The knowledge acquisition for innovation beyond the contract a case study in the information technology industry

Abstract

The aim of this case-study based research is to discuss how a large IT multinational company envisioning external tacit knowledge, product of parties interaction in an IT strategic outsourcing, as a source of innovation generation, beyond the explicit knowledge inherent to the contract, through constructs such as knowledge exchange, spillover, externality and absorptive capacity. Therefore, the objective in this exploratory research is to analyze the knowledge exchange and acquisition above the formal information forecasted in the contract between the parties. In order to reach this goal, it was used a qualitative methodology with interviews and open-ended questions, in the company sales department. As a methodology section annex was shown a Table with main constructs, authors and papers. Also it was presented in the Annex a Topic Outline as a way to operationalize the main theoretical concepts and propositions converting them into practical elements and as a guideline for development of the open-ended questions utilized in the interviews. As initial findings we could see that the company sales area is able to acquire additional knowledge beyond the contract with their clients and apply it internally and other clients, resulting as an outcome of process innovation, potentially due to knowledge spillover, externality and knowledge database change, as component of the absorptive capacity. It was captured some company formal mechanisms to stimulate the client facing area to acquire and reuse the knowledge. On the other hand, sometimes the knowledge sharing is individual initiative.