Knowledge-intensive Business Services Research Articles

A tension-based maturity model for customer education in knowledge-intensive business service firms

Although B2B marketing scholars have long emphasized the importance of customer education (CEd), there is still limited understanding of how knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) firms can effectively develop advanced CEd programs. We propose that studying the tensions that arise in CEd can provide an insightful angle to understand this issue. In a longitudinal multiple case study, we uncover ten intra-organizational tensions, seven inter-organizational tensions in CEd, and the successful responses to these tensions, aligned to the tenets of either paradox theory or dialectical theory. Our findings indicate the instances that require the confrontational approach suggested by dialectical theory, while also highlighting the inherently paradoxical tensions in CEd that necessitate thoughtful management. Based on these tensions, we developed a tension-based CEd maturity model explaining the differences in sophistication and effectiveness between CEd programs. This model provides insights into the challenges of building mature CEd programs and can constitute a useful tool for the categorization of KIBS firms based on their CEd proficiency. We offer fine-grained recommendations to the managers of KIBS firms found at each stage in the maturity model.

KIBS Clustering, digital financial inclusion, and economic growth quality

This paper explores the effects of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) clustering and digital financial inclusion on economic growth quality as well as their synergistic interactions. The results indicate that KIBS clustering positively impacts growth quality but excessive clustering can lead to resource competition that hinders development. Digital financial inclusion mitigates this negative effect by improving financing access, thus enhancing KIBS clustering's positive impact. The heterogeneity analysis reveals significant differences in these effects between core and peripheral cities, with smaller cities relying more on their synergistic effects for high-quality economic development.

Productivity and growth decomposition: a novel single-index smooth-coefficient stochastic frontier approach

Abstract Our paper investigates productivity, output growth and total factor productivity (TFP) growth using a novel single-index smooth-coefficient stochastic frontier approach and two firm-level datasets respectively from the high technology (high-tech) manufacturing and Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) sectors in Norway. The approach considers input productivity and technical inefficiency to be flexible functions of production environmental variables indexed with unknown parameters for more precise estimation of marginal effects of these variables on the frontier and inefficiency. Output growth is decomposed into technical change (TC), input-driven component (IDC) and efficiency change (EC), while TFP growth is decomposed into TC, scale component and EC. The primary objective is to (i) maximise output through the frontier and efficiency channels and (ii) enhance productivity growth through such channels as technical progress and efficiency improvement, specifically tailored for the manufacturing and services industries. The empirical results reveal substantial heterogeneity in technology across firms. Overall speaking, geographical industrial concentration, export intensity and urbanisation positively influence output in both sectors. Technical progress contributes to TFP growth in both sectors; however, TC is biased towards capital in the high-tech sector and driven by labour in the KIBS sector. In addition to TC, TFP growth in the high-tech and KIBS sectors also benefits from EC and IDC, respectively.

Rethinking the Role of Knowledge Sharing on Organizational Performance in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services

AbstractWhen implementing the knowledge-based view on organizations, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the organizational performance. Current research on organizational performance is often fragmented into partial facets leaving the complexity of this domain out of picture. The aim of the paper is to examine the relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational performance, comprising innovativeness, market efficiency, and financial performance. We used partial least squares structural equation modelling on profit-oriented organizations in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). The sample consists of 237 observations based on a two-round questionnaire survey, which was distributed to randomly selected companies in the Czech Republic. The results suggest that knowledge sharing between managers and employees enhances organizational performance. Organizations with such kind of knowledge sharing nurture both horizontal and vertical information flow, which in turn fosters innovativeness. Sharing knowledge as a part of work duties are key activities to increase market efficiency and innovativeness. Conversely, the model indicates that despite developing collectivism through sharing best practices and feedback, there is a minimal impact of knowledge sharing on financial performance.

Does Cooperation with Universities and Knowledge Intensive Business Services Matter? Firm-level Evidence from Spain

This manuscript contributes to the literature on firm cooperation with universities and Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) by framing the analysis according to the literature on causal effects, comparing the effect of each of the agents and exploring which firms benefit the most from cooperation with a specific partner. The results have shown that the bias-adjusted effect is around a 27-30% increase in sales from new products for both types of partners. After covariates and fixed effects are used, it is considered unlikely that this effect is driven by time-varying unobservable factors. Moreover, we have seen that firms that benefit the most from cooperation with universities are different from those firms that benefit the most from cooperation with KIBS.

