Agglomeration and innovation of knowledge intensive business services

ABSTRACT

For some time now, the research focusing on Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) has been very active. Observing that knowledge as a production factor is only becoming more and more pronounced, this focus is well-grounded. It is therefore important to examine how these knowledge-hubs gain and propagate their knowledge. We hypothesize that KIBS (as many other sectors) benefit from intra-industry knowledge spillovers facilitated by geographical concentration. Our focus is the innovative capacity of KIBS, which we measure through trademarks registered by KIBS firms. While there may be several mechanisms facilitating knowledge spillovers, we can identify local intra-sectoral labor mobility as one. Accessibility measures are used to assess the geographical attenuation of the spillover effects. Results show that the distance decay of spillovers is fast. Only local concentrations of KIBS seem to be of importance. Over longer distances, we instead observe negative consequences for trademarking, indicating possible spatial competition effects.     

The intervening effect of business innovation capability on the relationship between Total Quality Management and technological innovation

The growing diffusion and acceptance in the business world of Total Quality Management (TQM) has attracted greater interest on the part of academia. Although fundamental questions focus on how the different dimensions of TQM can bring about better business performance, a more recent recurring issue pertains to the relationship between TQM and technological innovation and whether technological innovation might provide a source of competitive advantage. Unfortunately, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, the relationship between TQM and technological innovation appears contradictory and complex. This paper argues that the relationship might be better understood from the contingent perspective of strategic management and thus proposes a multidimensional intervening variable in the relationship, called Business Innovation Capability (BIC). An empirical study of 105 Spanish industrial firms reveals that the effect of some business practices suggested by TQM on technological innovation can be better understood when BIC dimensions are taken into account.     

Evaluating China's regional collaboration innovation capability from the innovation actors perspective—An AHP and cluster analytical approach

Scholars began studying regional collaboration in China after the Chinese government proposed to vigorously promote regional collaboration innovation capabilities. However, most previous articles about regional innovation have focused on the input and output of innovation or the economic environment, social environment, and cultural environment. In addition, methodologically articles have tended to emphasize qualitative approached. Previous research also under-emphasize the role of government in China’s experience with regional innovation as well as the networked characteristics of regional innovation systems. This article contributes to existing scholarship by proposing a novel methodological approach that uses the AHP method to analyze the innovation activities of governments, universities, research institutes, and firms, and then uses cluster analysis to analyze the four actors of each region. The paper discusses the findings using this improved analytical approach as well as the implications for future research and policy and decision-making in order to improve the performance of regional innovation systems.     

Conventional and less conventional mechanisms of professionalisation underpinning knowledge-intensive activities: the case of design in food industries

Professions are not only primary targets of institutional change, but also key contributors to innovation processes. By focusing on how the knowledge needed in support of innovation is professionalised and reaches accepted modes of organising work, the paper examines the interplay between the emergence of a new professional domain and the institutional dynamics of the industry(ies) within which professionals operate. To this aim, we propose a reflection on the mechanisms that underpin the professionalisation of design activities in food industries. Empirical evidence draws attention to those practices that allow knowledge originated in different contexts to be socialised and converge towards the same institutional umbrella, that is, a new professional domain. The degree to which such professionalisation resonates with extant professions literature is discussed.     

Modularity in KIBS: The Case of Third-Party Logistics Service Providers

This paper investigates service modularity and inter-organizational coupling in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). While KIBS literature traditionally emphasizes tight client–provider interactions with service customization, modularity literature emphasizes inter-organizational decoupling with service standardization. We disentangle this tension by exploring how KIBS firms utilize service modularity and shape their client–provider relationships in terms of information and knowledge sharing. Conducting two in-depth case studies of third-party logistics (TPLs), we show that TPLs extensively rely on service modularity with standard procedures as their constitutive element. We also demonstrate that service modularity and inter-organizational decoupling are aligned for knowledge sharing but not for information sharing, which remains high regardless of the service architecture. Overall, we suggest that modularity in KIBS differs in many aspects from modularity in products and that these differences significantly impact the organizational design consequences of service modularity. Theoretical and managerial implications are drawn.     

以加快科技创新推动先进装备制造转型升级的策略思考

分析了世界先进制造业的智能化发展趋势,针对互联网等信息技术与制造业的融合正在深刻地改变着传统制造业的产品设计、工艺制造及经营管理模式的情况,根据我国先进制造业的现状和在发展上面临的挑战,提出了通过加快科技创新来推动先进装备制造的转型升级的策略思考,阐述了促进我国发展以智能化、服务化、绿色化为特征的未来先进制造模式的方法及观点。     

