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Knowledge flows through social networks in a cluster: Comparing university and industry links
Abstract
Knowledge spillovers from a university to the local industry play an important role in high-technology clusters, but we know little about these spillovers. This paper examines empirically the extent of informal contacts between employees in firms and local university researchers in a wireless communications cluster. Furthermore, it analyses the features of an engineer who acquires knowledge from these informal contacts. The university-industry contacts are compared to results for informal contacts between employees in firms. The research shows that the interfirm informal contacts are more numerous than university informal contacts. Likewise, knowledge is more frequently acquired from engineers in other firms than through university-industry contacts. However, not all engineers in the cluster have informal contacts or acquire knowledge through these. Engineers who have participated in formal projects with university researchers and engineers who are educated at the local university have a higher likelihood of acquiring knowledge from informal contacts with university researchers.
... In particular, there is still room to analyze these personal ties of former graduate students from the lens of knowledge transfer from academic research to industrial innovation (Granovetter, 2005;Mansfield, 1995). This literature has considered different factors as determinants of social proximity (Huber, 2012), including firms founders relations (Colombo et al., 2021) and 'employeedriven relations' of those who attended college at local universities (Drejer & Østergaard, 2017;Østergaard, 2009). However, social ties developed during doctorate training should also be important for scientific collaborations. ...
... The parameters estimated for individual knowledge areas suggest that academic relations may play different roles in each knowledge area, pointing to the need for specific studies dedicated to each one. Additionally, as previous studies have used other measures of social proximity (Broekel, 2015;Cassi & Plunket, 2014;Drejer & Østergaard, 2017;Hong & Su, 2013;Østergaard, 2009;Petruzzelli, 2011), an empirical analysis considering all these variables may provide a clearer picture of how these different networks are related and how they predict university-firm collaboration. It would also be important to replicate this empirical investigation using data from other countries to confirm that the arguments and findings presented herein can be generalized to other economies and industrial contexts. ...
This paper investigates the contribution of the personal ties of former graduate students to university-firm collaboration. Using the proximity framework and the underlying assumptions of social proximity, we argue that the academic relations these students developed through graduate education can reduce the social distance between universities and firms, thus favoring collaborative research and technology transfer. Based on this argument, two hypotheses are presented to explain how the hiring of a former graduate student is associated with firms’ collaboration decisions, constituting a driver of technology transfer. We empirically test these hypotheses with a new empirical strategy and use a novel and comprehensive dataset on university-industry linkages in Brazil. We find that approximately 40% of the collaborations were developed by firms with ‘socially proximate’ research groups, i.e., those hosted by universities where one or more firm employees attended graduate education. The estimates suggest that if a research group is socially proximate to a firm, the latter is more likely to choose this research group to partner with (relative odds approximately 2.5 times higher) and to engage in collaboration with (odds ratio more than 8 times higher). These results suggest new approaches for policy support to these partnerships, using academic relations as a lever to new collaborative projects.
... Based on the previous discussion, geographical proximity might not necessarily be a requirement for knowledge transmission between firms and universities and the use of industry-university collaboration to transmit knowledge between firms and universities. The industry-university collaboration literature has pointed out that graduate employees can help in connecting firms and universities (Breschi and Lissoni, 2001;Drejer and Østergaard, 2017;Østergaard, 2009). Østergaard (2009) argues that engineers educated at a nearby university or that have collaborated in projects with researchers from it are more likely to have informal contacts with the university. ...
... Previous research has already pointed out that the association between geographical proximity and industry-university collaboration might be explained by graduate employees' cognitive proximity to university research and social proximity to staff from universities (Breschi and Lissoni, 2001;Drejer and Østergaard, 2017;Østergaard, 2009). This paper provides a deeper understanding of the role of cognitive proximity for industry-university collaboration in rural and metropolitan regions. ...
This study examined to what extent graduate employees' cognitive proximity to universities and firms' external knowledge acquisition strategies are positively associated with the likelihood that firms in rural and metropolitan regions collaborate with universities in Denmark. These links were explored using a dataset that combined data from the Danish Research and Innovation Survey with Danish register data. The results pointed to a positive association between firms’ employment of graduates and industry-university collaboration, which was stronger among firms in rural regions than firms in the Copenhagen metropolitan region; however, drawing on external non-university knowledge was similarly associated to industry-university collaboration among firms in rural regions and in the Copenhagen metropolitan region. Regardless of their location, firms were more likely to collaborate with universities if they collaborated with other organisations and were less likely to collaborate with universities if they sought knowledge from other sources, even without necessarily collaborating with them. Although firms in rural regions tended to be farther away from universities than firms in the Copenhagen metropolitan region, the former might be able to collaborate with universities because graduate employees can provide firms with a better understanding of the research conducted there. Thus, firms in rural regions might not need to be geographically proximate to universities in order to collaborate with them.
... Research on networking and knowledge dissemination takes as a point of departure the assumption that interconnections between individuals or organizations taking place in both formal and informal social and economic networks act as channels through which knowledge resources can potentially flow Balland, de Vaan, & Boschma, 2012;Glückler et al., 2017;Østergaard, 2009). From such a perspective, the existence of a well-structured network with a high degree of cohesion 'has proved to be an important determinant when explaining the mechanisms by which ideas, information and knowledge "travel" from one element of the system to another' (Baggio, Scott, & Cooper, 2010, p. 3). ...
... This paper affirms that a two-mode social network analysis method applied to manage knowledge networks emerging from the participation of actors in seminars and courses can provide a better understanding of how interactive learning in these productive places is supported by formal and informal relations (Bathelt & Glückler, 2011;Bathelt & Li, 2014;Østergaard, 2009) and can shed light on who the brokers are who enable the proper performance of these networks (Drew et al., 2014). The results raise several discussion points that help advance established concepts and theories in economic geography. ...
This paper applies a two-mode social network analysis approach to identify the brokers in knowledge networks resulting from interactions taking place at specialized seminars and courses organized in a tourism destination. Empirical findings show that technology and innovation centers can be the leading hub of ‘administered knowledge networks’ – understood as efficient knowledge governance arrangements – in which a wide variety of actors, including universities, private-sector associations, public organizations, and firms play complementary roles depending on the nature of the interactions (formal transfer versus informal exchange flows). These structures are found to be fundamental for the functioning of localized systems of learning.
... As redes sociais são definidas como facilitadores do fluxo, pois podem ser percebidas como teias de conexões e relacionamentos que auxiliam no delineamento de atores, de fontes, das restrições e dos disseminadores do conhecimento na organização. Auxiliam também na definição de laços, relações, frequência e densidade permitindo identificar a posição e função de cada ator na rede (MICHAILOVA; MUSTAFFA, 2012;OSTERGAARD, 2009). ...
... Nesse sentido, enfatiza-se que o fluxo do conhecimento por meio das redes possibilita expandir novas oportunidades, pois permite a combinação e recombinação de ideias e soluções que tem origem em diferentes bases de recursos e conhecimento. Do mesmo modo, torna-se importante a mobilidade do trabalho e dos indivíduos, por tratar-se de um canal relevante para o intercâmbio de diferentes tipos de conhecimento, principalmente do conhecimento tácito incorporado localmente (OSTERGAARD, 2009). ...
... A caracterização da cooperação U-E utiliza as dimensões apresentadas no Quadro 1: natureza dos sujeitos da cooperação, conteúdo transacional, forma e estrutura de interface. Essa caracterização se faz necessária, pois "é importante reconhecer as situações diferentes, não para dar vazão à eventual obsessão classificadora, mas porque essa cooperação requer uma abordagem contingente para a sua gestão" (Plonski, 1999, p. 7 Assim, essa cooperação pode ocorrer não só formalmente, com base em relações contratuais entre organizações, mas também em nível individual, informalmente, ou ainda a partir da contratação de recursos humanos (Vedovello, 1996(Vedovello, , 1997(Vedovello, , 1998Østergaard, 2009). ...
... Das quatro dimensões da relação de cooperação U-E, apresentadas por Ploski (1999) Porém, essa taxonomia não foi suficiente, e 8 novos motivadores puderam ser identificados na pesquisa, dos quais 5, sendo 3 para as empresasacesso a estrutura, relacionamento informal e proximidade com a pesquisae 2 para a universidadeacesso a conhecimento sobre o mercado e flexibilidade de horário para o aluno que trabalha, em função de a empresa e a universidade estarem próximas -, entende-se poder estar associados à presença dos sujeitos da cooperação e à própria relação ocorrer dentro do parque tecnológico (Vedovello, 1997(Vedovello, , 1998Vedovello et al., 2006). Assim, destaca-se a importância das relações informais na cooperação U-E, em acordo com a literatura (Vedovello, 1996(Vedovello, , 1997(Vedovello, , 1998Østergaard, 2009), que foram caracterizadas pelos entrevistados como relevante instrumento de relacionamento entre os parceiros, mesmo sendo esses acordos pactuados formalmente por meio de contratos de cooperação. Verificou-se também que, entre as diversas barreiras e facilitadores considerados, a proximidade geográfica foi apontada como o principal facilitador do processo de cooperação, enquanto como barreiras foram identificados, em ordem decrescente de citação, a propriedade de patentes e resultados, os objetivos diferentes e a duração dos projetos. ...
O objetivo deste trabalho consistiu em apresentar um modelo conceitual que auxilie no entendimento do fenomeno de cooperacao tecnologica Universidade-Empresa (U-E) em parques tecnologicos. A pesquisa se baseou na metodologia de estudo de casos multiplos, de natureza exploratoria e qualitativa, tendo como instrumentos de coleta de dados roteiros de entrevista semiestruturada, corroborados por levantamento de dados secundarios documentais. Foram realizadas a analise de conteudo dos dados obtidos nas entrevistas e a analise documental dos dados secundarios. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada com representantes das empresas do parque tecnologico Tecnopuc e pesquisadores da universidade PUC-RS, e compreendeu tres processos selecionados de cooperacao, desdobrados em seis entrevistas. Como resultado, pode-se aplicar o modelo conceitual e observar que ainda existem elementos que podem ser adicionados a taxonomia proposta, no que diz respeito a motivadores, barreiras/facilitadores e a caracterizacao da cooperacao U-E, bem como reconhecer a importância das ligacoes informais que ocorrem dentro do espaco do parque tecnologico e demonstrar o modelo conceitual desenvolvido como proposta para aplicacao em estudos futuros sobre a tematica de cooperacao U-E.
