Knowledge Flows and Capability Building in the Indian IT Sector: A Comparative Analysis of Cluster and Non-Cluster Locations

The role of industrial clusters in the industrialization of many emerging economies continues to dominate the debate among policy makers and researchers worldwide. While recent discussions on this debate have focused on knowledge spillovers among participants within clusters, knowledge flows between non local networks and the cluster actors have not been accorded due attention in the literature. Further, the literature does not compare the relative impact of knowledge flows among firms within clusters and firms outside clusters. In this study, we attempt a comparative analysis of the role of knowledge flows in capability formation among firms in the Indian Information Technology sector (IT sector) across cluster and non-cluster locations. The empirical results suggest that at the firm level, leveraging of capabilities to enhance performance and networks to build capabilities is not automatic; structural features of the firms’ location enable this transformation. Moreover, while capabilities affect performance of firms positively only in clusters, economies of scale and some strategies like quality certification used by firms impact performance of firms outside clusters. Interestingly, although economies of scale do not impact the performance of firms within clusters, they do, however affect the capability formation of firms within clusters only. Further, we found that local and national non-customer networks affect capability formation of firms within and outside clusters whereas international customer networks affect capability formation of firms within clusters only. These have implications for how firms can develop appropriate strategies to enhance their performance.Industrial Clustering, Information Technology industry, Networks, Capabilities

An integrated framework to classify healthcare virtual communities

Healthcare (HC) strives to improve service quality through its cost-effective social computing strategy. However, sudden rise in the count of virtual community of practices (VCoPs) introduced many choices for physicians; As a result, it is not surprising to observe current literature reporting lack of study to investigate ideas integration within and between VCoPs. VCoPs need to be categorized for HC physicians so they will be able to pin-point effective a VC to attain assistance from. This paper is one of the first investigative studies, in HC sector, that proposed a framework to classify and pin-point appropriate VCoPs, for physicians, after it reviewed and analyzed traditional and up-to-date theoretical, empirical and case study literature in the area of social computing, knowledge management (KM) and VCoPs. The implementation of this framework pinpointed professional VCoPs as most appropriate for physicians based on strict requirements, i.e. closed physician communities holding many participants, which are older than 5 years with high boundary crossing. This framework is also a “one-size-fit-all” formula to build an organizational VCoP, utilizable by other business sectors

Strategic analysis of water institutions in India: application of a new research paradigm

Water management / Irrigation management / Institutions / Water law / Water rights / Water policy / Cost recovery / Price policy / Private sector / Public sector / Privatization / Financing / Conflict / Groundwater / Water market / Farmers’ associations / Water users’ associations / India

SMEs; Virtual research and development (R&D) teams and new product development: A literature review

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are indeed the engines of global economic growth. Their continued growth is a major subject for the economy and employment of any country. Towards that end, virtual research and development (R&D) could be a viable option to sustain and ease the operations of SMEs. However, literature shows there has not been a great deal of research into the diverse characteristic of virtual R&D teams in SMEs. This article provides a comprehensive literature review on different aspects of virtual R&D teams collected from the reputed publications. The purpose of the literature review is to provide an outline on the structure and dynamics of R&D collaboration in SMEs. Specifying the rationale and relevance of virtual teams, the relationship between virtual R&D team for SMEs and new product development (NPD) has been examined. It concludes with identifying the gaps and feebleness in the existing literature and calls for future research in this area. It is argued to form of virtual R&D team deserves consideration at top level management for venturing into the new product development within SMEs

Virtual R&D teams in small and medium enterprises: a literature review

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the driving engine behind economic growth. While SMEs play a critical role in generating employment and supporting trade, they face numerous challenges, the prominent among them are the need to respond to fasting time-to-market, low-cost and rapid solutions to complex organizational problems. Towards that end, research and development (R & D) aspect deserves particular attention to promote and facilitate the operations of SMEs. Virtual R & D team could be a viable option. However, literature shows that virtual R & D teaming in SMEs is still at its infancy. This article provides a comprehensive literature review on different aspects of virtual R & D teams collected from the reputed publications. The purpose of the state-of-the-art literature review is to provide an overview on the structure and dynamics of R & D collaboration in SMEs. Specifying the foundation and importance of virtual teams, the relationship between virtual R & D team and SMEs has been examined. It concludes with the identification of the gaps in the existing literature's and calls for future research. It is argued that setting-up an infrastructure for virtual R & D team in SMEs still requires a large amount of engineering efforts and deserves consideration at top level management