Knowledge-based Firms Research Articles

Outsourcing of knowledge processes: a literature review

Purpose – This paper aims to review research on outsourcing of knowledge processes to establish the current body of knowledge and, on this basis, to identify gaps in our understanding. This action will justify further research activities and clarify where no future research is currently needed. Design/methodology/approach – The study consists of a systematic review of 24 refereed empirical articles on outsourcing of knowledge processes. Findings – Five themes were identified: outsourcing of knowledge processes, outsourcing and collaborative agreements between knowledge-based firms, factors affecting successful knowledge outsourcing, knowledge management and knowledge outsourcing and other outsourcing issues. There seems to be a lack of understanding concerning knowledge process outsourcing. Research limitations/implications – This study may not have enabled a complete coverage of all empirical articles in the field of knowledge process outsourcing. Yet, it seems reasonable to assume that the review process covered a large share of studies available. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no systematic literature review on this topic has previously been published in academic journals.

Exploring Indirect HPWS-Performance Link in PSFs: A Practice-Resource-Use-Performance Linkage Model

This longitudinal study of professional service firms (PSFs) examines the linkage mechanisms through which high performance work systems (HPWS) influence firm performance. Two intervening mechanisms are theorized and examined. They are: (1) the resources that HPWS create, and (2) the uses to which both HPWS and these resources can be put. The resources we investigate are human, social and organizational capital, all of particular importance in knowledge-based professional service firms. The two uses which the resources facilitate and enable are the exploitation of the firm’s current capabilities and client base and the exploration of new alternative opportunities. We thus theorize a linkage model that incorporates HPWS-resources-uses-performance. Results from 93 Irish accounting firms support the mediation mechanisms in our linkage model wherein resources and the uses made of them link HPWS to firm performance. Implications are presented for theory and practice.

Organisational and staff development: a virtuous cycle in the knowledge-based economy

Organisations which are competing in a knowledge-based economy (KBE) will need professionals with singular qualifications and motivation. Individuals should be on the centre of the conception of knowledge-based firms. The development of the KBE depends on the progress of knowledge careers and accordingly, the planning of adequate incentives especially oriented to knowledge workers. This paper proposes a virtuous cycle which enhances organisational performance by one side and the development of knowledge careers, potentiating its opportunities, by another side. This mutual and positive influence can be successively incremented, cycle after cycle, creating a virtuous cycle. This perspective of positive reciprocal feedback is most suitable for knowledge workers and under a knowledge-based economy context.

Specialists and generalists: Equilibrium skill acquisition decisions in problem-solving populations

Many organizations rely on the skills of innovative individuals to create value, including academic and government institutions, think tanks, and knowledge-based firms. Roughly speaking, workers in these fields can be divided into two categories: specialists, who have a deep knowledge of a single area, and generalists, who have knowledge in a wide variety of areas. In this paper, I examine an individual's choice to be a specialist or generalist. My model addresses two questions: first, under what conditions does it make sense for an individual to acquire skills in multiple areas, and second, are the decisions made by individuals optimal from an organizational perspective? I find that when problems are single-dimensional, and disciplinary boundaries are open, all workers will specialize. However, when there are barriers to working on problems in other fields, then there is a tradeoff between the depth of the specialist and the wider scope of problems the generalist has available. When problems are simple, having a wide variety of problems makes it is rational to be a generalist. As these problems become more difficult, though, depth wins out over scope, and workers again tend to specialize. However, that decision is not necessarily socially optimal – on a societal level, we would prefer that some workers remain generalists.

Syndicate Innovation Venturing: Translating Academic Innovations into Commercial Successes

Innovations that initiate new technology cycles, i.e., radical innovations, bring tremendous value to Society and build for the companies that deploy them sustainable competitive advantages. However, large firms have typically been relatively inefficient at accessing from academia or technology start-ups such technological leaps. Indeed, most multiyear and multimillion dollar academia-industry partnerships have historically not resulted in any acceleration of the rate of deployment of game-changing innovations, which empirically proceeds in 25 year cycles, such as for example the expansion of the scope of the pharmaceutical industry from small molecules to biologics, or, projecting into the future, to siRNA or therapeutic stem cell technologies. Syndicated innovation venturing is a new strategic partnering concept described here that brings together actors from different economic segments in a non zero-sum game as a means to facilitate seed-funding, with the aim to de-risk technologies while reducing initial financial exposures. A case study in the pharmaceutical industry suggests that alleviating this hurdle may provide an appropriate environment to improve the dynamics of academic technology transfer to the commercial phase. By contributing to the de-risking of the creation of novel biotechnology businesses, this novel mechanism could help speed up the commercialization of emerging technologies on a large scale. At a time when knowledge-based firms such as pharmaceutical companies attempt to revisit their innovation models to advance science, in spite of an environment of increasing risk-aversion, such responses could tilt the balance in favor of disruptive products and sustained corporate financial performance by removing common barriers to radical innovation deployment.

