Knowledge management and organizational learning: Strategies and practices for innovation

In a globalised competitive world, organisations are looking for ways to gain or maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Of the important challenges facing firms and organizations three are of prime importance: (1) for organizations to know what they know and maximise the transfer of this knowledge throughout their organisation; (2) finding ways of working which assist in maintaining their competitive advantage and finding new ways of gaining competitive advantage often through innovation, and (3) continuously learning through the exploitation of existing resources and capabilities and the exploration of new resources and capabilities to improve their performance. These challenges are interrelated. This paper investigates some of the extensive literature on innovation and knowledge management and suggests propositions for future research

Knowledge management and innovation: How are they related?

Companies in today’s globalised world must innovate to compete. Many successful companies have found that knowledge management strategies and practices are central to ongoing innovation (Boutellier et al., 1999; David & Foray, 2001; ADLittle, 2001; Tidd et al., 1997). This paper brings together research regarding knowledge management processes and practices that are found in R&D organisations and in other innovative firms. The paper contends that such practices could be employed across a range of firms to enable and enhance the potential for innovation within firms in multiple sectors

Clusters Of Innovative Firms: Absorptive Capacity In Larger Networks?

Firms are often compared in terms of their resources or capabilities (resource based view of the firm (Barney, 1991, 1997) dynamic capabilities (Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000) and their performance on knowledge transfer (Argote & Ingram, 2000), absorptive capacity and relative absorptive capacity. Innovative firms are often located with other firms in clusters, with relationships and networks that have developed over time or in response to particular drivers and conditions. This paper investigates assumptions related to innovative firms and their environments and brings together research relevant to individual firms, notions of absorptive capacity and findings about clusters of firms. Firm relationships in cluster configurations are discussed and a research agenda proposed

The ‘de-territorialisation of closeness’ - a typology of international successful R&D projects involving cultural and geographic proximity

Although there is a considerable amount of empirical evidence on inter-firm collaborations within technology-based industries, there are only a few works concerned with R&D cooperation by low-tech firms, especially SMEs. Providing further and new evidence based on a recently built database of CRAFT projects, this study analyzes the relationship between technology and proximity in international R&D networks using Homogeneity Analysis by Means of Alternating Least Squares (HOMALS) and statistical cluster techniques. The resulting typology of international cooperative R&D projects highlights that successful international cooperative R&D projects are both culturally/geographically closer and distant. Moreover, and quite interestingly, geographically distant projects are technologically more advanced whereas those located near each other are essentially low tech. Such evidence is likely to reflect the tacit-codified knowledge debate boosted recently by the ICT “revolution” emphasized by the prophets of the “Death of Distance” and the “End of Geography”.Research and Development (R&D); proximity; SMEs

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationGreat innovations seldom come from a single individual or firm. Rather, entire networks of people, usually sponsored by many firms drive great innovation, innovation that is rarely captured in a single product or service, but an entire platform sponsored by an ecosystem of firms. Many of these innovative platforms are guided by a visible hand, coalitions of firms that coordinate and collaborate. One such "visible hand" is the multipartner alliance, a collection of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of firms assembled to collaboratively define, develop, and promote innovation. While much research in collaborative innovation assumes homogenously available benefits and an exogenously determined appropriation of these benefits, this dissertation assumes heterogeneity and explores the degree to which benefits may be endogenously determined. The benefit of interest is a firm's own innovation productivity based on technologies defined by the multipartner alliance. In studying firm actions, choices, and characteristics as they relate to participating in multipartner alliances, I examine the relationships between a firm's innovation productivity and its entry timing, value-chain position, level of membership, contribution, timing of contribution, and size. These are tested primarily using hierarchical negative binomial regression and an original dataset developed in cooperation with the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, a multipartner alliance of over 12,000 firms interested in defining, developing, and promoting short range wireless technology. Empirical findings suggest support of heterogeneity in the availability of benefits and a degree of endogeneity in how they are appropriated

Success factors for implementation of novel decentralized diagnostics: How publicly funded multidisciplinary innovation networks can disrupt German Healthcare