... Highly educated professionals are more likely to concentrate in economically developed regions with strong industry clusters, where higher education institutions play a key role in talent cultivation. Additionally, knowledge acquisition in these industries frequently occurs through external business interactions rather than formal educational institutions [57]. Consequently, within TCI industries, employees with lower levels of education often engage in more cross-regional mobility to develop their skills, whereas highly educated individuals are more likely to move locally within the same economic cluster rather than relocate over long distances for job opportunities. ...
The rapid evolution of the transportation cybersecurity ecosystem, encompassing cybersecurity, automotive, and transportation and logistics sectors, will lead to the formation of distinct spatial clusters and visitor flow patterns across the US. This study examines the spatiotemporal dynamics of visitor flows, analyzing how socioeconomic factors shape industry clustering and workforce distribution within these evolving sectors. To model and predict visitor flow patterns, we develop a BiTransGCN framework, integrating an attention-based Transformer architecture with a Graph Convolutional Network backbone. By integrating AI-enabled forecasting techniques with spatial analysis, this study improves our ability to track, interpret, and anticipate changes in industry clustering and mobility trends, thereby supporting strategic planning for a secure and resilient transportation network. It offers a data-driven foundation for economic planning, workforce development, and targeted investments in the transportation cybersecurity ecosystem.
... 1. Personal communication and face-to-face interactions are one of the most common channels, where individuals or organizations share information about innovations directly with others through face-to-face interactions, meetings, conferences, or informal networks (e.g., Bathelt et al., 2004;Dahl & Pedersen, 2004;Østergaard, 2009). This channel allows for detailed explanations, demonstrations, and the opportunity for immediate feedback and clarification. ...
This dissertation examines the mechanisms driving the geographical diffusion of Artificial Intelligence through four papers. Despite the significant attention that Artificial Intelligence has received in recent years and its prominence in both public and research discourse, there are still many aspects of Artificial Intelligence where we lack the necessary knowledge. There is a generally established consensus that the diffusion of new technologies, which refers to their geographical spread and adoption among companies and individuals, has a stronger societal impact than the
invention of new technologies. However, researchers and policymakers primarily focus on the latter, leaving a significant knowledge gap regarding the mechanisms underlying the potentially uneven diffusion of Artificial Intelligence. This dissertation aims to address this knowledge gap by examining the following research question: How does the regional context influence the rate and direction of the diffusion of Artificial Intelligence across regions?
The dissertation focuses mainly on traditional/statistical Artificial Intelligence, typically used to create algorithms to make predictions, recommendations, and decisions from outside a given data set. The dissertation approaches how AI technology diffuses spatially from an evolutionary economic theoretical perspective. This entails that how individuals and firms in different regions learn about and ultimately adopt new technology is geographically path dependent, meaning that technology adoption is influenced by several local factors - e.g., regional institutions, resources, capabilities, and the technology already in use - that are self-reinforcing over time. The existing resources in the region, such as worker skills and their experience working with different types of technology, influence the knowledge and learning about new technology that firms can engage with, which in turn affects the demand for diverse resources, experience, and knowledge related to adopting and using the new technology, and thus the mutual relationship continues. The dissertation tests this assumption in the dissertation’s four papers focusing on the Danish case.
Paper A serves as a preliminary study for the thesis as it develops a new regional classification used as the regional scale for the remaining three articles. The main contribution of the article is the use of long time series of different economic and demographic variables related to regional development combined using clustering analysis to develop a more nuanced picture of regional groupings that account for development trends and, thereby, the mechanisms that create different long-term regional development.
Article B is coauthored with Jacob Rubæk Holm and examines regional differences in Artificial Intelligence adoption using data from the TASK survey on AI usage among Danish firm employees. It demonstrates, firstly, that there are regional differences in the degree to which companies adopt Artificial Intelligence and, secondly, that these differences can be explained, among other things, by regional differences in how companies learn and innovate. These characteristics can be described as the firms’ so-called "innovation modes". Specifically, the paper finds that Old industrial regions fall behind the metropolitan regions, likely because they, among other things, are influenced more by the innovation mode based on internal experience generation.
Article C studies whether regional institutions and regional adoption of Artificial Intelligence co-evolve over time. Specifically, the article examines regional informal institutions in the form of regional technological discourse in news media and their mutual evolution with the regional adoption of Artificial Intelligence. The article draws on newly collected data on different regions’ consumption of newspaper articles about Artificial Intelligence. It measures the characteristics of the regional informal institution through the tone and angle in the articles via sentiment analysis. The article demonstrates first that there are regional differences in how Artificial Intelligence is described and, second, that the newspaper article coverage co-evolves with the regional adoption of Artificial Intelligence over a period of almost twenty years.
Article D zooms in on small and medium-sized enterprises within the manufacturing sector outside the metropolitan areas and examines their absorptive capacity concerning Artificial Intelligence. The article is the dissertation’s only qualitative study and uses semi-structured interview data with SMEs in the process of adopting Artificial Intelligence. The article finds that manufacturing SMEs outside the metropolitan regions face particular challenges when they wish to start implementing Artificial Intelligence. Some of the main challenges are a mixture of the lack of relevant skills and difficulties in attracting qualified labor, making AI less abstract and easier to introduce in their business models, overcoming conservatism in the organization, finding inspiration from like-minded companies, and finding information about both new technologies and grant opportunities. However, the firms develop methods to overcome resource scarcity by building on their existing capabilities.
Overall, the dissertation contributes to our understanding of factors that influence an uneven geographical spread of Artificial Intelligence technology. The dissertation demonstrates, by studying the Danish case, that there are barriers to adopting Artificial Intelligence specific to different regions. Different regions have different resources but also cultures, traditions, and institutions of innovation and technology adoption. The dissertation also demonstrates that Artificial Intelligence is not a homogeneous technology, as it has typically been treated in previous studies. This means, as discussed in the Synopsis and illustrated in the various articles, that the observed patterns differ depending on how we treat and define Artificial Intelligence. Still, the conclusion that Artificial Intelligence takes on an unequal geographical spread pattern remains. The dissertation finally argues for greater focus among politicians developing technology policy to take into account that AI
technology usage and the driving mechanisms behind it, are, as shown in this dissertation, regionally specific. The dissertation furthermore argues for continued research efforts among researchers to untangle the mechanisms behind the spatially uneven distribution of AI.
... For example, academics may engage more if they interact with colleagues who are engaged (Aschhoff & Grimpe, 2014;Tartari et al., 2014). Similarly, informal network links with industry partners help academics to engage in industrial collaborations (Østergaard, 2009;Ponomariov & Boardman, 2008). Thus, embeddedness in social networks can unlock collaboration opportunities. ...
The third mission of universities is often conceived as a regional one, encompassing contributions to regional development and engagement with regional actors. Yet, universities are increasingly global institutions with internationally mobile faculty. This raises the question of how the embeddedness of academics in their regions shapes engagement at the regional scale. Using survey data of 625 faculty members at seven universities, we investigate the role of place attachment and informal social networks in shaping academics’ regional engagement efforts. The findings indicate that academics with a strong sense of local attachment and extensive social networks engage more with local partners.
... Clusters need both types of networks to funnel different types of knowledge into the regional economy. Ostergaard took an even more granular look and explores how knowledge flows through social networks (Ostergaard, 2009). Those findings underscore the inadequacy of the concepts of "knowledge spill-overs", a concept on which many economists rely. ...
This thesis presents a new model for developing and implementing strategy in open networks. Most of the strategy literature, indeed virtually all of it, addresses the challenge of one organization attempting to survive and thrive in the world. Over the last 30 years, since the 1990s, strategic management has had to make two big adjustments. First, the environments in which we operate have become far more turbulent. Second, our organizations have become more porous, more networked, and less hierarchical. The enormous impact of the Internet has accelerated both trends.
... One example includes the positive relationships between the weak ties in social interaction and innovation as in the sense of Granovetter (1973). Ostergaard (2009) analyzed knowledge flows through social networks in a communication cluster in North Jutland, Denmark. Ostergaard's study provided with new evidence to the existence of the two types of informal contacts -firms to firms and firms to the university. ...
Subject and purpose of work: The study aims to explore the role of social capital in the new concept of “effective” cluster, by exploiting not only its human and financial assets but also the social networks with the cluster.
Materials and methods: The study presents the case-study findings of the five life-sciences clusters which were conducted in 2018-2019. Additionally, the article discusses the role of social capital and the collaborative efforts within the life sciences clusters during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Results: All the analyzed cluster environments have their own social dynamics. Considering the scale and scope of social ties, the Cambridge and Medicon Valley clusters conform with the concept of the “functional clusters”, while the Bay Area and Seattle clusters can be classified as “effective clusters”.
Conclusions: All the cluster ecosystems have evolved from different origins and they follow different evolutionary paths. Yet, clusters with richer social capital achieve higher collaborative synergy, leading to an increase in knowledge spillovers and innovations. Public policies should focus on the active promotion of social networks and market-oriented intermediaries connecting main cluster partners.
... Knowledge flow is a process of knowledge sharing, transfer, and use among innovation subjects that can result in the creation of knowledge value (Moller and Rajala, 2007;Christian, 2008). This study divided the efficiency of knowledge flow into knowledge innovation efficiency (KIE) and knowledge transformation efficiency (KTE). ...
This study measured the knowledge innovation efficiency (KIE) and knowledge transformation efficiency (KTE) of industry–university–research knowledge flow using super-efficiency data envelopment analysis method. Furthermore, spatial difference-in-difference model was used to investigate the effect of innovative city pilot policy (ICPP) on KIE and KTE. The results indicated that ICPP had a significantly positive influence on KIE and KTE. The robustness of this result was verified. Moreover, the relationship scale of the urban innovation network had a significant inverted U-shaped effect on KIE and KTE, and the centrality of the urban innovation network had a significant positive influence on KIE and KTE. Meanwhile, innovation financial support partially mediated ICPP's effect on KIE, and innovation cooperation dependence partially mediated ICPP's effect on KTE. This study expands theoretical analyses of ICPP's effects on the KIE and KTE of industry–university–research knowledge flow, giving consideration to spatial spillover effects. We also extend the research by considering the effect of changes in the innovation potential of pilot cities on KIE and KTE.