R&D investments in knowledge intensive sectors in developing countries and the role of host country political uncertainty

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) persistently navigate environments characterized by political uncertainty. Yet, it is unclear how such uncertainty affects the location and sectoral spread of MNEs' overseas research and development (R&D) investments. This study delves into the influence of political uncertainty on R&D investments within knowledge‐intensive sectors, particularly in developing nations, thus enhancing our understanding of the contextual variables at play. Using a unique data set of MNE greenfield R&D global investment projects over the period 2003–2019, we show that political uncertainty has a negative effect on R&D capital investments. Additionally, we explore sector and host country location‐specific boundary conditions that moderate this relationship and find support for our hypotheses. Our findings show that MNE R&D investments in science‐based sectors (SBS) and knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS) sectors in developing countries are less susceptible to political uncertainty compared to developed countries. Our results call for more attention from MNEs' managers and policymakers to political developments in their investing countries.

The impact of social ties on balanced vs combined innovation: the role of dynamic capabilities and innovation climate in knowledge-intensive business services firms

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of business ties, political ties and dynamic capabilities on balanced and combined ambidextrous innovation within the knowledge-intensive business services sector using the dynamic capability view framework. It explores the mediation role of dynamic capabilities in the relationship between business and political tie with these forms of innovation. In addition, it examines how innovation climate moderates the relationship between dynamic capabilities and ambidextrous innovation. Design/methodology/approach Multilevel analysis was conducted on 520 individuals from 61 KIBSs firms in the UAE using AMOS 26. Findings Results showed that BT indirectly affect both balanced and combined AI, with a greater impact on combined innovation. However, DCs did not significantly mediate the relationship between PT and AI. In addition, the IC was found to moderate the effects of DCs on both types of AI, with a stronger effect on combined innovation. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the importance of DCs and climate in the context of innovation and ambidexterity and by advancing the understanding of how these capabilities and organizational factors promote superior innovation.

How do knowledge-intensive business services improve innovation? A resource-based model for antecedents of innovation in a developing country

Purpose Firms strive to find new ways of boosting value creation through integrating knowledge for innovation. Open innovation has altered this quest for excellence and, accordingly, this study aims to investigate the antecedents and enablers of innovation performance in firms belonging to a knowledge-intensive service sector of a developing country. Design/methodology/approach As such, data were gathered through a survey approach, targeting telecom service firms in Pakistan. Hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares technique. Measurement and structural models were assessed following the recommended two-stage procedure. Findings Results showed that knowledge sourcing and customer engagement impact the innovation performance of firms, whereas transformational leadership, knowledge sourcing and customer engagement are linked to innovation with the mediating effect of absorptive capacity. Practical implications This research helps to improve the innovation management practices of the firms belonging to this important sector and thus enables them to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through building their absorptive capabilities. Originality/value Knowledge-intensive business services are largely excluded from the great debate on open innovation so far, with a few exceptions. This research proposes and tests a model of enablers of open innovation that contributes toward improving the innovation performance of telecom firms in a developing country.

Digital servitization strategies and business model innovation: The role of knowledge-intensive business services

Several studies on digital servitization strategies highlight that their implementation is closely associated with some form of business model innovation. In order to engage in these innovation projects, firms need to expand their internal knowledge and skills while leveraging external organizations that support them in their servitization journey. To date, little is known about the intra-organizational factors accounting for the activation of new relationships with such knowledge-intensive service providers. This paper adopts a configurational approach for investigating the role of knowledge-intensive relationships in digital servitization strategies. Findings are founded on a multi-method investigation based on a structured survey and semi-structured interviews to Italian B2B manufacturers. The study contributes to the digital servitization literature showing the conditions that lead firms to develop relationships with different types of external providers of knowledge-intensive services, highlighting the role of firm’s size, digital readiness, internal commitment, and specific hiring programs in digital servitization paths.

