérature théorique et empirique. Nous nous intéressons dans ce travail à des réseaux d'innovations particuliers, encore peu connus, mais qui se développent dans une économie de service dominante : les réseaux d'innovation public-privé dans les services (RIPPS). Les RIPPS décrivent des collaborations entre organisations de services publiques et privées dans le domaine de l'innovation. Ils diffèrent des RI traditionnels de plusieurs manières. Tout d'abord, les relations entre les acteurs publics et les acteurs privés sont placées au centre de l'analyse. Ensuite, les prestataires de services y sont les acteurs principaux. Enfin, l'innovation non technologique (innovation de service), souvent négligée dans la littérature, y est prise en compte. L'objet de ce travail est double : théorique et opérationnel. Il est, tout d'abord, d'examiner la manière dont les caractéristiques des RIPPS peuvent contribuer à modifier et enrichir le concept traditionnel de RI, et d'autre part, d'en tirer d'éventuels enseignements en matière de politique publique. Ce travail s'appuie à la fois sur un bilan de la littérature et sur l'exploitation d'une base de données d'études de cas de RIPPS constituée dans le cadre du projet européen servPPIN (Public Private Innovation Networks in Services). |
| Keywords: | Innovation-service-partenariat public-privé |
| Date: | 2012–01–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00657601&r=knm |
| By: | Guy Parmentier (ESC Chambéry - GROUPE ESC Chambéry, IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - Université de Savoie); Vincent Mangematin (MTS - Management Technologique et Strategique - Grenoble Ecole de Management) |
| Abstract: | The aim of the paper is to characterize innovation with user communities and to explore managerial implications for creative industries. Based on four case studies, we explore the interrelations between the firm and user communities. The digitalization and virtualization of interactions change the ways in which the boundaries between the firm and its user community are defined. User communities are actively developing new products, new services. Definitions of value differ for firms and users. Users are valuating the possibility to be creative, to transform individual creativity into products while firms are making money with innovation. Finally, innovation with user communities may modify the respective identities of firms and communities. |
| Keywords: | innovation; community; lead user; innovation with communities; boundaries; identity |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:gemwpa:hal-00658535&r=knm |