... Because of substantial differences in professional background, management mode and knowledge level between enterprises and universities, knowledge distance exist between the two sides (Perkmann et al., 2013), especially in the aspect of innovation ability. Therefore, a knowledge potential difference exists in the dimension of innovation ability (Christian, 2008; CMS Gertner et al., 2011;Ankrah and Al-Tabbaa, 2015). Knowledge distance provides dynamic support for enterprises and universities in innovation cooperation and it assists enterprises to absorb and use scientific research achievements (Rios et al., 2016;Meng et al., 2019). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the innovation ability of universities (IAU) on the efficiency of University–Industry knowledge flow and investigate whether the level of provincial innovative agglomeration (PIA) moderates the relationship between IAU and the efficiency of the University–Industry knowledge flow.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the super-efficiency data envelopment analysis model to measure knowledge research efficiency (KRE) and knowledge transformation efficiency (KTE) and then studies the influencing mechanism of the two kinds of efficiency using the spatial Tobit model with panel data from 2008 to 2017.
Findings
The results show that the overall KRE in Chinese universities is higher than the KTE. IAU has a significantly positive impact on KRE and KTE. PIA has a significantly inverted U-shaped influence on KRE and KTE and positively moderates the promoting effect of IAU on KRE and KTE.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the limitations of the data, this paper only selects several secondary indicators to measure KRE and KTE with reference to previous studies.
Practical implications
This study enriches the future research of University–Industry cooperation and knowledge flow and it is conducive to promoting the efficiency of University–Industry knowledge research and transformation from the perspective of universities, enterprises and local governments.
Originality/value
This study proposes the concept of University–Industry knowledge flow and divides the knowledge flow into the knowledge research stage and the knowledge transformation stage based on the knowledge supply chain theory. Moreover, the paper expands the theoretical framework of the impact of IAU on the efficiency of University–Industry knowledge flow and provides findings on the moderating effect of PIA.
... In this process, knowledge sharing and innovation are not only realised, but also important means for participants of knowledge subjects to acquire knowledge value (Dalmarco, Hulsink, and Zawislak 2019). Knowledge achievements can be effectively applied in all aspects of the innovation activities of the industry through the process of knowledge flow, so as to promote the industrial development (Christian 2008). That is to say, ICPP may have a positive effect on the industry-university-research collaborative innovation, especially the knowledge flow. ...
The implementation of the innovative city pilot policy (ICPP) is conducive to promoting the urban industry–university–research collaborative innovation, but there is no clear answer to how industry–university–research knowledge flow is affected by the policy. Based on the knowledge flow process divided into the knowledge creation stage and knowledge transfer stage, this paper uses the two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to measure the dual efficiency of urban industry–university–research knowledge creation and knowledge transfer. And the paper also adopts the spatial difference-in-difference (SDID) model to study the impact mechanism of ICPP on the knowledge flow dual efficiency. The results show that there are positive spatial spillover effect of the knowledge creation efficiency (KCE) and knowledge transfer efficiency (KTE). And the effects of ICPP on industry–university–research KCE and KTE are both manifested as the promoting impact. Furthermore, ICPP has a significantly positive impact on the urban innovation atmosphere (UIA), and UIA plays a partial mediating role in the impact mechanism of ICPP on KCE and complete mediating role in the relationship of ICPP and KTE.
... For example, academics may engage more if they interact with colleagues who are engaged (Aschhoff & Grimpe, 2014;Tartari, Perkmann, & Salter, 2014). Similarly, maintaining informal network links with industry partners makes it easier for academics to engage in industrial collaborations (Østergaard, 2009;. Thus, embeddedness in social networks can unlock collaboration opportunities. ...
The need to harness knowledge to improve the innovativeness and economic development of regions has brought the regional role of universities to the fore of academic and policy discourses. Being producers and disseminators of knowledge, policymakers and societal actors expect universities to contribute to the knowledge needs of the regions in which they are located. These include exchanging knowledge with regional partners, provision of requisite human capital for local industries as well as offering place leadership. Even though universities are located in regions, they nonetheless engage with diverse stakeholders in several activities at multiple territories. Hence, universities balance a variety of roles to provide benefits to all their stakeholders. While trying to meet the needs of their multiple stakeholders, most universities — perhaps in response to policy pressures — have developed strategies and policies aimed at deepening engagement in their regions. Although universities, as institutions, are expected to lead regional engagement, academics remain the agents that engage with external actors in practice. Academics need to perform other work roles in addition to engaging with regional actors. These competing demands make the effective fulfilling of the regional engagement role challenging. Amidst these tensions, there is a need to understand whether and how academics engage with regional actors and the factors that influence such engagement. However, most prior studies on the topic have focused on the university and have largely ignored the individual academic. This limits understanding of the behavior of academics toward regional engagement and affects the design of effective policies. Accordingly, the overall goal of this thesis is to provide new insights on the role of individual and contextual factors in academics’ regional engagement. This thesis is a synthesis of four papers that together contribute to answering the overall research question. It uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate regional engagement from the perspective of academics and firms in different empirical contexts. These variety of methods enrich the analyses and provide deeper insights into the phenomenon. The findings generally demonstrate that both individual and firm-related factors remain important drivers of regional engagement, while university-related factors matter less. Specifically, individual motivations are important for the external engagement of academics. However, different motivations become more salient at specific career stages. Career motivation is more important at the early career stage, while pecuniary motivation matters most at the late career stage. Prosocial motivation remains more important at the midcareer stage. Also, the embeddedness of academics in both formal and informal social networks facilitates knowledge transfer and regional engagement. Moreover, academics’ attachment to place tends to increase their engagement activities with regional actors. However, there are some variations in the effect of place attachment and informal social networks on regional engagement between native and non-native academics. Place attachment is important for both groups, while informal social networks matter only for native academics. Furthermore, the findings show that regional firms’ knowledge strategies increase the likelihood of firms to collaborate with university partners. Lastly, the perception of organizational fairness has a limited or no effect on the external engagement of academics. The findings from the thesis contribute primarily to the academic engagement and the university-industry collaboration literatures with new insights on the factors driving academic engagement. The study extends place attachment and organizational justice theories to explain the underlying mechanisms of the external engagement behavior of academics. Besides the theoretical contribution, the findings also provide insights to guide practitioners and policymakers in designing policies to promote regional engagement. In particular, university managers should pay attention to career development policies. Because academics’ external engagement is chiefly influenced by career motivations, rewards and incentives for external engagement should be geared towards helping academics progress in their careers. Also, policies seeking to promote university-industry collaboration should target firms more than universities. Policymakers need to provide incentives that motivate firms to develop cooperative partnerships with universities.
... Esses contatos são desenvolvidos muitas vezes com ex-professores e ex-colegas da universidade e se dão por meio de conexões informais. Os vínculos prévios com pesquisadores universitários representam um fator importante para o estabelecimento de relacionamentos cooperativos com a universidade (Drejer e Østergaard, 2017;Oliveira et al., 2018;Østergaard, 2009;Teixeira et al., 2016). Esses vínculos prévios são relevantes porque eles estreitam laços de confiança entre os agentes, fator muito importante para o estabelecimento das relações de cooperação (Bruneel et al., 2010;Burcharth, 2011). ...
Vinculação entre universidade e pequenas empresas: debate recente e desafios para a América Latina 1. A interação entre universidades e empresas: um panorama geral A abordagem sistêmica da inovação aponta que as interações entre as empresas e as organizações públicas de pesquisa são elementos centrais para a o processo de geração e difusão de inovações. Há um vasto conjunto de trabalhos na literatura nas últimas décadas que vem se ocupando da compreensão dos vínculos entre a universidade e as empresas, em especial no que se refere à investigação dos formatos, canais e motivações envolvidas das relações universidade-empresa. Esses trabalhos foram aplicados tanto a países desenvolvidos (Cohen et al., 2002; Klevorick et al., 1995; Nelson, 2006), como a países em desenvolvimento (Albuquerque et al., 2015; Dutrénit et al., 2010; Suzigan et al., 2009), e mostraram a crescente importância dos vínculos com a universidade para fomentar a inovação empresarial. As universidades constituem uma fonte de conhecimento muito importante para os esforços inovativos das firmas, particularmente em indústrias nas quais os resultados da pesquisa acadêmica estão mais diretamente conectados à inovação industrial (Klevorick et al., 1995; Mansfield e Lee, 1996; Mowery e Sampat, 2009). A pesquisa pública realizada em universidades e em laboratórios de pesquisa é utilizada pelo menos tão frequentemente para endereçar os problemas e necessidades existentes quanto para sugerir novos esforços de pesquisa (Cohen et al., 2002). Os resultados da pesquisa universitária incluem informações cientificas e tecnológicas, que podem aumentar a eficiência da P&D aplicada na indústria pela orientação da pesquisa em direções mais promissoras; equipamentos e instrumentação, usados por firmas em seus processos produtivos ou sua pesquisa; competências ou capital humano, incorporado em estudantes,
... Previous studies have reported a positive association between inter-firm links and innovation (Boschma, Anne, and Wal 2007;Zeng, Xie, and Tam 2010). Other works have simultaneously analysed the effects of links with SOs and inter-firm links (Østergaard 2009;Huggins and Johnston 2009;Zeng, Xie, and Tam 2010;Owen-Smith and Powell 2004). The evidence is inconclusive as to which are more relevant for innovation. ...
Previous literature on innovation in developing countries has studied the relevance of public policies and support organisations, which can compensate for the weaknesses of local innovation networks. However, from a social network approach, this issue remains understudied. Aiming to fill this gap, this paper analyses the role of support organisations in four cluster networks of Uruguay. Using data from interviews with managing directors of 265 firms and combining social network analysis with logistic regression techniques , the paper shows that organisations play two fundamental roles. First, they contribute to the overall architecture of collaborations , occupying strategic positions that keep networks connected. Second, they encourage innovation in the firms they collaborate with. In this regard, findings indicate that collaborating with different types of organisations influences firms' innovation differently. These results have several policy implications regarding the design of cluster policies and organisational frameworks in developing countries.