The Marriage of Autonomy and Integration: Empirical Evidence from the Assembly Line

Today we have a trove of research about knowledge-based firms that derive a competitive advantage from the knowledge and problem-solving competences of their personnel. The assumption is that personnel-based assets become more important in conjunction with the firm's differentiation strategy. In order to profit from these assets, firms need to increase the autonomy of their personnel. But does this work in mass production, where firms mainly compete by price, and where products and thus work processes are highly standardized in order to guarantee a defined quality? This article presents a management model supported by a theoretical foundation and empirical evidence which overcomes the contradiction between standardization and flexibility. In this model, autonomy mandates integration and vice versa. Empirical evidence draws on a longitudinal study of assembly lines at a large volume producer in Germany.

Can a knowledge‐based cluster be created? The case of the Barcelona 22@ district

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to evaluate the local policy that has promoted the formation of a cluster of knowledge‐based activities in the city of Barcelona. After decades of economic and industrial stagnation in a district called Poblenou, in the year 2000 the City Council of Barcelona implemented a plan to renew the area's urban and economic structure. Under the development plan, knowledge‐based firms were encouraged to set up in the area and thus to create a cluster of advanced activities. This paper examines the success of this local policy and aims to determine whether cluster amenities have played a part in attracting knowledge‐based firms. First, we evaluated the cluster implementation via a ‘difference‐in‐differences’ analysis, comparing the increase in the percentage of knowledge‐based firms in this specific area with the increase of these firms in other local areas. Second, to determine whether the cluster amenities are an important element in attracting knowledge‐based activities, we perform a multivariate regression to see if cluster amenities (as valued by firms in a survey) do have an effect on the decision of knowledge‐intensive firms to locate in the district.El propósito de este artículo es evaluar la política local que ha favorecido la formación de un conglomerado de actividades basadas en conocimiento en la ciudad de Barcelona. Después de décadas de estancamiento económico e industrial en un distrito llamado Poblenou, el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona implementó en el año 2000 un plan para renovar la estructura urbana y económica de la zona. Siguiendo el plan de desarrollo, se animó a las empresas de actividades basadas en conocimiento a que se establecieran en este área, creando con ello un conglomerado de actividades avanzadas. Este artículo examina el éxito de esta política local e intenta determinar si los servicios de conglomerado han jugado un papel a la hora de atraer a empresas de actividades basadas en conocimiento. Primero, evaluamos la implementación del conglomerado por medio de un análisis de diferencia en diferencias, al comparar el aumento del porcentaje de empresas de actividades basadas en conocimiento en este área específica con el aumento de estas empresas en otras áreas locales. Segundo, para determinar si las amenidades de conglomerado son un elemento importante a la hora de atraer actividades basadas en conocimiento, realizamos una regresión multivariante para observar si las amenidades de conglomerado (así valoradas por las empresas en una encuesta) afectan a la decisión de las empresas basadas en conocimiento de ubicarse en este distrito.

Knowledge Based Firms from Central and Eastern European Countries: A Comparative Overview of Case Studies

This paper focuses on knowledge-based entrepreneurship, or new firm creation in industries which are considered to be science-based or to use research and development intensively, in the East Central European (ECE) context. On the basis of case studies of thirteen knowledge-based firms in six ECE countries, we suggest that KBE firms in these countries may differ in some important ways from the conventional picture of new technology based firms. In general, we see the ECE knowledge-intensive firm as a knowledge-localizer or customizer, adapting global knowledge to local needs on the domestic market, rather than a knowledge-creator generating new solutions for global markets. The entrepreneurs who start and run these businesses are skilled at spotting trends early and bringing them to their countries. Based in countries that generally have poor reputations as sources of innovative, high-technology products, but having established strong brands for themselves in their home markets, they are struggling with the challenge of entering export markets with products and services that can achieve global, or at least regional, recognition. The studies of the companies discussed here suggest that ECE firms are still in the early stages of this strategic shift.

