nep-knm New Economics Papers
on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy
Issue of 2022‒02‒28
three papers chosen by
Laura Ştefănescu
Centrul European de Studii Manageriale în Administrarea Afacerilor

  1. Automation and Related Technologies: A Mapping of the New Knowledge Base By Santarelli, Enrico; Staccioli, Jacopo; Vivarelli, Marco
  2. Les effets du partage de connaissances sur la construction de la vision organisante du dossier patient informatise : le cas d’un projet en systeme d’information au sein d’un groupement hospitalier territorial By Rémi Mougin
  3. Labor Mobility and Innovation in Africa By Mbaye, Linguère Mously; Okara, Assi; Tani, Massimiliano

  1. By: Santarelli, Enrico (University of Bologna); Staccioli, Jacopo (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
    Abstract: Using the entire population of USPTO patent applications published between 2002 and 2019, and leveraging on both patent classification and semantic analysis, this paper aims to map the current knowledge base centred on robotics and AI technologies. These technologies are investigated both as a whole and distinguishing core and related innovations, along a 4-level core-periphery architecture. Merging patent applications with the Orbis IP firm-level database allows us to put forward a twofold analysis based on industry of activity and geographic location. In a nutshell, results show that: (i) rather than representing a technological revolution, the new knowledge base is strictly linked to the previous technological paradigm; (ii) the new knowledge base is characterised by a considerable – but not impressively widespread – degree of pervasiveness; (iii) robotics and AI are strictly related, converging (particularly among the related technologies and in more recent times) and jointly shaping a new knowledge base that should be considered as a whole, rather than consisting of two separate GPTs; (iv) the US technological leadership turns out to be confirmed (although declining in relative terms in favour of Asian countries such as South Korea, China and, more recently, India).
    Keywords: robotics, artificial intelligence, general purpose technology, technological paradigm, industry 4.0, patents full-text
    JEL: O33
    Date: 2022–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15015&r=
  2. By: Rémi Mougin (VALLOREM - Val de Loire Recherche en Management - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours)
    Abstract: « While the journey begins with the firm's consideration of what others in the field are being said to accomplish with the innovation, it ends with its consideration of what it has itself achieved. » (Swanson et Ramiller, 2004). This quote from the creators of the organizing vision suggests the need for structures that are going through an innovation process to introspect on the assets they hold. Swanson and Ramiller's (1997) observation of the organizing vision (OV) around an innovation is defined as follows: "An organizing vision is a community focal idea for the application of information technology in organizations." In 2004, they state that an "organizational vision is usually recognizable by one or a few 'buzzwords' that serve as a thematic label for the discourse of the broader community.". It is therefore primarily a discourse to guide and outline the course of an innovation in an organization. It clarifies the reasons for its existence and gives it meaning in order to mobilize actors in its implementation. However, these discourses mainly analysed journal articles and case studies are fewer. Among them, none proposes to identify knowledge sharing, in the sense of information for coordinating activities and practices, as a founding element of the OV discourse and its "authorized discourse". Our objective is to show the importance of knowledge sharing on the construction of an organizing vision within a health information system (IS) project and to identify it as a source of convergence between actors. It seems interesting to us to extend the exploratory study by Swanson and Ramiller (2003) in order to give concrete organizational keys to IS project managers and to bring the concept of knowledge sharing closer to that of the organizing vision. We believe that there is a practical interest in this. Indeed, we hypothesize that knowledge sharing has an influence on the organizing vision because it is a lever for action to encourage inter-organizational interaction that will allow a better understanding of the practices and expectations of each of the actors in order to achieve the success of a project. Our research was conducted within a Groupement Hospitalier Territorial (GHT) composed of a dozen health establishments, which found itself obliged to change the IT publisher for its Electronic Patient Record (EPR) because the current provider was leaving the French market. This opportunity was seen as a chance to reconcile inter-organizational