... Universities are recognised as important source of knowledge in clusters (Østergaard, 2009;Nishimura and Okamuro, 2011). Cluster literature indicates that knowledge and information flow better in R&D collaboration within the cluster than in such collaboration across cluster borders (Østergaard, 2009). ...
R&D projects between multiple partners have been examined by various disciplines at the macro-, micro- and meso-level. Even though scholars have acknowledged the possibility that both competitive and non-competitive partners participate in such projects, we still lack a holistic perspective on their complex interactions. This paper builds on open innovation and coopetition literature to explore the influence of research partners and clusters on the relationships between competing companies in different project phases of R&D projects. The study is based on insights from five coopetitive R&D projects in mature industries. Findings revealed the need for simultaneous involvement of research partners and clusters when establishing the collaboration in the pre-project phase, while research partners have dominant roles in balancing coopetition in both the pre-project and project implementation phases. Propositions are offered to inform future studies and managerial implications are discussed.
... Esses contatos são desenvolvidos muitas vezes com ex-professores e ex-colegas da universidade e se dão por meio de conexões informais. Os vínculos prévios com pesquisadores universitários representam um fator importante para o estabelecimento de relacionamentos cooperativos com a universidade (Drejer e Østergaard, 2017;Oliveira et al., 2018;Østergaard, 2009;Teixeira et al., 2016). Esses vínculos prévios são relevantes porque eles estreitam laços de confiança entre os agentes, fator muito importante para o estabelecimento das relações de cooperação (Bruneel et al., 2010;Burcharth, 2011). ...
Vinculação entre universidade e pequenas empresas: debate recente e desafios para a América Latina 1. A interação entre universidades e empresas: um panorama geral A abordagem sistêmica da inovação aponta que as interações entre as empresas e as organizações públicas de pesquisa são elementos centrais para a o processo de geração e difusão de inovações. Há um vasto conjunto de trabalhos na literatura nas últimas décadas que vem se ocupando da compreensão dos vínculos entre a universidade e as empresas, em especial no que se refere à investigação dos formatos, canais e motivações envolvidas das relações universidade-empresa. Esses trabalhos foram aplicados tanto a países desenvolvidos (Cohen et al., 2002; Klevorick et al., 1995; Nelson, 2006), como a países em desenvolvimento (Albuquerque et al., 2015; Dutrénit et al., 2010; Suzigan et al., 2009), e mostraram a crescente importância dos vínculos com a universidade para fomentar a inovação empresarial. As universidades constituem uma fonte de conhecimento muito importante para os esforços inovativos das firmas, particularmente em indústrias nas quais os resultados da pesquisa acadêmica estão mais diretamente conectados à inovação industrial (Klevorick et al., 1995; Mansfield e Lee, 1996; Mowery e Sampat, 2009). A pesquisa pública realizada em universidades e em laboratórios de pesquisa é utilizada pelo menos tão frequentemente para endereçar os problemas e necessidades existentes quanto para sugerir novos esforços de pesquisa (Cohen et al., 2002). Os resultados da pesquisa universitária incluem informações cientificas e tecnológicas, que podem aumentar a eficiência da P&D aplicada na indústria pela orientação da pesquisa em direções mais promissoras; equipamentos e instrumentação, usados por firmas em seus processos produtivos ou sua pesquisa; competências ou capital humano, incorporado em estudantes,
... In terms of the formation, action path, and driving advantage of multi-agent collaboration, Salavisa et al. (2002) believed that the attributes of multi-agent collaboration include the difference of main body functions, resource distribution, resource allocation, and main body interaction [42]. Christian and Østergaard (2009) pointed out that multi-agent collaborative innovation is in accordance with the external environment and resources when making decisions [43]. Lewrick (2011) stated that the competitive orientation is highly correlated with progressive innovation [44]. ...
A green manufacturing system is an important tool to realize green transformation of the manufacturing industry. The systematicness of green technology innovation as the key foundation of green manufacturing supports the entire huge green manufacturing system. In order to improve the effectiveness of multi-agent cooperation, it is necessary to analyze a series of green technology innovation achievements of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation. First of all, inter-indicator correlation analysis and exploratory factor analysis were used to construct the evaluation index system of the green technology innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation. Then, a secondary combined evaluation model was constructed based on the evaluation conclusions. Finally, a theoretical framework was constructed to measure the performance of the green technology innovation of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation. The results of this study are as follows: The evaluation index system of the green technology innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation is composed of the technology output, economic output, and social effect of green technology innovation. The key factors that influence the green technology innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation are the proportion of green technology transformation in traditional technology, the number of papers published jointly by multi-agent cooperation, the user acceptance of green technology products, and the degree of improvement of public environmental preference and consciousness. A fusion of technology of subjective and objective methods is an effective evaluation technique and can be applied to evaluate the performance of green technology innovation. The secondary combined evaluation combines the evaluation conclusions obtained by each single evaluation method in a certain form.
... Clusters need both types of networks to funnel different types of knowledge into the regional economy. Ostergaard took an even more granular look and explores how knowledge flows through social networks (Ostergaard, 2009). Those findings underscore the inadequacy of the concepts of "knowledge spill-overs", a concept on which many economists rely. ...
Globalisation has given rise to a resurgence of regional economies. Scholars trying to understand this emergence have explored the phenomenon from different perspectives. It only makes sense that scholars write for different audiences. This preliminary systematic review examines the rise of the regional economy literature by examining different research streams. These streams are directed toward three different audiences: business managers, regional policy makers and university leaders. The review suggests that these three streams are beginning to converge on two key concepts: ecosystems and platforms. By pursuing this convergence, scholars can benefit from the different perspectives and develop tighter integration across these research streams. This integration will likely yield more valuable insights.
... Other studies resort to a wider portfolio of relationships spanning from R&D relationships and intellectual property (IP) transfer to commercial, manufacturing and investment ones. However, more recent contributions start to address the empirical challenges deriving from the analysis of informal networks ( Arenius & De Clercq, 2005 ;Dahl & Pedersen, 2004 ;Kreiner & Schultz, 1993 ;McEvily & Zaheer, 1999 ;Østergaard, 2009 ;Shane & Cable, 2002 ;Weterings & Ponds, 2009 ), for which data are to a certain extent more diffi cult to collect. More precisely, the study of informal ties in reviewed contributions has been addressed by investigating interactions in the form of casual contacts between fi rms' employees ( Dahl & Pedersen, 2004 ) or friendship, trust and tacit and explicit information exchange ( Casanueva, 2013 ). ...
... Other studies resort to a wider portfolio of relationships spanning from R&D relationships and intellectual property (IP) transfer to commercial, manufacturing and investment ones. However, more recent contributions start to address the empirical challenges deriving from the analysis of informal networks ( Arenius & De Clercq, 2005 ;Dahl & Pedersen, 2004 ;Kreiner & Schultz, 1993 ;McEvily & Zaheer, 1999 ;Østergaard, 2009 ;Shane & Cable, 2002 ;Weterings & Ponds, 2009 ), for which data are to a certain extent more diffi cult to collect. More precisely, the study of informal ties in reviewed contributions has been addressed by investigating interactions in the form of casual contacts between fi rms' employees ( Dahl & Pedersen, 2004 ) or friendship, trust and tacit and explicit information exchange ( Casanueva, 2013 ). ...
... Other studies resort to a wider portfolio of relationships spanning from R&D relationships and intellectual property (IP) transfer to commercial, manufacturing and investment ones. However, more recent contributions start to address the empirical challenges deriving from the analysis of informal networks ( Arenius & De Clercq, 2005 ;Dahl & Pedersen, 2004 ;Kreiner & Schultz, 1993 ;McEvily & Zaheer, 1999 ;Østergaard, 2009 ;Shane & Cable, 2002 ;Weterings & Ponds, 2009 ), for which data are to a certain extent more diffi cult to collect. More precisely, the study of informal ties in reviewed contributions has been addressed by investigating interactions in the form of casual contacts between fi rms' employees ( Dahl & Pedersen, 2004 ) or friendship, trust and tacit and explicit information exchange ( Casanueva, 2013 ). ...
... The students were well placed to access the knowledge that industry partners could provide, as they were in the final year of their Earth science studies, had benefited from a two-week mine tour as part of their field experience, and had prepared well prior to conducting the interviews. Previous work has highlighted that prior knowledge and positioning within the same knowledge domain strongly impact on the effectiveness of and value attained from the knowledge transfer interactions (Østergaard, 2009;Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002). Most of the student comments support this, as shown by one student's response to the question about the most important lesson learned during the intervention: ...
A novel learning intervention has been developed and tested in which honor’s level Earth science students were tasked with conducting interviews with established geologists working in the Southern African minerals sector. The task was designed using Laurillard’s conversational framework as a theoretical underpinning, which offers an iterative and communicative approach to learning. The teaching goals for the task were that students would come to understand the role of the geologist in the minerals sector, and that students would have exposure to developing professional networks. Data from student feedback surveys showed that the learning intervention was a success and that both goals were achieved. Because of the depth of knowledge accessed from the interviewees, students attained a much deeper level of understanding of the role of the geologist in the minerals sector. The success of the intervention is further discussed in terms of knowledge and social capital transfer across the university–industry interface and in terms of developing graduate attributes.
... The influences of former classmates and scientific collaborators on new drug diffusion have never been analysed in the pharmaceutical literature before. However, empirical evidence shows that former classmates are important channels of knowledge diffusion in various areas of life (Dahl -Pedersen 2004;Østergaard 2009). Furthermore, anecdotal evidence shows that physicians regularly exchange ideas with former classmates even after graduation, especially if they practice medicine in the same specialty (Bajaj 2015;Wong 2015). ...