Outsourcing in Knowledge-Based Service Firms

This paper reports on empirical work recently conducted on outsourcing among knowledge-based and other service firms in Iceland. The results show that knowledge-based firms outsource on a larger scale and more human resource functions than other service firms. However, they do not have a more strategic vision towards outsourcing, nor do they outsource more low knowledge-based activities than other firms. The study gives support to the resource-based view of the firm, and is in line with former studies of knowledge-based firms. The firms in the survey tend to keep their core competencies and employees in-house, and at the same time they outsource other functions that they consider non-core, such as peripheral and administrative tasks, or IT that requires technical specialization. The more innovative firms rely on outsourcing from best in class suppliers regarding training and counselling. The contribution of this study to the theory of outsourcing is that the non-routine tacit knowledge base related to firms’ core competencies is not limited to knowledge-based firms, but to a large portion of service firms as well.

The adoption of new and innovative knowledge by small and medium enterprises of Iran: Opportunities and constraints for growth

The purpose of this article was to explore the capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in absorbing and managing knowledge as a prior condition to innovations and entrepreneurial growth. Drawing the findings from more than 1,500 SME owners/ managers of the ICT sector in Iran, across regular quarterly Small Enterprise Research (SER) team surveys and from other large scale studies, this article examined the effects of experiential and formal knowledge on the development of SMEs absorptive capacity. The mixed method (explanatory type) was used as the research method. There were significant effects, such as age, education and size (of what) influence SME acquisition and assimilation of knowledge. Primarily, it was the small firms with 15 employees or less that had the capacity to absorb and use new knowledge, especially those with higher educational levels and cleared growth objectives. These firms were not startups, but tend to be younger firms with younger founders. Given the main policy aim, of what, was the development of clusters and knowledge-based firms, policy makers should focus on SMEs that are recently started by graduates or people with technical qualifications. As such, educators need to develop technology and innovation management programmes for these firms. This article made an important contribution to the identification of priorities for public SME development support and areas where business schools and enterprise trainers could maximize their economic and developmental impact. Key words: Innovation, entrepreneurialism, knowledge management, small enterprises research paper.

Location decisions of knowledge-based entrepreneurs: Why some Catalan KISAs choose to be rural?

Entrepreneurship has currently become an important element of economic development and innovation policy. In this context, the promotion of knowledge-based firms has become the norm, even in rural areas. Thus, the study presented in this paper analyses the variables that influence the choice of location made by rural and urban knowledge intensive service activity firms (KISA, hereafter). The results of the quantitative study allows for important policy making recommendations, but also offers significant contributions for entrepreneurship and regional development researchers, as well as practical insights for entrepreneurs.

Promoting Regional Entrepreneurship through University, Government, and Industry Alliances: Initiatives from Florida's High Tech Corridor

Universities, industry and governments have shared interests that provide incentives for actively managed, mutually beneficial, economic development alliances. Benefits from these alliances include enriched entrepreneurship capital and support for knowledge-based startups and high-impact firms. Regions realizing these outcomes can expect enhanced economic outcomes like job creation, better wages, and higher innovation rates. Aside from prior research demonstrating how tech transfer processes promote innovation and high-tech business formation, little is known about other types of university alliance initiatives and how they contribute to economic development. We seek to describe several university alliances linking partners in academia, industry and government aimed at promoting entrepreneurship capital and high-impact firms. First, we describe research that provides justification for university alliances as a means of promoting regional economic development. We then describe five university alliance initiatives, and provide examples of how each has enriched the region encompassed within the Florida High Tech Corridor.

Policy forum: A trans-Keynesian vision of innovation for the contemporary economic crisis: 'picking winners' revisited

We argue that the current economic crisis is a fault line in the transition from an industrial to a knowledge-based society and is thus potentially subject to a different set of dynamics than previous crises, like the Great Depression of the 1930s, which occurred within an existing mode of production. A qualitatively different response is needed to address the current downturn: one that puts in place new drivers for long-term knowledge-based economic renewal and growth. Keynesian methods, are no longer sufficient. Large-scale targeted government intervention in the innovation system and support to knowledge-based firms, technologies, products and services are required to compensate for declining innovation support from the private sector and boost economic growth. ‘Picking winners’ approaches that proved successful during World War II and afterwards need to be revisited, to hasten recovery from the current economic crisis and manage the transition to a knowledge-based regime. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Proximity to knowledge sources and the location of knowledge-based start-ups

We use detailed longitudinal data on firms, human capital and universities to study the impact of geographical proximity to knowledge sources and local absorptive capacity on the regional location of knowledge-based start-ups. Using municipalities as the regional unit of analysis, we examine the influence of the regional distribution of universities, yearly numbers of students and graduates, and workforce education on new start-up numbers. We estimate models of regional entry using zero inflated negative binomial regression. We find that local access to knowledge and human capital significantly influences entry by knowledge-based firms into regions, after controlling for other regional-level variables.

