Knowledge In Innovation Process Research Articles

Research on scientific knowledge evolution patterns based on ego-centered fine-granularity citation network

A deep comprehension of the development of scientific knowledge is necessary to properly appreciate technological advancement and the process of knowledge innovation. However, fine-grained citation networks are less frequently utilized to characterize the evolution of scientific knowledge. To bridge this gap, we first constructed the fine-grained citation networks based on the PubMed and Web of Science (WOS) databases, then extracted the ego-centered networks of scientific knowledge, and finally employed Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) to analyze the factors influencing the formation of Ego-centered Fine-granularity Citation Networks (EFCNs), taking into account the endogenous network structure and exogenous knowledge attribute variables. The results reveal that both types of variables play pivotal roles in the evolution of scientific knowledge. Furthermore, we found that (1) the in-degree and the out-degree centrality have a positive effect on knowledge evolution, respectively, in the 98.5 % and 99.9 % sample networks, while the clustering coefficient only has a positive effect on the edge formation of the 6.8 % sample network at the 0.05 significance level. (2) The citation behavior and domain impact of authors positively influence the scientific knowledge evolution, respectively, in the 63.2 % and 78.3 % sample networks. (3) There is a tendency to form citation relationships between scientific knowledge units of similar age in 67.1 % of the sample networks. (4) There is a greater possibility of developing a citation relationship between scientific knowledge with the same journal impact rank and knowledge type. Our findings indicate that the evolution of scientific knowledge is influenced not only by the process of scholarly communication but also by self-organizing mechanisms at the fine granularity level.

Knowledge-Driven Manufacturing Process Innovation: A Case Study on Problem Solving in Micro-Turbine Machining.

Micromachining techniques have been applied widely to many industrial sectors, including aerospace, automotive, and precision instruments. However, due to their high-precision machining requirements, and the knowledge-intensive characteristics of miniaturized parts, complex manufacturing process problems often hinder production. To solve these problems, a systematic scheme for structured micromachining process problem solving and an innovation support system is required. This paper presents a knowledge-based holistic framework that enables process planners to achieve micromachining innovation design. By analyzing innovation design procedures and available knowledge sources, an open multi-source Machining Process Innovation Knowledge (MPIK) acquisition paradigm is presented, including knowledge units and a knowledge network. Further, a MPIK network-driven structured process problem-solving and heuristic innovation design method was explored. Subsequently, a knowledge-driven heuristic design system for machining process innovation was integrated in the Computer-Aided Process Innovation (CAPI) platform. Finally, a case study involving specific process problem-solving and innovation scheme design for micro-turbine machining was studied to validate the proposed approach.

Governing smart mobility: policy instrumentation, technological utopianism, and the administrative quest for knowledge

This article analyzes administrative practices in relation to the emergence of novel technologies. “Smart mobility” is an umbrella term used to denote the potentially disruptive changes in the transport sector relating to automatization, digitalization, and the platform economy. While this development is largely driven by industry, public administrations are engaging in a number of processes where they seek to obtain knowledge while regulating the development of, for example, autonomous vehicles. The aim of this article was to study how administrative practices of governing create, delimit and constitute smart mobility as a governable object. This is done by analyzing the policy instruments deployed by public administrations to obtain and disseminate knowledge in innovation processes, with the aim of controlling its development. The analysis shows that public administrators utilize four main categories of policy instruments: pilots, standards, scenarios, and collaboration. By developing scenarios, following pilots and collaborating with a variety of stakeholders, the administrations are not only tapping into newly produced knowledge and learning about the potential impact of these technological novelties, these processes are also creating and delimiting smart mobility as an object to be governed.

Integrating civil society into regional innovation systems - a social foresight lab approach

In this article, we address the challenge of embedding local knowledge in non-spatially defined innovation systems. We argue that this can be achieved via the inclusion of local civil society in innovation processes. The local population has knowledge of local challenges and potential, and is capable of developing locally relevant ideas. Embedding this knowledge in innovation processes requires a special set of methods that enable local actors to gain access to innovation processes and develop ideas, formulate challenges and identify potential opportunities on equal footing with other innovation actors. In this paper, we present such an approach in the form of a social foresight lab, as used in the context of technology transfer in rural areas to facilitate the identification of local challenges and potential, the collaborative development of ideas, and the regional embedding of non-spatially defined innovation processes. The principles underlying the above are experimentation, collaboration and real-world embeddedness.