This article studies the determinants of pharmaceutical innovation diffusion among specialists. To this end, it investigates the infl uences of six categories of factors—social embeddedness, socio-demography, scientifi c orientation, prescribing patterns, practice characteristics, and patient panel composition—on the use of 11 new drugs for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Hungary. The Cox proportional hazards model identifi es three determinants—social contagion (in the social embeddedness category) and prescribing portfolio and insulin prescribing ratio (in the prescribing pattern category). First, social contagion has a positive effect among geographically close colleagues—the higher the adoption ratio, the higher the likelihood of early adoption—but no infl uence among former classmates and scientifi c collaborators. Second, the wider the prescribing portfolio, the earlier the new drug uptake. Third, the lower the insulin prescribing ratio, the earlier the new drug uptake—physicians’ therapeutic convictions and patients’ socioeconomic statuses act as underlying infl uencers. However, this fi nding does not extend to opinion-leading physicians such as scientifi c leaders and hospital department and outpatient center managers. This article concludes by arguing that healthcare policy strategists and pharmaceutical companies may rely exclusively on practice location and prescription data to perfect interventions and optimize budgets.
... Therefore, this study aims to characterize the content of the knowledge flow between university and the companies in science and Science and Technology Parks. We argue that the flow of basic scientific knowledge is more likely to stimulate innovations (27), while the flow of applied knowledge is easily absorbed by companies (28). The results obtained from scientific research tend to benefit all actors involved (29). ...
The objective of this study is to analyse the knowledge flow in joint projects between university and companies located in a technology park – an environment favourable to this type of interaction. Additionally, the levels of technological maturity were examined through TRL (Technology Readiness Level) for subsequent analysis of studied projects and their technology level. The research method adopted was the single case study, where seven cases conducted joint projects. Besides observation techniques and documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews were carried out with university researchers who were responsible for the joint projects and R&D (research and development) managers of the companies in the TECNOPUC tech park. The main findings are: - the proximity of the tech park to the university has been an advantage, favoring interaction and encouraging communication between actors; - most projects are of companies that foster knowledge flow by demanding the development of new technologies or solutions to problems found in their R&D processes.
... Lesser attention from an empirical point of view has been paid to informal contacts and social relationships between individuals working for different firms as channels of knowledge diffusion (Keeble, 2000;Storper and Venables, 2004;Döring and Schnellenbach, 2006). Empirical studies are commonly based on surveys and on a case-by-case analysis, so they lack sufficient generality (Dahl and Pedersen, 2004;Østergaard, 2009;Giuliani et al., 2010). The exact role of informal networks in the development of industrial clusters remains largely underexplored. ...
The software industry is highly fragmented, and the success of start-ups and innovative SMEs strictly depends on their ability to specialise and exploit market adjacencies and technological complementarities. By focusing on the software industries of San Francisco, New York and London, this article proposes an original approach to detecting firms' specialisations and clusters and employs a network analysis using metadata to determine emerging specialisations and capture market and technological complementarities and capture market and technological complementarities, emphasising the latter as drivers of software metropolitan clusters. Results highlight 'mobile' as one of the most relevant software aggregates in all three cities, enucleate a group of innovative firms in New York focusing on social-media and data analytics, and identify diversified 'business-to-business' software clusters, together with a 'web' and a 'marketing' cluster, arising in London and San Francisco. Several implications can be derived to support both corporate and policy-making decisions, providing useful information to accelerate product development and implement long-term local innovation policy.
... The impact of clustering on knowledge and technology transfer and innovativeness has become an important inquiry track in knowledge management research. Studies that explore knowledge transfer and technology spillovers in industrial clusters (Beijerse, 2000;Karlsen et al., 2003;Bathelt et al., 2004;Dahl and Pedersen, 2004;Koo, 2005;Ostergaard, 2009;Morrison and Rabellotti, 2009) and the more specific work on knowledge-based theory of the firm (Nonaka, 1994;Zander and Kogut, 1995;Grant, 1996aGrant, , 1996bKogut and Zander, 1996) developed the idea that the real competitive power of firms depends on their capacity to access information and create knowledge. Hence, industrial clusters attracted attention as a means of facilitating access to knowledge and information through social networks, and the concept of "social embeddedness" forwarded by Granovetter (1985) became a key construct in studying the impact of social networks on innovativeness and performance. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the configuration of network ties that would have a positive impact on performance outcomes and test the presumed impact of multilevel strategic alliances on innovation and firm performance in a specific industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This study comprises part of a larger project on the network relations of yacht-building firms operating in Turkey. Data of the study was collected through face-to-face interviews and questionnaires with 143 yacht-building firms operating in major yacht-building regions of the country.
Findings
The findings of the study indicated the presence of meaningful relationship between total number of (strong) network relations perceived as strategic alliance and overall innovation performance. The generally presumed positive relationship between innovation performance and firm performance was supported. The type of innovation performance that was found to be related to the total number of network ties perceived as strategic alliance at national and global levels was product innovation performance.
Practical implications
A possible contribution of this study for industry members would be the implications of the finding that indicates positive impact of strategic alliances with different actors of the industry.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the exploration of network configurations that have a positive impact on innovation and firm performance, by dealing with the impact of the size, strength and geographical level of network relations in one single study. The yacht-building industry as the empirical setting represents a specific category of industry that rests on customized individual or small-batch manufacturing requiring considerable interaction with customers and suppliers. Because no study exists on this topic, findings can inspire similar industries.
... Lesser attention from an empirical point of view has been paid to informal contacts and social relationships between individuals working for different firms as channels of knowledge diffusion (Keeble, 2000;Storper and Venables, 2004;Döring and Schnellenbach, 2006). Empirical studies are commonly based on surveys and on a case-by-case analysis, so they lack sufficient generality (Dahl and Pedersen, 2004;Østergaard, 2009;Giuliani et al., 2010). The exact role of informal networks in the development of industrial clusters remains largely underexplored. ...
The software industry is highly fragmented, and the success of start-ups and innovative small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) strictly depends on their ability to specialise and exploit market adjacencies and technological complementarities. By focusing on the software industries of San Francisco, New York and London, this article proposes an original approach to detecting firms’ specialisations and clusters and employs a network analysis using metadata (information related to firms’ core products, markets and technologies) to determine emerging specialisations and capture market and technological complementarities, emphasising the latter as drivers of software metropolitan clusters. Results highlight ‘mobile’ as one of the most relevant software aggregates in all three cities, enucleate a group of innovative firms in New York focusing on social-media and data analytics, and identify diversified ‘business-to-business’ software clusters, together with a ‘web’ and a ‘marketing’ cluster, arising in London and San Francisco. Several implications can be derived to support both corporate and policy-making decisions, providing useful information to accelerate product development and implement long-term local innovation policy.
... Firms have been found to establish formal relationships with both the "parent" organization, and other research organizations that enable them to keep abreast of advanced knowledge production (McMillan et al., 2000;Levitte and Bagchi-Sen, 2010). Research on informal knowledge networks is scarce, particularly when it comes to networking between firms and research organizations (Kreiner and Schultz, 1993;Østergaard, 2009). According to the literature, informal network formation is usually linked with the trajectory of individuals or with their previous interaction in formal partnerships (Smith-Doerr and Powell, 2005), and loyalty and reciprocity are fundamental for the continuity of the relationships (Dahl and Pedersen, 2004). ...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to address the strategies adopted by science-based start-ups to gain access to knowledge resources at diverse spatial levels. It investigates the presence and relative importance of ties endowed with different types of proximity in firms’ knowledge networks, and the role played by non-geographical proximity in gaining access to knowledge sources, both nearby and distant.
Design/methodology/approach
– An analytical framework is proposed that distinguishes between two dimensions of proximity – geographical and relational – leading to different forms of proximity, which are further linked with modes of knowledge interaction (formal or informal). A methodology for network reconstruction is developed and applied to Portuguese molecular biology firms, permitting to identify the origin, location and nature of the ties and to position them along forms of proximity.
Findings
– The results show that the incidence and mix of the different forms of proximity vary in firms’ individual networks, being possible to identify several patterns. They also uncover the relevance of relational proximity, whether or not coexisting with geographical proximity and often compensating for its absence.
Research limitations/implications
– This approach needs to be complemented with further research that refines the operationalization of relational proximity, by attempting to disentangle the influence of different types of non-geographical proximity. Further research will also explore in greater detail the factors that may explain variety in the proximity mix of firms’ networks.
Practical implications
– The paper offers insights into the knowledge sourcing strategies adopted by science-based firms located outside the main concentrations of knowledge in their field.
Originality/value
– The paper contributes to the literature on the role of proximity in knowledge access, by developing and empirically testing a taxonomy of forms of proximity, considering the characteristics of science-based firms. It uncovers the mechanisms through which relational proximity can contribute to span spatial boundaries, highlighting the role played by entrepreneurs’ personal networks.
... The impact of clustering on knowledge and technology transfer and innovativeness has become an important research track of knowledge management researchers. Studies that explore the knowledge transfer and technology spillovers in industrial clusters [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19] and the more specific work on knowledge-based theory of the firm [20], [21], [22], [23], [24] developed the idea that the real competitive power of firms depends on their capacity to access information and create knowledge. Hence the concept of 'social embeddedness' forwarded by Granovetter [25] became a key issue in studying the impact of relationship networks on innovativeness and performance. ...
This paper presents the preliminary findings of a larger study that will analyze the network based determinants of innovation performance in clusters through an empirical study on the business networks of yacht building firms clustered in certain regions of Turkey. The findings of this research will specifically address the research gap in the literature on the determinants of the innovativeness and competitiveness of yacht building firms, and also contribute to the discussion on the structural characteristics and innovativeness of the knowledge sharing networks of industrial clusters. The findings of this study portrays the profile of the yacht building cluster situated in the Antalya Free Zone (AFZ), the institutional factors affecting these firms; the intellectual capital resources of firms, the structure of their networks at local, national and global levels; the relational capital they have created within their clusters, and the impact of these factors on the innovation and business performance of firms. The yacht building firms in the sample scored quite high in intellectual capital and innovativeness, relatively low in innovation performance, somewhat modest in relational capital, supporting institutional environment and total satisfaction with performance. The findings of the network analysis demonstrated that the Zone firms relied heavily on national and global networks as information sources and strategic alliances. Global and national suppliers and service providers established a high majority of total networks in those categories. The only category that showed prominence in local networks was the outsourcing firms in the region.