广域网分布式爬虫中的Agent协同与Web划分研究

针对广域网环境下分布式Web爬虫的Agent协同和Web划分两个核心问题进行深入研究,提出了基于顾问服务的分布式Web爬虫系统模型,给出了详细的系统设计方案及Agent协同算法框架,并通过推导证明了顾问服务参与Agent协同能够使分布式爬虫系统承受相对较小的网络负载。提出了分布式Web爬虫Web划分的概念,围绕Web划分单元选取及Web划分策略,对Web划分的分类和实现进行了详细的讨论,并通过实验对多种Web划分方法进行了对比和评价,验证了广域网系统相对于局域网系统的优势,并发现运营商互连因素对爬虫系统性能的影响大于地理位置因素的影响。     

Exploring the impact of organisational,technological and relational contingencies on innovation speed in the light of open innovation

ABSTRACT

Striving for competitive advantage pushes firms to innovate at a high speed along innovation contingencies and resource limitations they face. Yet, little is known about how management of contingencies such as absorptive capacity or technology radicalness can impact the innovation speed of firms. In this explorative study, we provide new empirical evidence to the innovation speed literature. We examine to what extent innovation speed is affected by organisational, technological, and relational contingencies that preoccupy firms with open innovation practices. Taking the firm perspective, we track innovation timeline and emphasise the complex trade-offs that firms encounter while innovating. Our results show that many of the contingencies, emphasised by the literature promoting innovation, could slow down its speed. Thus, strengthening competitiveness by accommodating contingencies can hinder time-critical adaptations. Furthermore, we find that innovation assets and capabilities can become liabilities for technologically innovative firms.     

三峡工程科技进步与创新

三峡工程在设计、建设和运行过程中,对我国水利水电工程建设、机电设备制造和生态环境保护等各个领域提出了巨大的挑战。针对三峡工程建设的关键技术和难题,国内各个领域的专家学者,进行联合科研攻关,取得了一系列重大创新成果,提高了我国相关领域的科技水平。简要列举了三峡工程建设和运行过程中形成的主要创新成果,对我国今后重大水利水电工程建设和水电清洁能源开发具有重要意义。     

Reverse innovation,international patenting and economic inertia: Constraints to appropriating the benefits of technological innovation

In this paper we compare the role of outward-bound international patenting in “reverse innovation” and in conventional international modes of innovation. Through analysis of panel data from 148 countries over 18 years we reveal that, while all countries may in principle appropriate economic benefits from endogenous technological innovation by increasing their level of outward-bound international patenting, the ability of a country to do so may be hampered by the pre-existing level of its economy. We classify countries in to four strategic innovation quadrants—Slow Movers, Traders, Inventors and Cosmopolitans—based on the relative change over time in their competitiveness in international patenting and their per capita wealth. The mix of wealthy countries and less wealthy countries varies greatly between quadrants, with the wealthy countries dominating the Cosmopolitans quadrant and the less wealthy countries dominating the Slow Movers quadrant. We conclude that, for lower income countries to improve their success in appropriating the benefits of reverse innovation, innovators and would-be innovators based in those countries need to develop sophistication and prowess in international patenting strategy and intellectual property management tailored to the unique conditions of each country.     

The influence of process-oriented organisational design on operational performance and innovation: a quantitative analysis in the financial services industry

Market competition requires that organisations excel at both operational performance and innovation. Though process orientation is intended to benefit operations in general, the impact of specific elements remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to identify the specific organisational design components of process orientation that simultaneously influence operational performance and innovation. We survey employees in the financial services sector (N = 1069) regarding the influence of six process-oriented organisation design components on operational performance and innovation using PLS-SEM. The results indicate that organisational structure and process improvement encourage both operational performance and innovation. Personal autonomy is partially beneficial, while the others have no joint influence on operational performance and innovation. This study is first in providing evidence regarding the influence of a broad variety of organisational design components of process orientation on operational performance and innovation. The study contributes to theory on how process orientation improves operational performance and innovation. The findings can serve as a guideline for managers and organisations as to which organisational design components should be implemented to improve operations.     

On the organizational slack and the choice of the technological innovation strategy in Chinese enterprises

通过建立数学模型,采用实物期权分析方法,分析了组织冗余与我国企业技术创新策略选择之间的关系. 分析结果表明：发掘、利用的组织冗余达到某一临界点时,能对企业选择基于研发的自主创新策略产生足够的激励;在基于技术引进的技术创新策略越来越难以实现的情况下,正确辨识、发掘、利用组织冗余对于提高组织的自主创新能力和绩效,显得格外重要.     

The role of domestic markets in international technological innovation systems

This paper explores how countries in non-leadership positions can couple onto globally developing technological innovation systems (TISs) for renewable energy. The paper contributes to recent debates on relations between TISs and context, with a focus on how industries located in one country relate to the international TIS. Based on a survey of 102 firms in the offshore wind industry in Norway and semi-structured interviews, we find that even though Norwegian firms link up with international TISs, the lack of a domestic market represents a barrier. However, firms with activities in related industries and large firms are less exposed to this barrier. This poses a challenge as the offshore wind industry in Norway mainly consists of smaller firms. We therefore suggest that policies should aim to stimulate interaction between smaller suppliers and larger firms that potentially can act as intermediaries and provide access to international markets.     