Integrating civil society into regional innovation systems - a social foresight lab approach

In this article, we address the challenge of embedding local knowledge in non-spatially defined innovation systems. We argue that this can be achieved via the inclusion of local civil society in innovation processes. The local population has knowledge of local challenges and potential, and is capable of developing locally relevant ideas. Embedding this knowledge in innovation processes requires a special set of methods that enable local actors to gain access to innovation processes and develop ideas, formulate challenges and identify potential opportunities on equal footing with other innovation actors. In this paper, we present such an approach in the form of a social foresight lab, as used in the context of technology transfer in rural areas to facilitate the identification of local challenges and potential, the collaborative development of ideas, and the regional embedding of non-spatially defined innovation processes. The principles underlying the above are experimentation, collaboration and real-world embeddedness.

University and Practice – Cooperation in Research and Science: Case study of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> Besides their educational and research functions, universities are currently essential for dissemination of knowledge in innovation processes, thus affecting the economic and social development of their environments. The formalized cooperation of the Slovak University of Agriculture (SUA) in Nitra and its partners in research and science was examined in this context.</p><p><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> Formal cooperation of the university with working life partners in terms of their sectoral and geographic affiliation was analyzed in the paper. The Central Register of Contracts and the SUA Internal Register of Contracts were used as principal sources of data. Based on interviews and selected studies conducted in the Slovak Republic we further focused on identification of barriers to the transfer of the results of research into practice.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> The paper confirmed cognitive and spatial proximity between SUA and its partners. The sectoral focus of the partners is closely related to the profile of the university. From the spatial point of view, more significant concentration of SUA partners in the region of Western Slovakia was confirmed. We identified several barriers to the transfer of the results of scientific research activities from the university environment into practical life.</p><p><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> We conducted research on the example of one university, thus it is not possible to generalize the results.</p><strong>Originality/Value of paper:</strong> The paper analyzes the collaboration of the University in science and research with partners in practical life and identifies weaknesses and barriers to this cooperation.

Selected aspects of innovation of companies functioning in the countries of the European Union

In the publication, the Author discusses two issues: the essence of innovations and their role in the development of enterprises and the increase of their competitiveness together with empirical aspects of the level of innovation described by three measures – universali-ty of introducing innovations, the influence of introduced innovations on turnover of en-terprises, universality of conducting research and development, treated as a source of knowledge in innovation processes. The results of the study indicate a relatively low and varied level of these measures in the enterprises from the EU Member States.

An Integrated Open Approach to Capturing Systematic Knowledge for Manufacturing Process Innovation Based on Collective Intelligence

Process innovation plays a vital role in the manufacture realization of increasingly complex new products, especially in the context of sustainable development and cleaner production. Knowledge-based innovation design can inspire designers’ creative thinking; however, the existing scattered knowledge has not yet been properly captured and organized according to Computer-Aided Process Innovation (CAPI). Therefore, this paper proposes an integrated approach to tackle this non-trivial issue. By analyzing the design process of CAPI and technical features of open innovation, a novel holistic paradigm of process innovation knowledge capture based on collective intelligence (PIKC-CI) is constructed from the perspective of the knowledge life cycle. Then, a multi-source innovation knowledge fusion algorithm based on semantic elements reconfiguration is applied to form new public knowledge. To ensure the credibility and orderliness of innovation knowledge refinement, a collaborative editing strategy based on knowledge lock and knowledge–social trust degree is explored. Finally, a knowledge management system MPI-OKCS integrating the proposed techniques is implemented into the pre-built CAPI general platform, and a welding process innovation example is provided to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. It is expected that our work would lay the foundation for the future knowledge-inspired CAPI and smart process planning.

Firms’ Absorptive Capacity for Research-Based Collaboration—an Analysis of a Norwegian R&D Brokering Policy Program

The objective of this article is to explore how policy supported instruments aimed to stimulate research-based innovation influence long-term innovation activity in firms with different knowledge bases. In an effort to contribute to the renewal of existing industry, some policies aim to stimulate firms to adopt and apply research-based knowledge in innovation processes. This article includes a qualitative study of a specific ‘R&D brokering policy instrument’ in Norway aimed at increasing R&D-based innovation processes in firms. R&D brokering policy instruments include funding schemes that are designed to foster and transfer technology and knowledge between firms and research communities. The study shows that the absorptive capacity for R&D collaboration varies depending upon the dominant knowledge base of firms. It is well-acknowledged that no policy fits all regions. This study also implicates that no R&D brokering policy instrument fits all industries equally well.