Does Patent Strategy Shape the Long-Run Supply of Public Knowledge? Evidence from Human Genetics

Knowledge-based firms seeking competitive advantage often draw on the public knowledge stream (ideas embedded in public commons institutions) as the foundation for private knowledge (ideas firms pr...

Value Creation in Knowledge-Based Firms: Aligning Problems and Resources

Executive Overview The best known framework for analyzing value creation is the value chain, which shows how to align resources and activities to convert raw materials into finished products and deliver them to markets. The value chain model works well for firms that produce and sell standardized goods and services through a sequential, routine chain of activities. It does not, however, offer guidance to knowledge-based firms that do not manufacture and sell goods. Such firms and units, including those in architecture, law, health care, and even energy exploration (which we studied), can be modeled using the “value shop” approach, one that creates customer value by applying knowledge and technology to solve unique problems. We build on the value shop model by identifying resources firms require for problem solving (knowledge base, value attached to knowledge, networks, and technical and managerial systems) and by examining how those resources are aligned, and realigned, into bundles to match specific problems and the firms' strategies, to enhance problem solving and value creation. Guidelines for achieving such alignments are provided.

Enhancing the Role of Universities in Building National Innovative Capacity in Asia: The Case of Taiwan

Taiwan has already demonstrated how a Newly Industrializing Economy can build an export-oriented manufacturing system driven by catch-up strategies linked to knowledge leverage via public institutions. In the 1990s, Taiwan moved toward building its innovative capacity, and in the 2000s it is drastically upgrading the role of universities in providing fundamental R&D, in acting as incubators of new, knowledge-based firms, and in building the country’s innovative potential through IP protection and commercializing activities. This study examines how these new approaches are being implemented in three universities, in National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), National Tsing Hua University (NTHU)—both located in the Hsinchu high-tech belt—and National Taiwan University (NTU) located in the Taipei metropolitan area, as well as in the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). ITRI has been the engine that drives Taiwan’s technological upgrading, and continues its role through new emphases on patenting and entrepreneurial technology transfer.

Enhancing competencies in high technology companies: a Brazilian knowledge-based cluster

Knowledge-Based (KB) firms are playing a fundamental role to the economic development of regions and countries. Based on many international experiences, a series of governmental programmes and policies has been undertaken in Brazil aiming at supporting the development of KB companies and clusters. These companies focus on new product and process development and emphasise partnership, mainly with universities and other companies in the same cluster. To investigate the relationship among KB companies and the local innovative capacity, the adopted methodological approach encompasses secondary data collection; exploratory study and case studies. The map of competitive environment was based on secondary data collection and analysis. An exploratory study has been performed to find the main characteristics of entrepreneurs and firms through interviews with enterprises owners, researchers and also the coordinator of the local Science Park. Finally, three case studies were done in companies located in a region of Sao Paulo state.

The mismanagement of talent: employability and jobs in the knowledge economy

The knowledge economy conjures a world of smart people, in smart jobs, doing smart things, in smart ways, for smart money, a world increasingly open to all rather than a few. Glossy corporate brochures present a future in challenging, exciting and financially rewarding jobs for the winners in the competition for fast track management appointments. They also convey an image of enlightened employers actively seeking to diversify their talent pool, reflected in their approach to identifying, hiring and retaining outstanding talent. We are told that the challenge confronting governments around the world is to enhance the employability of the workforce. Every effort must be made to expand access to higher education, dismantle barriers to talent regardless of social circumstances, gender, or skin colour, and to harness human creativity and enterprise to meet the demands of the new economy. The Mismanagement of Talent comes to a different conclusion. Those leaving the world of mass higher education find themselves in a scramble for jobs with rising stakes for the winners and losers. The Mismanagement of Talent examines what determines the outcome of this race when a degree loses its badge of distinction. It shows how some graduates are playing 'the game' to win a competitive advantage and what really happens in the selection events of leading-edge employers. It also argues that talent is being mismanaged by employers that have yet to come to terms with the realities and possibilities of mass higher education. The Mismanagement of Talent will be thought-provoking and controversial reading for those involved in the recruitment of graduates, and those concerned with the way knowledge-based firms recruit and the impact of higher education policy: Professionals working in university careers services, HRM, training, or recruitment generally; Researchers, academics, or students of Business and Management, Human Resource Management, Public Policy, Education, or Sociology; and Job candidates themselves - the 'players' and 'purists' described in the book.

Do University policies make a difference?

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the technical universities have been more successful in facilitating the spillover and commercialization of knowledge. We compare the impact of technical and general universities on the performance of knowledge-based firms. Based on a unique data set consisting of publicly held high technology firms, the empirical evidence suggests that, in fact, firm performance is not influenced by the type of university. Technical universities do not have a differential impact on firm performance from more general universities.