The Unexplored Effect of Skills and Technology on Firms' Performance

The aim of this paper is to add new findings to the knowledge based view of the firm, where the cross-learning ability of individuals and organizations plays a fundamental role in the determination of firms' superior performances. Collective, non formal - informal, formal types of learning (learning drivers) contribute to shape the competitiveness of firms, especially in the present knowledge-based economy, where the necessity to respond effectively to frequent external shock (demand, technology, competitive environment driven) emphasizes the importance of being flexible and quickly adaptive. Nevertheless, focusing on learning capacities, and particularly on human skills, often leads to forget or ignore industry effects, such as innovative intensity, which increase the explanatory power of the learning drivers. This work explores the conjoint effect of learning drivers and innovative intensity on firms' performance by showing some evidence from statistical data analysis on the Danish IDA (Integrated Database for Labour Market Research). A sample of firms belonging to the manufacturing industry is studied using data related to the year 1999. The paper proceeds as follows: firstly, the role and relevance of human resources in the determination of firm's performance is presented. Secondly, a missing ring in the knowledge based view of the firm is detected: the R&D investments intensity. Thirdly, the data analysis process and the methodology adopted are illustrated. Finally, the results are presented and discussed.Human capital; innovtive intensity; knowledge; learning; manufacturing; performance

Demand-oriented Competency Development in a Manufacturing Context: The Relevance of Process and Knowledge Modeling

Competency management is a crucial success factor for organizations in the area of tension between knowledge management, human resource management, and process management, and has to be considered from a knowledge economy perspective. A basis for developing appropriate qualification measures in organizations is the comparison of necessary and available competencies. Given the time and cost intensity of the comparison process, the use of appropriate methods is of particular relevance for enterprises. This paper presents a procedural method and a software tool which enable resource-saving comparisons. Usually, employees’ “to competencies” are determined on a strategic level. Currently available “is competencies” can be derived from the actual knowledge transfer or from existing competence profiles. The method and tool first allow for the appropriate visualization of both competencies. After an automatized comparison of both contents, an overview of given and missing “to competencies” will be provided. Not available competencies can be addressed as qualification requirements and reflections regarding staffing or task allocation can be conducted

Investigating the Effect of Knowledge Management on the Effectiveness of Government Organizations

Today, the success of an economy and an organization depends on the success of the knowledge-based factors in that organization. In a knowledge-based economy, the competition model based on industrialization and cost centering has changed into an effective production model and the distribution and transfer of knowledge for the creation of wealth. Hence, improving the capacity of innovative organizations and acquiring new knowledge is definitely the key to developing a knowledge-based economy. This focus on knowledge mainly emphasizes the economic effectiveness. Knowledge management has the benefits of better product performance and faster response to evolving markets. By using knowledge management, loss of effort and loss of resource intensity can be avoided and innovative success can be achieved. Having a committed and compassionate workforce is also one of the other benefits of knowledge management. Human resources constitute the bulk of manufacturing and operational facilities of industrial organizations and centers. Companies with skilled managers and employees are more likely to succeed than other companies without such privileges. If individuals are equipped with better education and training, they are better off performing their duties and more capable of learning how to do their work and advanced production, and training can increase the level of skills of managers and staff and make effective achievements in terms of performance

KIBS role in the innovation and internationalization processes of firms: a bibliometric overview

In recent decades, KIBS have been one of the most dynamic segments of the service sector in European countries and are one of the fastest growing sectors of the European Union economy. KIBS are firms that provide knowledge-intensive inputs to the business processes of other organizations. In the regional and national economy, KIBS have played a central role in innovation as carriers, producers and mediators of knowledge. Consequently, this knowledge has a critical impact on the internationalization of firms. New sources of information and knowledge help firms compete and grow in markets of which they possess little or no prior knowledge. Firms face difficulties in foreign markets, so they need to develop a strong knowledge base to successfully compete across borders. The intensity of knowledge and the diversity of knowledge sources positively impact both the internationalization of firms and their innovation. Knowledge-intensive firms represent a link between their customers and the knowledge base available across the economy, and therefore act as a catalyst for innovation and internationalization. Recognizing the important role played by KIBS and to provide as overall picture of the research field, a bibliometric approach was performed, based on a mapping of scientific publications, intellectual structure and research trends related to the area under study, highlighting the current approaches of reference on the subject of innovation, internationalization and knowledge. In light of this consideration, the main objective of this study is to identify some of the most relevant research in this field and some of the newest trends, according to the information found in the Web of Science database, thus contributing to the enrichment of the existing literature. The specific objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to identify how the concepts of KIBS, innovation and internationalization are defined in the literature and assess the evolution achieved in the field of research; (2) to identify and measure research productivity, the trend of collaboration between countries, and the main and most relevant journals and authors; and (3) to analyze and map cocitations and research topics to identify the intellectual structure of the literature