Mobile diagnostics – or mobile health in general – is highly appealing, not only for clinicians, but also for patients. It implies empowerment, in particular of those who are really in need, such as inhabitants of less developed regions within the world who have limited access to healthcare. It also implies simplification: Easy data management – a continuous flow of information. Therefore, development of miniaturized and highly integrated diagnostic systems allowing near patient “instant” diagnostics gain a lot of momentum since more than a decade. However, system integration requires time and a significant amount of investment. In addition, there is strong competition on resources from other emergent technologies, such as next generation sequencing which made the collection of e.g. human genome data less expensive and much faster. A more severe challenge is that mobile diagnostics require a change in healthcare management, e.g. towards integrated practice units. This, in turn, requires implementation of adequate reimbursement, standards of interoperability, training of staff, quality control. In 2010, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the grant initiative Mobile Diagnostic Systems (MD, 2011─2015) as part of its high-tech strategy. MD aimed at generating knowledge on how microsystem technologies fit into German healthcare environments. On the basis of interviews with multidisciplinary MD actors, this thesis evaluated retrospectively how the publicly funded innovation network managed to overcome pre-defined external barriers of diffusion, including technology, regulatory affairs and market access. Retrospectives reveal internal barriers involving knowledge and technology transfer, negatively influencing generation of innovation. In particular, financing still represents a high hurdle for biotech innovators in Germany: Larger firms look predominately for market-ready or in-market technologies rather than prototypes and venture capitalists are rare or extremely risk-averse. Another important finding was, that actors involved were highly focused on individual work packages. This risks of not seeing the whole environment embedding MD. Consequently, potential opportunities may be missed, e.g. synergies with relatively close (DIALOC) or more distant initiatives (Global Health Delivery Project-based discussion rounds). This could be partly due to the fact that publicly funded networking activities provide less freedom-to-operate because of pre-defined milestones. In addition, further development of actors with respect to role playing (e.g. boundary spanning or innovation selling) is often not included in such “innovation packages”, but can help to maneuver change. Internal barriers need to be addressed first before targeting the major remaining external hurdle: Reimbursement. Although the latter was covered within MD, standardization of technology evaluation is still an unmet need which strongly influences the willingness-to-implement novel mobile diagnostics. Thus, the value added is to be demonstrated to justify adequate reimbursement. Achieving this goal can be successful, when innovation networking finds its path towards a common vision, e.g. towards value-based integrated healthcare. Pathfinding and visioning can be facilitated by process promoter with excellent network management capabilities. In addition, such a promoter could help to further develop engagement, openness and commitment of collaborators. Therefore, transfer of MD activities to established “top” networks or clusters is recommended for securing valuable knowledge generated. In this environment, an important next step – globalization of MD for ensuring future return on investment – could be triggered as well. Since MD innovation was found to involve both product and service innovation, maneuvering change is particularly challenging for small and medium sized enterprises. These could benefit from engagement in innovation networking. Findings of this case study can help all direct and indirect actors in the field of MD innovation or in other high complex environments to reconsider pathfinding as well as role playing in networking

Incubators as catalysts of academic spin-offs: evidence from the Israeli case-study

There is already a respectable body of evidence that connect industrial innovation with knowledge spillovers from academic research, and many suggest that university research units can play a helpful role in small firm innovation, but very few take into account their role in the making of ‘innovation systems’, as promoters of innovative spin-offs. In addition, the theory does not distinguish sufficiently between different patterns that foster the spatial concentration of new activities. Dealing with the processes of knowledge generation and diffusion, this paper explores the behaviour of development agencies, i.e. of incubators, in order to increase interactions between academic research and firms, expressly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Through a survey of Israeli Technological Incubators Programme (TIP), this paper both attempts to individuate specific behaviours and aims at identifying the interdependence of universities, firms and development agencies in stimulating innovative dynamics. Through a questionnaire and on field investigations, it put in evidence ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ interdependences between universities and incubators. In particular, it has been achieved an empirical analysis on a sample of university incubators, in order to reflect on successful experiences and limitations of their methodologies in the entrepreneurial promotion. These “enabling structures” are intended to increase the level of basic education through actions of continuous learning and to develop efficiently a process of networking. The Israeli case-study put in evidence that: 1. information or codified knowledge, as in the collaboration between RTD institutions, but also tacit knowledge, know- how and competencies circulate in the incubators; 2. “soft” infrastructures and institutions can remove those obstacles which usually hinder the diffusion of “technology spillovers” and stimulate the opening of the local district to the external world, thus favouring its relations with research centres and technologically-advanced businesses; 3. such agencies need a necessary institutional background in order to sustain ‘knowledge and innovation networks’ at local and inter-regional level; 4. innovative projects can be supported by action tools based on a “transactive” approach that stimulate cooperation amongst the different actors and facilitate their mutual relations. Finally, it seems to be indispensable the creation of a subject “integrating” the technological relations amongst the businesses in the different sectors thus assuring an unitary governance of the interactive process of technological development.