Ce papier s’intéresse à la dimension humaine des projets d’innovation ouverte au sein des clusters régionaux. L’objectif de notre recherche est de comprendre quels sont les facteurs qui conditionnent la communication entre les partenaires des projets d’innovation ouverte. Pour répondre à cette problématique, nous avons mené 22 interviews semi-directifs auprès de quatre catégories d’acteurs des projets d’innovation ouverte au sein des trois clusters marocains. Les résultats de notre recherche peuvent être utiles aux managers des organisations participant dans les projets d’innovation ouverte au sein des clusters régionaux lors de l’élaboration et la mise en œuvre des pratiques de gestion visant à instaurer le climat favorable à la communication.
Purpose: The present empirical study attempted to analyze various factors and stakeholders of the Liluah metal casting cluster and its impact on local economic development. In addition, we explained the role of COVID-19 in this MSMEs cluster. Design/Methodology/Approach: To achieve the set of objectives, the research has used purposive sampling. The data were collected through structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews with firm owners. The primary data have been used and secondary data collected through various sources for the study. Findings: Liluah metal casting cluster plays a crucial role in the local economy in terms of employment and business prospect. The study also found that the manufacturing units and annual turnover increased in the last two decades, and the number of laborers decreased rapidly. Despite the huge scope of improvement in the market, technology, skill training, etc., the present cluster is suffering from a lack of capital, the latest technology, skilled workers, pollution, and competition with foreign products. Further, possibilities of innovation practices in the cluster can be achieved as far as the development of the cluster is concerned. Research Limitations: The study has several limitations. For instance, the study has analyzed the impact of the cluster on the local economic development based on the firm owners’ perspective and attempted to explain various challenges and prospects. Future, there is a need to integrate various stakeholders like laborers, government institutions, and intermediaries with other allied manufacturing sectors. The sample was selected only for the Howrah district’s Liluah metal casting cluster owners. Managerial Implications: Practically, it highlighted the challenges and prospects of the present cluster. Therefore, the study suggested that innovation practices can be led to positive growth of the cluster where research and development can play an important role. Originality/Value: The empirical study mainly focuses on the Liluah metal casting cluster of the Howrah district. The research paper is based on the Ph.D. thesis, and all the data and information mentioned here are original.
The high failure rate of industrial innovation networks restrains organizations and industries from successfully developing innovation capacity and competitiveness. Given the trend of technology convergence, technology cluster coupling arguably makes a particularly important contribution to network invulnerability. This study examines how technology cluster coupling consolidates network invulnerability at the network level and examines the relevant dynamics under conditions of technological turbulence. Based on a longitudinal patent dataset from the renewable energy industry, we conduct patent network analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. The results show that centralized structure plays a partly negative mediating role in the positive relationship between technology cluster coupling and network invulnerability, and technological turbulence plays a negative moderating role in that relationship. This study responds to the appeal to explore the impact of community interaction on network-level outcomes and risk management in the innovation network, highlighting the critical role of centralized structure and shedding light on the moderating effect of technological turbulence. Our findings offer implications for industrial policymakers seeking to govern technology clusters aimed at strengthening the invulnerability of industrial innovation networks in environments with different degrees of technological turbulence.
The high fragility and failure rate of technological innovation networks prevent firms and industries from successfully developing innovation capacity and competitiveness. This study offers a network perspective on how technology cluster coupling reinforces innovation network invulnerability. By using 142 patent citation networks from the renewable energy industry, we conduct patent citation network and regression analyses of a mediating model. The results show that network centralisation plays a partly negative mediating role in the positive relationship between technology cluster coupling and innovation network invulnerability. This study enriches the antecedent study of innovation network invulnerability by expanding interactions from the individual-level to the community-level and contributes to the internal mechanisms of technology cluster coupling and network invulnerability by emphasising the critical role of network centralisation. Our findings offer implications for policy makers who seek to govern technology clusters aimed at strengthening the steady development of innovation networks.
This paper investigates what distinguishes persistence in relation to university–industry collaboration on innovation from the initiation and discontinuation of a collaboration. The underlying premise is that if a firm continues to collaborate with a university, it must consider that collaboration to be valuable. A quantitative analysis of over 2600 firms reveals that persistence is relatively common in university–industry collaborations on innovation, with more than a third of firms that engage in university collaboration continuing to collaborate with the same university over two consecutive periods. In addition, the analysis shows that firms’ investments in collaborative capabilities and different dimensions of absorptive capacity are instrumental for persistent collaboration with a university. Furthermore, persistent collaboration with a university is strongly associated with the strategic choice to engage in sustained collaboration with a broad range of partner types. Finally, the analysis reveals that geographical proximity between a firm and a university may facilitate the initiation of a collaboration, although the nearest university is not necessarily the most suitable partner. This is illustrated by the finding that geographical proximity between a firm and a university does not matter for keeping together in a persistent collaboration.
University–industry relations (UIR) are usually analysed by the knowledge transfer channels, but existing studies have failed to address what knowledge content is being transferred – impacting the technology output aimed by the partnership. We aim to identify the Knowledge Flow in UIR, defined by the actor responsible for initiating a partnership – direction of the flow – and the type of technology output being transferred – content of the flow. We compare the knowledge flow in innovation systems of agriculture and aerospace sectors in Brazil and the Netherlands. The cases show that the knowledge flow is influenced more by the maturity of the national and sectoral innovation system than by the technological trajectory of the sector itself. While the Dutch cases demonstrate that both sectors are part of a mature innovation system, the Brazilian cases, although expected to have a similar technological trajectory, demonstrated a more immature innovation system.
The industrial estates of Greece and their companies create poles of regional development and local innovation centers. The development of collaboration between universities and local business centers can benefit the local economy and society. The current research, spreads in 100 companies from 19 industrial estates of Greece. It aims to indicate important factors that influence the collaboration between universities and companies from greek industrial estates. The data were collected during 2013, through a structured questionnaire. Selected variables from the questionnaire were used in order to build a logistic regression model. The results indicate that the degree of collaboration between universities and companies is positively influenced by the number of employees in the company and by the degree of collaboration between the company and the local administration institutions. On the other hand, it is negatively influenced by the size of the industrial estate that the company operates and by the lack of company’s information knowledge.
The literature suggests that the success of innovation clusters is based on personal networks that connect members of scientific, educational, and business organizations, stimulating more formalized cross-boundary collaborations between the three sectors. But it is still unclear if such organizational collaborations actually correspond with these personal ties and which aspects of personal communication are most strongly associated with organizational collaborations. To investigate these issues, the authors applied network analysis to study an innovation cluster in Algarve, Portugal. They found that cross-boundary organizational collaborations corresponded with personal ties. Moreover, they found that collaborations appeared to correlate most strongly with emotional attachments between individuals.
This study investigates the role of entrepreneurial attitudes for small and medium-sized enterprise managers' tendency to create knowledge acquisition ties with managers of other organizations in the context of an institutionalized high-tech cluster. We examine how innovation orientation, perceived personal control, need for achievement, and self-esteem influence boundary-spanning tie creation as a crucial facet of entrepreneurial behavior in the cluster context. Applying exponential random graph models to survey data collected in a German biotech cluster, we find that innovation orientation and perceived personal control positively affect managers' tendency to rely on interpersonal ties to gather knowledge. In contrast, need for achievement and self-esteem are negatively related to knowledge tie creation.
Background
Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) were recently created in the NHS to accelerate the spread of innovations that could promote population-level health gain and also pursue novel goals of wealth creation. They are 15 regionally based networks. They reflect a continuing stream of national health policy on stimulating NHS knowledge mobilisation, which has now created a novel institutional architecture.
Objectives
The overall research aims were (1) to explore AHSNs’ strategies and practices of knowledge mobilisation in their formative phase, when they were building up health- and wealth-related networks; and (2) to investigate how knowledge leadership took place in these settings and the characteristics of people perceived as knowledge leaders (KLs). Specific research objectives operationalised these broad aims.
Design
It was a mixed-methods study with a large qualitative component but also social network analysis (SNA). It contained a sequence of work packages: (1) an initial literature review to inform interviews; (2) an analysis of the national policy stream in this field; (3) a SNA of the AHSNs’ health and wealth networks; (4) five case studies of different AHSNs with 10 innovation tracers; and (5) interviews with individuals nominated as KLs.
Setting
We studied a sample of five of the 15 English AHSNs, along with the development of the national policy stream.
Participants
We interviewed and surveyed AHSNs and other relevant staff, including national policy-level respondents.
Data sources
(1) A review of national- and AHSN-level documents, grey literature and relevant academic material; (2) semi-structured interviews with AHSN very senior managers, along with other staff, policy respondents and nominated ‘KLs’; and (3) a SNA (with two time points) using snowball survey methods.
Review methods
The literature review took a structured and narrative-based approach in what was a diffuse and multidisciplinary academic field.
Results
(1) We found that different networks were emerging around AHSNs’ health and wealth goals and, perhaps not surprisingly, the wealth networks were at an exploratory stage; (2) we found that these networks took different forms in different AHSNs; (3) we developed a general typology of the approaches AHSNs took towards spreading new ideas and innovations; and (4) we uncovered some characteristics of ‘KLs’.
Limitations
The study proceeded with the AHSNs still in a formative phase (early 2014 to early 2016). The SNA had two data points that were close together. We could not undertake a longer-term impact assessment. Future work should take a more longitudinal approach.
Conclusions
The study’s results have implications for (1) AHSN knowledge mobilisation strategies and networks, (2) the shape of AHSN regional knowledge networks and (3) the construction of knowledge leadership in these settings.
Future research
Our top priority recommendations were (1) a longer-term AHSN impact assessment and (2) greater exploration of the AHSNs’ novel wealth creating role.
Funding
The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.