practices and facilitate the sharing of patient information between institutions. The healthcare sector is particularly interesting for its complexity and technical knowledge with high operational stakes. We will see that in 2010, Morr and Subercaze identified several particularities specific to the healthcare domain for managing knowledge in the context of an information system project. The organizing vision (OV) is composed of 3 elements (interpretation, mobilization and legitimization) that will serve as objects for classifying the discourse. The 4 stratums of the OV (Carton et al., 2016), in turn, will determine the framework of our observation. Our methodology is based on the work of Swanson and Ramiller (2003), and will consist of a qualitative study of the process used to analyse what was said during semi-structured interviews and project scoping meetings by the actors. The main purpose of these scoping meetings is to share knowledge and data between the different institutions. They are also necessary for the work of the external service provider. Thus, after creating a matrix made up of the feelings of the different stakeholders and of the three elements of the organizing vision, we will analyse the discourse of each group of project stakeholders. This classification should make it possible to highlight the predominance of the language elements used and the feelings to which they are attached during the knowledge sharing phase, and then to compare them with the 4 stratums of the organizing vision. Our initial analyses of the project leaders' comments on the referents allow us to draw some initial results in this start-up period of the project. On the aspects of mobilization, the decision-makers are voluntarily positive to encourage the participation of a maximum number of people. However, the legitimization of the service provider is struck by comments that inspire mistrust and this can be explained by the classic mistrust of the client towards his service provider. Finally, the comments about the information system itself are neutral until we see the first tests in situation. Once our study is completed, we would like to extend the work of Swanson and Ramiller to further associate the notion of knowledge sharing with that of the organizing vision. Indeed, their 2003 article mentions knowledge transfer problems in the case studied and the usefulness for information system managers to have certain organizational bases. Also, the study of the actors' feelings during knowledge sharing is a new element in this type of analysis because it can have an influence on the development of the project.
    Abstract: « While the journey begins with the firm's consideration of what others in the field are being said to accomplish with the innovation, it ends with its consideration of what it has itself achieved. » (Swanson et Ramiller, 2004). Cette citation des créateurs de la vision organisante avance la nécessaire introspection des structures qui traversent un processus d'innovation sur les atouts qu'elles détiennent. L'observation de la vision organisante (VO) autour d'une innovation de Swanson et Ramiller (1997) est définie ainsi : « Une vision d'organisation est une idée focale de la communauté pour l'application de la technologie de l'information dans les organisations. » En 2004, ils précisent qu'une « vision organisationnelle est généralement reconnaissable par un ou quelques "mots à la mode" (Buzzword) qui servent d'étiquette thématique pour le discours de la communauté au sens large. ». Il s'agit donc principalement d'un discours permettant de guider et d'exposer le cap d'une innovation dans une organisation. Cela éclaircit les raisons de son existence et lui donne un sens afin de mobiliser les acteurs dans sa mise en oeuvre. Cependant, ces discours ont principalement analysé des articles de revue et les études de cas sont plus rares. Parmi elles, aucune ne propose d'identifier le partage de connaissances, au sens des informations de coordination des activités et des pratiques, comme un élément fondateur du discours de la VO et ses « propos autorisés ». Notre objectif est de montrer l'importance du partage de connaissances sur la construction d'une vision organisante au sein d'un projet en système d'information (SI) en santé et de l'identifier comme source de convergence des acteurs. Il nous paraît intéressant de prolonger l'étude exploratoire de Swanson et Ramiller (2003) afin de donner des clés organisationnelles concrètes aux managers de projet SI et de rapprocher davantage le concept de partage de connaissances de celui de la vision organisante. Nous pensons qu'il y a un intérêt pratique à cela. En effet, nous émettons l'hypothèse que le partage de connaissances a une influence sur la vision organisante car c'est un levier d'action pour inciter l'interaction inter-organisationnelle qui permettra une meilleure compréhension des pratiques et des attentes de chacun des acteurs pour