Knowledge-intensive business services and new venture growth: A sub-national analysis based on complexity theory

The significance of economic complexity in fostering extensive entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized. However, previous research has largely overlooked how economic complexity impacts intensive entrepreneurship, particularly the role of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in this process. This study addresses this gap by analyzing over 12,000 observations from all 47 regions of Japan between 2006 and 2017. Our findings reveal that KIBS complexity significantly promotes new venture growth through three key mechanisms: improved financial access, enhanced professional services, and increased innovation opportunities. Furthermore, we find that the positive effects of KIBS complexity are especially strong in industries with high complexity and in urbanized regions. This study makes several contributions: it refines the analysis of economic complexity to the sub-national level, introduces a micro-level perspective to the literature on economic complexity, and connects KIBS with the intensive margin of entrepreneurship through the complexity lens.

User Communities: The Missing Link to Foster KIBS’ Innovation

In today’s knowledge-driven economy, collaboration among stakeholders is essential for the framing of innovative trends, with knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) playing a core role in addressing market demand. Users’ involvement in shaping products and services has been considered in innovation ecosystem frameworks. Fewer risks in service/product development, and more sustainability and market acceptance, are a few of the benefits arising from including the user community (UC) in innovation partnerships. However, the need for resources, absorptive capacity and tacit knowledge, among other capabilities, is often a reason for overlooking this important contributor. KIBS possess a vast knowledge base, cater to digital tools, and mediate and propel innovation with different partners, benefiting from exclusive cognitive proximity to remix extant knowledge with emergent information from communities into new products and services. The aim of this study is to assess and quantify the effect of the collaboration with UC through three active forms of collaboration (co-creation, mass customization, and personalization) on different innovation types developed in KIBS. The significance of the user community was proven across all innovation types. Robustness analysis confirmed the results for both P-KIBS and T-KIBS. P-KIBS may be better suited to co-creation policies for product and service innovation, personalization of processes, and organizational and marketing innovations. T-KIBS can focus on mass customization, ensuring good innovation success. Additionally, co-creation with user community is best for product innovation.

KIBS deepening and manufacturers’ productivity: the moderating role of absorptive capacity

ABSTRACT The outcomes from the associations between manufacturers and knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) with consequences at the firm and regional levels have been called territorial servitisation. This article explores whether the effect of regional KIBS deepening on productivity growth is dependent on minimum levels of manufacturers’ absorptive capacity. An econometric analysis was carried out using a threshold regression model of 125 Brazilian manufacturers collected from 2010 to 2017. Results indicate that KIBS deepening on its own does not bring productivity benefits. Manufacturers may collect positive gains if they are endowed with high levels of absorptive capacity.

Designing Knowledge Strategies

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to analyze how managers should design the company’s knowledge strategies. That is a new dimension of knowledge management and it can be performed by using design thinking and the theory of knowledge fields and knowledge dynamics. The analysis is based on a critical literature review and on the known-unknowm matrix developed at the individual level and then extended at the company’s level. Knowledge strategies deals with the intangible resources of any organization and becomes more important in the knowledge intensive business services (KIBS). Designing knowledge strategies follows a different approach than that known for business strategies. Their purpose is to design a thinking framework in the absence of knowledge that generates uncertainty and psychological difficulties in making decisions. Knowledge strategies do not follow the Porter’s principle of competitive advantage, but they are designed following the known-unknown dynamics within an organization. From designing thinking perspective, they adopt abductive thinking instead of induction or deduction. The main categories of knowledge strategies resulting from the known-unknown dynamics are knowledge exploitation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing and knowledge exploration. Knowledge exploitation aims to use efficiently all the available knowledge within an organization; knowledge sharing implies a process of increasing the knowledge entropy of a given team or organization that leads towards increasing innovation; knowledge exploration aims at reducing the absence of knowledge by creating new knowledge. Knowledge exploration reduces the uncertainty and increases chances for better decisions.