The importance of Intermediaries organizations in international R&D cooperation: an empirical multivariate study across Europe

Despite the large number of publications related to business cooperation in R&D and the wide perception of the importance of intermediary institutions in the R&D cooperation process, empirical studies on its role are scarce, scattered and fragmented. Moreover, the academic work developed in this area is basically of a theoretical nature, whereas the international perspective of R&D cooperation is seldom approached. Departing from a unique database that includes 473 R&D cooperation projects developed within the 6th Framework Programme, involving firms and intermediaries from all European Union countries, this paper gauges the determinants of the importance attached to Intermediaries, through a direct survey to the organizations involved. Based on an estimation of the multivariate model, this study demonstrates that the importance given to Intermediaries depends more on project features than on the characteristics of the participating organizations. In particular, the nationality of participating organizations and the promoter emerged with a strong explanatory power: ceteris paribus, projects with at least one participant from the United Kingdom tend to assign greater importance to intermediaries in international R&D cooperation. Unambiguously, results evidence that the innovating capacity of an organization emerges (both positively and significantly) associated with a greater importance attached to Intermediaries.R&D Cooperation; Intermediaries; International projects; Europe

Public-Private Partnerships and the Promotion of Collective Entrepreneurship

Public-private partnerships (PPP) are a recent instrument for social and economic development policies. Within the framework of competitiveness policy, PPP are an adequate instrument to promote collective entrepreneurship. Through this instrument, some market failures can be overcome and a better provision of strategic services can be afforded to firms. Also, PPP can be able to promote co-ordination between public and private partners and lead to specific innovative networks. PPP correspond to a more decentralised policy and they are supposed to increase focus and effectiveness and to involve agencies that are closer to firms and that have a more narrow range of objectives. In this contribution, we analyse the pattern of the so-called partnerships projects, approved between 2000 and the 30th june of 2003 in the framework of the Portuguese Operational Program for the Economy. By using HOMALS and K-means cluster analysis, we were able to characterise PPP and to identify typical clusters for the PPP projects. On one hand, the results show that policy decentralization brought by partnerships has promoted or reinforced a more specialized institutional framework (mainly national, sectoral or regional entrepreneurial associations). But, on the other hand, PPP had a small impact in the promotion of specific networks and/or in innovation. Collective entrepreneurship induced by PPP instrument has presented a clear bias toward the provision of services that have a public or semi-public nature, by the fact that firms that can use these services are in a large number (all the firms of a sub sector or even larger universes). But technological projects and/or projects addressed to specific networks of firms were very few. In particular, the impact of PPP on structural change seems to have been short.Public-private partnerships; Competitiveness policy; Entrepreneurship; Collective entrepreneurship

The effect of broadband infrastructure on entrepreneurial activities: The case of Germany

This paper investigates whether the local infrastructure favours entrepreneurial activities. Besides the physical and knowledge infrastructure we take into account a county's broadband availability by building an index which accounts for county-related specificities. We find that broadband availability fosters entrepreneurial activities particularly in high-tech sectors for which efficient ways of knowledge transfer is crucial. --broadband provision,physical and knowledge infrastructure,local entrepreneurial activities