Knowledge dynamics as drivers of innovation in Haute Cuisine and culinary services

This paper analyses current innovation processes in Haute Cuisine and develops new insights into the nature of Haute Cuisine innovation and its institutional and organisational preconditions. The paper proposes an innovation paradigm that explains the roles of symbolic, synthetic and analytical knowledge during the various phases of innovation and challenges the innovation activity in Haute Cuisine as a linear model. It also explains the continuum between tacit and explicit knowledge throughout the innovation process. Symbolic knowledge has instilled Haute Cuisine and culinary tendencies, is a key element in its marketing and has allowed local cuisine to be branded internationally. The article aims to fill a research gap that has recently arisen on the existing tensions between idea creation and exploitation in Haute Cuisine innovation. The role of science appears as a tool that supports a chef’s creativity but does not substitute or drive it. This paper fulfills an identified need to study the innovation processes of Haute Cuisine to which academia has dedicated scarce attention. The paper analyses a case study, with a strong institutional focus, a complex and relevant example of the innovation tendencies in Haute Cuisine. It presents a rich case that comprises the complete process from the original inspiration to the final commercialisation.     

Entrepreneurial university: The relationship between smart specialization innovation strategies and university-region collaboration

Addressing the effect of regional innovation strategies for smart specialization is beneficial. This study investigates the correlation between smart specialization innovation strategies and university-region collaboration. The findings of this study will help researchers and decision makers understand and strategically plan for linking education with industry and thus help create entrepreneurial universities. This paper examines the regional innovation strategies for smart specialization. The data was collected at a Croatian university. The research aims to study the effect of the link of an educational institute with industry and how that makes universities become more entrepreneurial. In our model, smart specialization is measured as an assessment of the benefits of university-regional collaboration for universities to become entrepreneurial. The results highlight that smart specialization innovation strategies are enhancing university collaboration regionally. We learn that involvement of universities is an essential ingredient.     

The idiosyncrasy and dynamism of technological innovation across industries: patent citation analysis

In general, the structural and behavioral patterns of technological innovation are idiosyncratic across industrial sectors and dynamic over time. Yet, despite voluminous amounts of previous research, patterns of innovation are hard to standardize or theorize. The objectives of this article are two-fold. One is to investigate distinctive and changing patterns of technological innovation across industries and observe dynamic trends over time. The other is to identify patterns of relationships among industries and examine the roles of respective industries. To this end, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) patent database was used and patent citation analysis applied. The idiosyncratic differences among industrial sectors are highlighted, especially between conventional manufacturing sectors and science-based sectors. We also found changing trends in technological knowledge flows across industries.     

From the primordial soup to self-driving cars: standards and their role in natural and technological innovation

Standards are specifications to which the elements of a technology must conform. Here, we apply this notion to the biochemical ‘technologies'' of nature, where objects like DNA and proteins, as well as processes like the regulation of gene activity are highly standardized. We introduce the concept of standards with multiple examples, ranging from the ancient genetic material RNA, to Palaeolithic stone axes, and digital electronics, and we discuss common ways in which standards emerge in nature and technology. We then focus on the question of how standards can facilitate technological and biological innovation. Innovation-enhancing standards include those of proteins and digital electronics. They share common features, such as that few standardized building blocks can be combined through standard interfaces to create myriad useful objects or processes. We argue that such features will also characterize the most innovation-enhancing standards of future technologies.     

Spaces of the possible: universal Darwinism and the wall between technological and biological innovation

Innovations in biological evolution and in technology have many common features. Some of them involve similar processes, such as trial and error and horizontal information transfer. Others describe analogous outcomes such as multiple independent origins of similar innovations. Yet others display similar temporal patterns such as episodic bursts of change separated by periods of stasis. We review nine such commonalities, and propose that the mathematical concept of a space of innovations, discoveries or designs can help explain them. This concept can also help demolish a persistent conceptual wall between technological and biological innovation.     

The Demola model as a public policy tool boosting collaboration in innovation: A comparative study between Finland and Spain

The next generation of Science, Technology & Innovation (STI) policies will be defined by mission orientation and co-creation processes and implemented by dynamic public-private partnerships. However, the experience of European countries up to now in attempting to boost cooperation in innovation reveals a very different story. Beyond some contextual factors, the characteristics of the agents involved, the dynamics of their relationships and the design of the collaboration tools also have a critical influence at organisational level. This paper aims to identify these organisational factors in different contexts through the analysis of the Demola model, a university-industry innovation platform created in Finland which has spread to other countries, including Spain. Demola applies a standardised model but it has differences in its functioning depending on the national levels of collaboration in the innovation systems. In our case study, we have compared Finland and Spain, bearing in mind the features of the agents involved and their relationships, through a content analysis of primary and secondary information. The results of the study show that the institutional structure of the collaboration and the organisational culture of each institution are key factors in its functioning. These results can be useful for innovation managers, university leaders, educational experts and policy makers.