aboutir à la réussite d'un projet. Notre recherche s'établit au sein d'un Groupement Hospitalier Territorial (GHT) composé d'une douzaine d'établissements de santé, qui se retrouve dans l'obligation de changer d'éditeur informatique pour son Dossier Patient Informatisé (DPI) car le prestataire actuel quitte le marché français. Cette occasion a été perçue comme une opportunité d'un rapprochement des pratiques inter-organisationnelles et d'une facilitation de partage d'informations patient entre établissements. Le secteur de la santé est particulièrement intéressant pour sa complexité et ses connaissances techniques à forts enjeux opérationnels. Nous verrons qu'en 2010, Morr et Subercaze ont relevé plusieurs particularités propres au domaine de la santé pour gérer la connaissance dans le cadre d'un projet en système d'information. La vision organisante (VO) se compose de 3 éléments (l'interprétation, la mobilisation et la légitimation) qui nous serviront d'objets de classement du discours. Les 4 strates de la VO (Carton et al., 2016), quant à elles, détermineront le cadre de notre observation. Notre méthodologie est basée sur les travaux de Swanson et Ramiller (2003), elle consistera en une étude qualitative du processus utilisé pour analyser les propos tenus lors d'entretiens semidirectifs et des réunions de cadrage du projet par les acteurs. Ces réunions de cadrage ont pour thème principal le partage de connaissances et de données entre les différents établissements. Elles sont également nécessaires au travail du prestataire externe. Ainsi, après avoir créé une matrice constituée du ressenti des différentes parties prenantes et des 3 éléments de la vision organisante, nous allons analyser le discours de chaque groupe d'acteurs du projet. Cette classification doit permettre de faire ressortir la prédominance des éléments de langage utilisés et les sentiments auxquels ils sont rattachés pendant la phase de partage de connaissances, pour ensuite les confronter aux 4 strates de la vision organisante. Nos premières analyses sur les propos des chefs de projets vis-à-vis des référents nous permettent de dessiner de premiers résultats dans cette période de démarrage du projet. Sur les aspects de mobilisation, les décideurs se montrent volontairement positifs pour encourager la participation d'un maximum de personnes. Cependant, la légitimation du prestataire est frappée par des propos inspirant la défiance et cela peut s'expliquer par la méfiance assez classique du client envers son prestataire. Enfin, les propos sur le système d'information en lui-même sont neutres en attendant de voir les premiers tests en situation. Une fois notre étude terminée, nous souhaitons prolonger les travaux de Swanson et Ramiller pour associer davantage la notion de partage de connaissances à celle de la vision organisante. En effet, leur article de 2003 mentionne des problèmes de transfert de connaissances dans le cas étudié et l'utilité pour les managers en système d'information d'avoir certaines bases organisationnelles.
    Date: 2021–11–24
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03482384&r=
  3. By: Mbaye, Linguère Mously (African Development Bank); Okara, Assi (CNRS); Tani, Massimiliano (University of New South Wales)
    Abstract: We develop a theoretical model to investigate whether short-term mobility differentially affects innovation in product or process and carry out an empirical analysis with a focus on Africa using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey, as well as complementary country level information collected by the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation, and the United Nations. We find that labor mobility positively affects innovation: on average, a 10% increase in the flow of international visits per 10,000 inhabitants is associated with a 0.4 increase in the probability to innovate in products/services or process, supporting the use of labor mobility as an effective mechanism to diffuse productive knowledge and foster innovation. The probability of innovation as a result of short-term mobility is 0.4 higher in Africa overall – especially in East Africa – vis-à-vis the rest of the world, and strongest in the case of innovation in products and services rather than process, suggesting limited capability to produce entirely within the continent. The results are robust to a variety of approaches controlling for endogeneity, which include a control function approach and the use of an instrumental variable based on a gravity model. Focusing only on arrivals for business and professional purposes, our findings show stronger evidence that African firms are more likely to innovate as a result of short-term mobility compared to the rest of the world.
    Keywords: innovation, labor mobility, Africa
    JEL: F20 F22 J24 J61 O14 O55
    Date: 2022–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15004&r=

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