Location choice of foreign direct investment in technical KIBS in China: impact of human capital and intellectual property rights protection

PurposeThis study considers the “technology creation” characteristic of technical knowledge-intensive business services (T-KIBS) and examines how human capital and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection affect the location choice of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China for two types of T-KIBS: (1) information transmission, software and information technology (ICT) services and (2) scientific research and technology (SCI) services.Design/methodology/approachOur empirical analysis is based on panel data on 22 Chinese provinces from 2009 to 2017. We use the generalized method of moments estimation for the regression analysis.FindingsFDI in ICT services prefers regions with high human capital, while FDI in SCI services favors regions with good IPR protection.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could use more comprehensive data and qualitative interviews to enhance the findings.Practical implicationsThese findings provide a foundation for China’s future policy on attracting FDI into T-KIBS, especially in areas related to human capital and IPR protection.Originality/valueThis study bridges the research gap on the FDI location choice of T-KIBS in China by clarifying the influences of human capital and IPR protection and providing theoretical support for the location choice of T-KIBS FDI.

Estimating the influence of KIBS spillovers through the knowledge production function and the role of international trade

A research gap exists regarding how research and development (R&D) expenditures contribute to the generation of innovative spillovers through knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), particularly within the manufacturing and business services subsectors. These spillovers have a networking effect on innovation products in the manufacturing and services subsectors, as captured by the knowledge production function (KPF). The study proposes a two-stage model for analyzing the elasticities of production and economies of scale that arise from estimating singular knowledge production functions within a regional trade system. This model is tested for the case of the trade agreement of the United States, Mexico, and Canada (USMCA). The main results express that R&D expenditures embodied in KIBS spillovers have a significant effect on the generation of innovation outputs, in each of the USMCA countries and, reveal increasing returns to scale. Also, KPF elasticities, for the capital and the labor variables, proved to be inelastic and exhibited constant returns to scale. Additionally, the different estimates in each one of the USMCA countries expose diverse technologies of scale among the three countries.

Identifying the Role of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services in the Korean Economy as a Sustainable Innovation Tool Using Input–Output Analysis

This study aimed to determine the role of KIBSs as a tool for sustainable innovation in a country’s economic system. Specifically, the degree and role of their impact on the Korean economy were analyzed and compared for the entire KIBS sector, T-KIBSs (a new technology-based professional service), P-KIBSs (a traditional professional service), and every subsector. For this purpose, the demand inducement model, supply inducement model, and interlinkage effects method were applied using the 2019 input–output table published in 2022. The analysis showed that the indirect production inducement effect of the entire KIBS industry on other industries was KRW 0.800, the indirect added value inducement effect was KRW 0.330, and the supply disruption effect was KRW 1.144. For T-KIBS, the indirect production inducement effect was KRW 0.687, the indirect added value inducement effect was KRW 0.272, and the supply disruption effect was KRW 0.730. For P-KIBSs, the indirect production inducement effect was KRW 1.472, the indirect added value inducement effect was KRW 0.646, and the supply disruption effect was KRW 2.657. Finally, regarding the economic ripple effect of the KIBS subsector, legal and management support services and advertisements corresponding to P-KIBSs showed higher figures than the T-KIBS subsectors in all sectors, including production inducement, the added value inducement effect, and the supply disruption effect. These results revealed that in the South Korean economic system, KIBSs contribute to production and value addition across all industrial sectors. It is apparent that the absence of supply significantly disrupts other industries. Furthermore, production inducement effects are evenly distributed among all the KIBS subsectors in the secondary and tertiary sectors, while the value-added effects have a greater impact on the tertiary sector. In terms of the supply shortage effects, the secondary sector experiences a more significant impact. This underscores the crucial role of KIBSs in sustaining and enhancing overall economic activity in South Korea.

The Spatial Pattern and Influencing Factors of Urban Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: A Case Study of Wuhan Metropolitan Area, China

The Spatial Pattern and Influencing Factors of Urban Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: A Case Study of Wuhan Metropolitan Area, China

Technological learning in natural resources-based activities: the role of idiosyncratic knowledge and knowledge intensive business services

Technological learning in natural resources-based activities: the role of idiosyncratic knowledge and knowledge intensive business services

Geographical research on knowledge-intensive business services: Advances and prospects

Geographical research on knowledge-intensive business services: Advances and prospects

Exporting Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS): Innovation and Complementary Factors

Exporting Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS): Innovation and Complementary Factors