The ‘triple helix’ of the university–industry–government relationship and habitat are accepted as important determinants of innovation and entrepreneurship. However, empirical explorations of the effects of these variables and their interrelationships on regional entrepreneurial activities are highly limited. To fill this gap, we investigate the effect of the triple helix system and habitat on birth and death rates of U.S. firms at the state level. As expected, we find that industrial R&D expenditure plays an important role in promoting regional firm birth. However, university and government R&D also generate a synergistic effect that indirectly influences regional firm birth rates. In addition, we find that the synergy between university and industrial R&D enhances the sustainability of firms, while the interactions between (1) university and government R&D and (2) government and industrial R&D are associated with an increase in firm death. Other factors linked to more favorable conditions for firm formation include higher educational attainment in a region, lower tax rate, and habitat factors affecting quality of life, such as lower housing prices and higher rates of health insurance coverage. In regions with high entrepreneurial activity, we find positive synergistic effects of the interactions between (1) university and government R&D and (2) university and industrial R&D on firm birth rate, suggesting that university R&D plays an important role as an ‘entrepreneurial mediator’ among the three spheres in the triple helix system. In low entrepreneurial regions, the only triple helix system factors significantly influencing firm birth rate were tax rate. This finding suggests that the independent and interdependent components of the triple helix system and habitat are less powerful in low entrepreneurial regions.
Exploring determinants of firms’ collaboration with specific universities: employee-driven relations and geographical proximity. Regional Studies. This analysis of the determinants of firms’ collaboration on innovation with specific universities assesses both the separate and the overlapping importance of geographical proximity and employee-driven relations for collaboration. It is argued that social, cognitive and functional dimensions of employee-driven relations can help firms to overcome geographical distance. Based on a sample of 2301 innovative firms in Denmark, the study demonstrates that employee-driven relations (measured by employees’ and top managers’ place of education and scientific discipline) strongly influence the likelihood that firms will collaborate with specific universities. The study confirms the existence of separate and overlapping effects of employee-driven relations and geographical proximity.
The role of national universities and other higher education institutions in knowledge transfer in countries with post-Soviet economies has been studied in very modest extent, especially in the context of small countries. This paper concentrates on the organizational culture aspects playing important role in the commercialization of university research within the university knowledge transfer and knowledge based society framework in Estonia. Knowledge sharing and commercialization depend on nature of organizational culture, as a part of internal environment. Two largest Estonian universities (University of Tartu and Tallinn University of Technology) are compared in various factors influencing knowledge transfer using document analysis and interviews. The present study has shown that knowledge transfer faces numerous issues, and in particular soft issues (individual mindsets and organizational values) may differ from university to university
This paper aims to test the assumptions of the cluster theory by exploring the knowledge sharing processes among the yacht building firms at the Antalya Free Trade Zone (AFTZ). The authors of the present study plan to investigate the assumed micro level effects of geographical proximity on the fast growth of this industry in this region, by relying on their previous studies in the zone. Clustering studies have long been focusing on the competitive advantages of closely locating firms. One of the main research topics is the knowledge transfer processes taking place in clusters throughsocial networks. The effects of formal and informal mechanisms on information exchange, knowledge sharing andknowledge creation contributing to the collective competitiveness of related or unrelated firms continue to attract interest. Informal social networks especially constitute an effective channel for sharing tacit knowledge and are indicated as an important resource for raising competitiveness in the cluster. Basing on these views this study explored the information exchange and knowledge sharing processes of the technical personnel of the firms in the cluster by investigating their informal relations both within and outside the cluster. The findings demonstrated that the technical
personnel of the cluster firms predominantly referred to someone in their own team or firm to resolve some technical problem or bring some improvement, the knowledge shared through informal contacts among the cluster firms was very limited, the knowledge transferred among the managers of the firms was primarily information exchange.
New disruptive technological life-cycles may initiate the emergence of new regional industrial clusters or create opportunities for further development of existing ones. They may, however, also result in stagnation and decline. For clusters in many of the fast developing technologies, the evolution is closely related to shifts in technological life-cycles. During the 1980s and 1990s new mobile communications technologies have emerged as a series of distinct life-cycles, which have caused major disruptions in the industry. The paper examines the key features of a cluster in wireless communications technologies, where the economic evolution has been quite closely related to the emergence of new key technologies. The analysis is focused on the strategy and policy issues involved in the specific phase where one technological life-cycle may (or may not?) be succeeded by the next. When facing disruption the actors in the cluster have discussed various strategies for how to cope with shifts in the technological life-cycles. We find that there is room and need for policy and collective action in periods of uncertainty created by new disruptive technological life-cycles.
The existence of informal social networks within organizations has long been recognized as important and the unique working relationships among scientific and technical personnel have been well documented by both academics and practitioners. The growing interest in knowledge management practices has led to increased attention being paid to social network analysis as a tool for mapping the nature and membership of informal networks. However, despite the knowledge-intensive nature of research and development (R&D) activities, social network analyses of the R&D function remain relatively rare. This paper discusses the role of informal networks in the development, exchange and dissemination of knowledge within the R&D function. A case study using social network analysis is used to compare and contrast formal and informal knowledge networks within ICI. Marked differences between the informal organization and ICI's formal structures for knowledge exchange are revealed and a series of insights into the working habits of technical staff are presented. The implications for managers are clear: through a better understanding of the informal organization of R&D staff, they can more successfully capture and exploit new ideas; more efficiently disseminate information throughout the function; and more effectively understand the working habits and activities of employees.
Knowledge, once generated, spills only imperfectly among firms and nations. We posit that since institutions and labor networks vary by region, there should be regional variations in the localization of spillovers. We investigate the relationship between the mobility of major patent holders and the localization of technological knowledge through the analysis of patent citations of important semiconductor innovations. We find that knowledge localization is specific to only certain regions (particularly Silicon Valley) and that the degree of localization varies across regions. By analyzing data on the interfirm mobility of patent holders, we empirically show that the interfirm mobility of engineers influences the local transfer of knowledge. The flow of knowledge is embedded in regional labor networks.
Modern economies can be characterised as 'learning economies' in which knowledge is the crucial resource and learning is the most important process. Different kinds of learning and economically relevant types of knowledge can likewise be identified. It is argued that pure market economies, if such existed, would have severe problems in terms of learning and innovation. The 'learning economy' is a mixed economy in a fundamental sense.
In this paper, we argue that the ability of a firm to recognize the value of new, external information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends is critical to its innovative capabilities. We label this capability a firm's absorptive capacity and suggest that it is largely a function of the firm's level of prior related knowledge. The discussion focuses first on the cognitive basis for an individual's absorptive capacity including, in particular, prior related knowledge and diversity of background. We then characterize the factors that influence absorptive capacity at the organizational level, how an organization's absorptive capacity differs from that of its individual members, and the role of diversity of expertise within an organization. We argue that the development of absorptive capacity, and, in turn, innovative performance are history- or path-dependent and argue how lack of investment in an area of expertise early on may foreclose the future development of a technical capability in that area. We formulate a model of firm investment in research and development (R&D), in which R&D contributes to a firm's absorptive capacity, and test predictions relating a firm's investment in R&D to the knowledge underlying technical change within an industry. Discussion focuses on the implications of absorptive capacity for the analysis of other related innovative activities, including basic research, the adoption and diffusion of innovations, and decisions to participate in cooperative R&D ventures.
Previous research has indicated that investment in R&D by private firms and universities can lead to knowledge spillover, which can lead to exploitation from other third-party firms. If the ability of these third-party firms to acquire knowledge spillovers is influenced by their proximity to the knowledge source, then geographic clustering should be observable, especially in industries where access to knowledge spillovers is vital. The spatial distribution of innovation activity and the geographic concentration of production are examined, using three sources of economic knowledge: industry R&D, skilled labor, and the size of the pool of basic science for a specific industry. Results show that the propensity for innovative activity to cluster spatially is more attributable to the influence of knowledge spillovers and not merely the geographic concentration of production. (SFL)
While networks are widely thought to enhance regional innovative capability, there exist few longitudinal studies of their formation and evolution over time. Based on an analysis of all patenting inventors in the U.S. from 1975 to 2002, we observe dramatic aggregation of the regional inventor network in Silicon Valley around 1989. Based on network statistics, we argue that the sudden rise of giant networks in Silicon Valley can be understood as a phase transition during which small isolated networks form one giant component. By contrast, such a transition in Boston occurred much later and much less dramatically. We do not find convincing evidence that this marked difference between the two regions is due to regional differences in the propensity to collaborate or the involvement of universities in patenting. Interviews with key network players suggest that contingent labor mobility between established firms in Silicon Valley, in particular resulting from IBM's policy as a central player in patenting activity, promoted inter-organizational networking, leading to larger inventor networks.
Most of the studies about industrial clusters and innovation stress the importance of firms’ geographical proximity and their
embeddedness in local business networks (BNs) as factors that positively affect their learning and innovation processes. More
recently, scholars have started to claim that firm-specific characteristics should be considered to be central in the process
of learning and innovation in clusters. This article contributes to this latter direction of research. It applies social network
analysis to explore the structural properties of knowledge networks in three wine clusters in Italy and Chile. The results
show that in spite of firms’ geographical proximity and the pervasiveness of local BNs, innovation-related knowledge is diffused
in clusters in a highly selective and uneven way. This pattern is found to be related to the heterogeneous and asymmetric
distribution of firm knowledge bases in the clusters.
This paper re-examines critically the growing literature on localized knowledge spillovers (LKSs), and finds the econometric evidence on the subject still lacking a firm theoretical background, especially in relation to the more recent developments in the economics of knowledge. LKSs as externalities are too narrow a concept to embrace the wide variety of knowledge transmission mechanisms that may, or may not, spread ideas and expertise while keeping the diffusion process bounded in space. Copyright 2001 by Oxford University Press.
