Role Of Knowledge-intensive Services Research Articles

Knowledge Intensive Smes In Transition To Society 4.0: Evidence From The Czech Republic

SMEs have significant role in the area of economy, social and environmental area and also in the areas of social and regional development. The dawn of the Society 4.0 driven by the exponential growth of performance of disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 is reinforcing the role of knowledge intensive services. University of West Bohemia in partnership with the Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice focused on the adaptation of this segment of businesses in the project „Knowledge-intensive services sector adaptation to the conditions of Society 4.0“, supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. The paper aims to attract attention of the broader community to the project findings and outcomes, to present main research outcomes related to adaptation of SMEs in the service sector, to introduce new insights and approaches to academic and professional community, especially to managers of companies undergoing the transformation process to Industry 4.0 and Society 4.0 conditions, and to raise the level of the knowledge base in the field of SMEs adaptation. The results of qualitative and quantitative research show that most of the companies that answered the questionnaire and participated in interviews were small and micro companies with positive approach to the forthcoming changes, however, there still remains a lot of space for improvement. Companies often use open innovation model to apply knowledge from external resources, as they miss the necessary capacities and face difficult access to financial resources for demanding investments in new technologies and, sometimes, lack of necessary competencies. Relatively low attention is paid to risk management, whose role in current volatile situations becomes extremely important and the company resilience often determines the company failure or success. The project contributed to development of proposals of activities, methods and tools that can contribute to reducing barriers on the road to Society 4.0 related not only to new technologies, but also to broader socioeconomic context, including transformations of jobs and job market. The unavoidable changes of the structure of economy, supply chains, education and training were further emphasized by covid pandemics and current war in Ukraine.

Knowledge intensive services in society 4.0

The contribution brings attention to the growing role of knowledge intensive services in the Society 4.0. Faculty of Economics of the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň joined forces with the Institute of Technology and Economics in České Budějovice in the project “Knowledge-intensive services sector adaptation to the conditions of Society 4.0” supported by the programme ÉTA of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. This contribution summarizes the research results of the completed first phase of the project: the development of two studies focused on identification, analysis and evaluation of methods and tools for knowledge intensive services adaptation and catalogue of requirements to competencies and skills to the changing jobs. Those studies were complemented by the questionnaire research among the relevant companies in Plzeň and South Bohemia regions followed by semi-structured interviews with managers of selected companies. The presented findings, observations, recommendations and feedback from business practice form the basis for the second phase of the project, which is focused on creating a methodology for adapting small and medium-sized enterprises in the services sector to the conditions of Society 4.0.

Usługi wiedzochłonne w stymulowaniu innowacyjności w Polsce

Celem artykulu jest zbadanie wplywu wspolpracy technologicznej z dostawcami, szczegolnie z uslugodawcami uslug wiedzochlonnych (KIS) na dzialalnośc innowacyjną przedsiebiorstw, oraz w konsekwencji, wskazanie znaczenia narzedzi polityki innowacyjnej stymulujących rozwoj KIS. W artykule analizuje sie wplyw wspolpracy technologicznej pomiedzy dostawcami KIS i odbiorcami w polskich sektorach produkcyjnych na prawdopodobienstwo udanych innowacji. W ramach dwuetapowego modelu ekonometrycznego – regresji HRM (hurdle regression model), wykorzystano dane jednostkowe pochodzące z polskiej wersji badania CIS 2008 (Community Innovation Survey). Stwierdzono, ze wspolpraca technologiczna z dostawcami statystycznie istotnie wplywa na dzialalnośc innowacyjną, zwiekszając zarowno prawdopodobienstwo dokonania innowacji, jak i udzial w przychodach ze sprzedazy wyrobow uzyskanych w efekcie innowacji w przychodach ogolem. Efekt ten jest wyzszy w sektorach, ktore bardziej intensywnie korzystają z KIS, tj. w ktorych wydatki na zakup uslug wiedzochlonnych stanowią wiekszą cześc kosztow dzialalności gospodarczej. Wnioskiem wynikającym z artykulu jest, ze polityka innowacyjna powinna sie koncentrowac na pośrednim stymulowaniu wykorzystania KIS w przedsiebiorstwach i organizacjach sektora publicznego (poprzez promowanie wspolpracy), co prowadzi do wzrostu konkurencyjności na poziomie mikroekonomicznym i regionalnym.

Utilization of knowledge intensive services for the innovation of manufacturers in Korea

Summary This study aims to explore and understand the role of knowledge intensive services (KISs) activities in the industrial innovation of Korea. It analyzes public and private service inputs to the innovation of manufacturers. The contribution of KISs to the innovation of both service suppliers and manufacturing firms was analyzed by using survey questionnaire. The results of the analysis revealed that the contribution of KISs to the innovation capability of manufacturing firms is significant in Korea. Large manufacturing firms that have internal capability to supply KISs are also active in using external KISs. The manufacturing firms that utilized KISs intensively proved to be more innovative than those did not. Heavy KISs users also entertained benefits of capability enhancement as they improved monitoring and achieved efficient application of knowledge asset into product and process innovation. The role of public KISs in the innovation of manufacturers appeared to be indirect and done mainly through education and public R&D activities. Direct input, such as public software service, was not utilized as much in service suppliers themselves. The major reason is that public KISs may not be relevant to their actual needs. Manufacturers have implemented both tighter integration of familiar KISs and loosely coupled unfamiliar KISs.