Manufacturing Process Innovation-Oriented Knowledge Evaluation Using MCDM and Fuzzy Linguistic Computing in an Open Innovation Environment

In today’s complex, constantly evolving and innovation-supporting manufacturing systems, knowledge plays a vital role in sustainable manufacturing process planning and problem-solving, especially in the case of Computer-Aided Process Innovation (CAPI). To obtain formalized and promising process innovation knowledge under the open innovation paradigm, it is necessary to evaluate candidate knowledge and encourage improvement suggestions based on actual innovation situations. This paper proposes a process innovation-oriented knowledge evaluation approach using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) and fuzzy linguistic computing. Firstly, a comprehensive hierarchy evaluation index system for process innovation knowledge is designed. Secondly, by combining an analytic hierarchy process with fuzzy linguistic computing, a comprehensive criteria weighting determination method is applied to effectively aggregate the evaluation of criteria weights for each criterion and corresponding sub-criteria. Furthermore, fuzzy linguistic evaluations of performance ratings for each criterion and corresponding sub-criteria are calculated. Thus, a process innovation knowledge comprehensive value can be determined. Finally, an illustrative example of knowledge capture, evaluation and knowledge-inspired process problem solving for micro-turbine machining is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach. It is expected that our model would lay the foundation for knowledge-driven CAPI in sustainable manufacturing.

The effects of IT and open innovation strategies on innovation and financial performances in the banking sector

This paper deals with the effects IT and open innovation strategies have on innovation and financial performances in the Serbian banking sector, using the case study method based on qualitative and quantitative data. The research results point to the need for introducing the concept of open innovation in the banking sector i.e. to adequately incorporate external knowledge in innovation processes using appropriate technologies. Employees and established partnerships with key stakeholders are the two most significant sources for the generation and commercialization of radical innovations, while customers and other sources of knowledge acquisition allow the generation of various knowledge and ideas, and the creation of incremental innovations with the primary purpose of satisfying the end users of banking services, improving existing processes and service quality. To maximize utilization of resources from the open innovation model, the concluding paragraph contains recommendations for managers in the banking sector. The study may be useful for managers in the financial services, banking, IT sector and innovation management.

FINDING THE WAY TO AMBIDEXTERITY: EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN, KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND INNOVATION

Research suggests the firm's structural and contextual attributes that foster ambidexterity, but theory and testing on their combined effects on knowledge creation, ambidexterity and financial performance remain rather poor. By using a theoretical perspectives built on organisation design and the knowledge-based view of the firm, this article takes into consideration firms' exploration attainments and exploitation initiatives in relation to both their ability to create knowledge in innovation processes and their capacity to apply it into product innovation. Using data from a survey on 112 hi-tech firms in Italy, results show that organisational context attributes influence firm's degree of ambidexterity in knowledge creation in the innovation processes, but it does not have a direct influence on the actual degree of ambidexterity in innovation development. A fundamental condition to ambidexterity in innovation development is the structural separation of exploration and exploitation innovation initiatives. Specifically, we found that structural separation of these initiatives within the organisation directly affects ambidexterity and leads to higher sales growth than when firms achieve ambidexterity through an appropriate organisational context solely. These findings provide a rich explanation of the way firms develop ambidexterity and can obtain superior economic performance from it.

Knowledge Fusion Method of Process Contradiction Units for Process Innovation

Process contradiction unit, which is the basic element of the process contradiction matrix, is one kind of process innovation knowledge. Process contradiction unit is composed of process contradiction properties and process inventive principles. Through the knowledge accumulation, which is based on bilayer social wiki network, a large number of knowledge units can be obtained. However, because of the complexity of process innovation, the knowledge units can’t be used until them have been fused. In this case, how to fuse the discrete, rough knowledge into a single with all the wisdom of knowledge-contributors is the basic work of knowledge accumulation. A knowledge fusion method of process contradiction units by semantic extracting and semantic fusion is proposed in this paper. Finally, an illustrative example is used to demonstrate the applicability of the knowledge fusion method.

A knowledge accumulation approach based on bilayer social wiki network for computer-aided process innovation

Under the fierce competition, manufacturing companies pay more attention to innovation and the knowledge that enables innovation. Manufacturing process innovation is a knowledge-intensive activity, and efficient knowledge accumulation is the prerequisite and basis for computer-aided process innovation (CAPI). Hence, this research aims to build an open knowledge accumulation approach to obtain organised and refined process innovation knowledge (PIK). By considering the similarity of PIK network with biological neural network and combining the technical characteristics of social network with wiki, a novel PIK accumulation schema based on bilayer social wiki network is proposed. In social wiki network environment, PIK is accumulated in public knowledge space through participants’ social interactions and knowledge activities. The process of knowledge fusion is investigated to form the preliminary knowledge containing collective intelligence, and the mechanisms of collaborative editing and collaborative evolution are studied to refine the knowledge. The outcomes of this study lay the foundation for knowledge application of CAPI. Finally, a case study is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach.