Absorptive Capacity in Practice-Based Innovation Activities: the Case of Lahti Region, Finland

As a consequence of for example agglomeration economies, features such as good reputation and highly-skilled labour force tend to accumulate in university regions. The accumulation of highly-skilled labour and high research intensity secure a continuous flow of “raw-material†for innovations in the knowledge-based economy. However, in the regions lacking a university it is vitally important to find other ways of increasing innovation activity. Through implementation of non-linear innovation activity which combines knowledge of normal practice-based activities and science-based research, a region can create radically new perspectives of operating. The new theories of innovation suggest that a great potential of innovation exists in the structural holes and weak links of the innovation system. The new sources of innovation set demands for the innovating partners. In order to exploit the hidden potential in the innovation system the actors of the region must possess, for example, high absorptive capacity, tolerance for diversification and especially the bridging elements of social capital. The Lahti Region in Finland is one of the regions lacking strong regional research base. Determined to create a new source of competitive advantage, the Lahti Region is heading towards a vision of being a top region in promoting practice-based innovation activities. Therefore, the region has created a new policy framework to achieve the vision: network-facilitating innovation policy. The policy aims to promote networked innovation processes especially by exploiting the potential of the structural holes of the innovation system and linking the research-based knowledge from neighbouring strong research centres in the regional innovation processes. This paper examines the readiness of the regional actors to face the demands of the new policy framework. The case study is a compilation of 12 interviews of the key persons in the regional development field and a survey study among representatives of companies, educational and research organizations as well as public organizations.

A Network Perspective on Inter-Organizational Transfer of R&D Capabilities: A Study of International Joint Ventures in Chinese Automobile Industry

Multinational enterprises' transfer of R&D capabilities to their international joint ventures in the less developed countries has been an emerging phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to understand the transfer of R&D capabilities between organizations embedded in drastically different organizational contexts using a network perspective. We identified different networks involved in the R&D capability transfer process from the perspectives of source organization, recipient organization and the interface between them, and analyzed the impact of different attributes of these networks on the effectiveness of R&D capability transfer, based on the notion that R&D capabilities are largely collective knowledge.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39746/3/wp362.pd

Sustainable and traditional product innovation without scale and experience, but only for KIBS!

This study analyzes the ideal strategic trajectory for sustainable and traditional product innovation. Using a sample of 74 Costa Rican high-performance businesses for 2016, we employ fuzzy set analysis (qualitative comparative analysis) to evaluate how the development of sustainable and traditional product innovation strategies is conditioned by the business’ learning capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation in knowledge-intensive (KIBS) and non-knowledge-intensive businesses. The results indicate two ideal strategic configurations of product innovation. The first strategic configuration to reach maximum product innovation requires the presence of KIBS firms that have both an entrepreneurial and learning orientation, while the second configuration is specific to non-KIBS firms with greater firm size and age along with entrepreneurial and learning orientation. KIBS firms are found to leverage the knowledge-based and customer orientations that characterize their business model in order to compensate for the shortage of important organizational characteristics—which we link to liabilities or smallness and newness—required to achieve optimal sustainable and traditional product innovation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Knowledge Management through the Lens of Innovation and Labour Productivity in a Knowledge Based Economy

The 21st century brings along the recognition for the necessity to understand and measure the activity of knowledge management, for which reason organizations and system organizations, together with decisional governmental factors, do their best in order to develop policies that would promote these benefits. Knowledge management (KM) implies any activity regarding the capture and the diffusion of knowledge within the organization. In our study we analyze the impacts and dimensions of KM upon the innovation and labour productivity within the organization, and how KM affects the firm’s innovative performance. A key component of knowledge management is to provide access to stored knowledge components to improve decision making and to facilitate knowledge acquisition by the user.knowledge-based economy, knowledge management, knowledge, explicit and implicit knowledge, innovation, productivity, diffusion of knowledge