Collaborative Refinement Method for Process Innovation Knowledge Network

Accumulating a large number of process innovation knowledge (PIK) is the prerequisite and basis for process innovation.PIK can be gradually refined by using. Hence, how to ensure the correctness of the PIK collaborative refinement is the basic work of knowledge accumulation. This paperproposes a construction method of PIK network by the imitating of biological neural network, and arefinement methodof PIKby the imitating of neural stimulation conduction. Because the refining processes are iterative, the refinement of process innovation needsa specificeditingmechanism and control mechanism, which allow multi-userto engage in collaborative editing and protect the consistency of collaborative editing result. Using the refinement method of PIK,it is possible to convert the discrete, rough knowledge into a PIK network that can effectively solve the process problems.

The Knowledge Innovation Mechanism and Model Simulation in Contemporary Integrated Manufacturing System

In this paper, a knowledge innovation model of contemporary integrated manufacturing system based on knowledge innovation theory and theory of creative thinking was proposed. Based on the interaction of innovation group knowledge and individual thinking, the basic idea of the model revealed the knowledge relation and cognitive development of multidisciplinary knowledge and creative thinking within modern integrated manufacturing system and explained knowledge innovation process of integrated manufacturing system for heterogeneous integration. The simulation results proved that the interdisciplinary knowledge innovation model of contemporary integrated manufacturing system better explains the internal mechanism of multidisciplinary knowledge innovation process. The simulation results are displayed by the pictures and validated by thepractices.

The Study of Knowledge Innovation Based on Enterprise Knowledge Ecosystem

Knowledge Innovation is the ultimate driving force for enterprise development. Based on the principles of ecology, this article builds a model of Enterprise Knowledge Ecosystem, and based on the point of Enterprise Knowledge Ecosystem, does research on knowledge innovation process, aimed for providing a new thinking of knowledge innovation.

A Process Innovation Knowledge Management Framework and its Application

Process innovation can create new manufacturing technology or improve existing manufacturing technology by using a large number of process innovation knowledge. Hence, how to effectively organize process innovation knowledge and leverage it into practical application is crucial to process innovation from the holistic viewpoint. As of now there is a lack of a reasonable knowledge management framework and application mode for process innovation. To change this situation, a novel management framework of process innovation knowledge is proposed, according to the characteristics of process innovation and the role of knowledge in manufacturing problem-solving. Process innovation knowledge is composed of method knowledge and data knowledge so as to achieve knowledge’s rational application in the whole process of innovation. In this framework, four core knowledge activities are involved: knowledge acquisition, knowledge organization, knowledge application and knowledge accumulation. And a knowledge accumulating closed-loop containing new process knowledge could facilitate the implementation of subsequent process innovation. Finally, an application instance of welding process innovation is shown to illustrate the applicability of the proposed framework and the application processes of process innovation.

The Relative Efficiency of Knowledge Innovation Processes in EU Countries

The Relative Efficiency of Knowledge Innovation Processes in EU Countries

Territorial Knowledge Dynamics: Making a Difference to Territorial Innovation Models and Public Policy?

The concept of territorial knowledge dynamics (TKDs) has been introduced as an update to existing territorial innovation models (TIMs), questioning the focus of TIMs on technological innovation, as well as the traditional distinction between production and consumption. This paper considers whether the TKD concept can “make a difference” compared to traditional TIMs, in general, and, in particular, in relation to public policy played out at the regional level. This paper identifies three elements highlighted in the TKD concept, which have been introduced as additions to the literature on TIMs. These involve the necessity of acquiring a combination of different types of knowledge in innovation processes, establishing external relations and taking into consideration the complexity of producer and consumer relations. This paper analyses the role which has been assigned to the administrative region within the framework of three selected TIMs, the regional innovation system, clusters and the learning region, and the way in which policy has been implemented in regions in ways that relate to the three elements highlighted in the TKD concept. This paper suggests that the main way in which the TKD concept adds to existing TIMs is with its focus on active regional outreach, in establishing external relations and supporting producer–consumer relations. The TKD approach could be seen as a new “intermediate synthesis” in the ongoing process of the TIM concept development, much like the learning regions a decade earlier.