Discusses the notion that the ability to exploit external knowledge is crucial to a firm's innovative capabilities. In addition, it is argued that the ability to evaluate and use outside knowledge is largely a function of the level of prior related knowledge--i.e., absorptive capacity. Prior research has shown that firms that conduct their own research and development (R&D) are better able to use information from external sources. Therefore, it is possible that the absorptive capacity of a firm is created as a byproduct of the firm's R&D investment. A simple model of firm R&D intensity is constructed in a broader context of what applied economists call the three classes of industry-level determinants of R&D intensity: demand, appropriability, and technological opportunity conditions. Several predictions are made, including the notions that absorptive capacity does have a direct effect on R&D spending and spillovers will provide a positive incentive to conduct R&D. All hypotheses are tested using cross-sectional survey data on technological opportunity and appropriability conditions--collected over the period 1975 to 1977 for 1,719 business units--in the American manufacturing sector from Levin et al. (1983, 1987) and the Federal Trade Commission's Line of Business Program data on business unit sales, transfers, and R&D expenditures. Results confirm that firms are sensitive to the characteristics of the learning environment in which they operate and that absorptive capacity does appear to be a part of a firm's decisions regarding resource allocation for innovative activity. Results also suggest that, although the analysis showing a positive effect of spillovers in two industry groups do not represent a direct test of the model, positive absorption incentive associated with spillovers may be sufficiently strong in some cases to more than offset the negative appropribility incentive. (SFL)
Economists, it seems, are discovering geography. Over the past decade, a "new trade theory" and "new economics of competitive advantage" have emerged which, among other things, assign a key importance to the role that the internal geography of a nation may play in determining the trading performance of that nation's industries. Paul Krugman's work, in particular, has been very influential in promoting this view. According to Krugman, in a world of imperfect competition, international trade is driven as much by increasing returns and external economies as by comparative advantage. Furthermore, these external economies are more likely to be realized at the local and regional scale than at the national or international level. To understand trade, therefore, Krugman argues that it is necessary to understand the processes leading to the local and regional concentration of production. To this end he draws on a range of geographical ideas, from Marshallian agglomeration economies, through traditional location theory, to notions of cumulative causation and regional specialization. Our purpose in this paper is to provide a critical assessment of Krugman's "geographical economics" and its implications for contemporary economic geography. His work raises some significant issues for regional development theory in general and the new industrial geography in particular. But at the same time his theory also has significant limitations. We argue that while an exchange of ideas between his theory and recent work in industrial geography would be mutually beneficial, both approaches are limited by their treatment of technological externalities and the legacy of orthodox neoclassical economics.
Introduction 1. Surprising Success 2. Learning the Silicon Valley System 3. Creating Cross-Regional Communities 4. Taiwan as Silicon Sibling 5. Taiwan as Partner and Parent 6. Manufacturing in Mainland China 7. IT Enclaves in India 8. The Argonaut Advantage Appendix A: Immigrant Professional and Networking Associations, Silicon Valley Appendix B: Survey Results: Immigrant Professionals in Silicon Valley Notes References Abbreviations Acknowledgments Index
Drawing on a rich literature and case study material from selected industries, and elaborating on key concepts such as firms and competencies, industries and industrial systems, and competitiveness and prosperity, this book sets out to answer three broad research questions: * What is competition about in today's economy? * Why do geographical areas (local milieus, cities, regions, countries) specialize in particular types of economic activity, and why do patterns of specialization, once in place tend to be so tremendously durable? * How can high-cost regions in general and small industrialized countries in particular sustain competitiveness and prosperity in an increasingly globally integrated world economy? This book points the way out of a dilemma created by recent industrial theory and policy: is it possible for countries which are not destined to be leading high-tech powers to take advantage of the current conjuncture of increasingly open-markets.
Provides a geographic dimension to the study of innovation and product commercialization. Product innovation is shown to cluster spatially in regions that provide concentrations of the knowledge needed for the commercialization process. That is, the presence of universities, related industries and specialized business services can create a technological infrastructure that promotes information transfers, thus lowering the risk and costs of undertaking innovative activity. Using U.S. Small Business Administration Innovation Citation data, the study introduces a direct measure of innovation output to explore the location of innovative activity. Prior empirical studies are also examined. The tendency to cluster geographically is found to be more pronounced when individual industries are examined. Certain states also have a comparative advantage for innovation in specific industries. Policy implications for private firms and state economic development efforts are considered. (TNM)
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Although knowledge spillovers between firms play a critical role in the evolution of technology, we know little about such spillovers. How does knowledge flow across company boundaries? How do industry characteristics and national institutions shape knowledge diffusion? To what extent do companies direct knowledge flows? This study seeks answers to these questions by examining knowledge sharing patterns in the semiconductor industry. The research shows that public sources of technical data play a larger role in knowledge diffusion in Japan than in the United States and in semiconductors relative to steel. By understanding the mechanisms and determinants of knowledge flows, company managers and public policy makers can influence knowledge diffusion more effectively.
Technical communication patterns in two research and development laboratories were examined using modified sociometric techniques. The structure of technical communication networks in the two laboratories results from the interaction of both social relations and work structure. The sociometric "stars" in the technical communication network who provide other members of the organization with information either make greater use of individuals outside the organization or read the literature more than other members of the laboratory.
Friendships with competitors can improve the performance of organizations through the mechanisms of enhanced collaboration, mitigated competition, and better information exchange. Moreover, these benefits are best achieved when competing managers are embedded in a cohesive network of friendships (i.e., one with many friendships among competitors), since cohesion facilitates the verification of information culled from the network, eliminates the structural holes faced by customers, and facilitates the normative control of competitors. The first part of this analysis examines the performance implications of the friendship-network structure within the Sydney hotel industry, with performance being the yield (i.e., revenue per available room) of a given hotel. This shows that friendships with competitors lead to dramatic improvements in hotel yields. Performance is further improved if a manager's competitors are themselves friends, evidencing the benefit of cohesive friendship networks. The second part of the analysis examines the structure of friendship ties among hotel managers and shows that friendships are more likely between managers who are competitors.
This paper re-examines the empirical evidence on the degree of spatial spillover between university research and high technology innovations. The familiar Griliches–Jaffe knowledge production function is estimated at both the state and the metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) level and extended with more precise measures of spatial spillover. Alternatives based on the gravity potential and covering indices are formulated for Jaffe's “geographical coincidence index” and found to provide strong evidence of local spillovers at the state level. At the MSA level, a distinction is made between research and development activities and university research in the MSA and in the surrounding counties. Evidence is found of local spatial externalities between university research and high technology innovative activity, both directly and indirectly via private research and development.
Analyzing data on utility patents from 1975 to 2002 in the careers of 35,400 collaborative inventors, this study examines the influence of brokered versus cohesive collaborative social structures on an individual's creativity. We test the hypothesis that brokerage—direct ties to collaborators who themselves do not have direct ties to each other—leads to greater collaborative creativity. We then test interaction hypotheses on the marginal benefits of cohesion, when collaborators have independent ties between themselves that do not include the individual. We identify the moderators of brokerage and argue for contingent benefits, based on the interaction of structure with the attributes, career experiences, and extended networks of individuals and their collaborators. Using a social definition of creative success, we also trace the development of creative ideas from their generation through future use by others. We test the hypothesis that brokered ideas are less likely to be used in future creative efforts. The results illustrate how collaborative brokerage can aid in the generation of an idea but then hamper its diffusion and use by others.
This article outlines the mechanism by which brokerage provides social capital. Opinion and behavior are more homogeneous within than between groups, so people connected across groups are more familiar with alternative ways of thinking and behaving. Brokerage across the structural holes between groups provides a vision of options otherwise unseen, which is the mechanism by which brokerage becomes social capital. I review evidence consistent with the hypothesis, then look at the networks around managers in a large American electronics company. The organization is rife with structural holes, and brokerage has its expected correlates. Compensation, positive performance evaluations, promotions, and good ideas are disproportionately in the hands of people whose networks span structural holes. The between-group brokers are more likely to express ideas, less likely to have ideas dismissed, and more likely to have ideas evaluated as valuable. I close with implications for creativity and structural change.
Compares the organization of regional economies, focusing on Silicon Valley's thriving regional network-based system and Route 128's declining independent firm-based system. The history of California's Silicon Valley and Massachusetts' Route 128 as centers of innovation in the electronics indistry is traced since the 1970s to show how their network organization contributed to their ability to adapt to international competition. Both regions faced crises in the 1980s, when the minicomputers produced in Route 128 were replaced by personal computers, and Japanese competitors took over Silicon Valley's market for semiconductor memory. However, while corporations in the Route 128 region operated by internalization, using policies of secrecy and company loyalty to guard innovation, Silicon Valley fully utilized horizontal communication and open labor markets in addition to policies of fierce competition among firms. As a result, and despite mounting competition, Silicon Valley generated triple the number of new jobs between 1975 and 1990, and the market value of its firms increased 1 billion for the same time period. From analysis of these regions, it is clear that innovation should be a collective process, most successful when institutional and social boundaries dividing firms are broken down. A thriving regional economy depends not just on the initiative of individual entrepreneurs, but on an embedded network of social, technical, and commercial relationships between firms and external organizations. With increasingly fragmented markets, regional interdependencies rely on consistently renewed formal and informal relationships, as well as public funding for education, research, and training. Local industrial systems built on regional networks tend to be more flexible and technologically dynamic than do hierarchical, independent firm-based systems in which innovation is isolated within the boundaries of corporations. (CJC)
The original edition of this book summarized more than a decade of work on communications flow in science and engineering organizations, showing how human and organizational systems could be restructured to bring about improved productivity and better person-to-person contact. While many studies have been done since then, few of them invalidate the general conclusions and recommendations Allen offers. In a new preface he points out - new developments, noting areas that need some modification, elaboration, or extension, and directing readers to the appropriate journal articles where the findings, are reported. The first three chapters provide an overview of the communication system in technology, present the author's research methods, and describe differences in the career paths and goals of engineers and scientists that cause special problems for organizations. The book then discusses how technological information is acquired by the R & D organization, shows how critical technical communication within the laboratory is for R & D performance, and originates the idea of the "gatekeeper," the person who links his or her organization to the world at large. Concluding chapters take up the influence of formal and informal organization and of architecture and office layouts on communication. Many of these ideas have been successfully incorporated by architects and managers in the design of new R & D facilities and complexes.
In recent years, the co-operation between industrial firms and universities has increased considerably, but the interaction pattern in different technological fields is not uniform. In science-based fields, university departments have a distinct focus on basic research and the major interest of industry is the observation of science. In less science-based fields, the solution of technical problems is a major concern of industry. In all fields, the exchange of knowledge in techno-scientific communities is a crucial element of interaction. In Germany, strong intra-disciplinary ties between universities and industry in mechanical engineering obviously imply an insufficient openness to, and integration of, new technologies. The particular combination of a long-standing culture of co-operation and the economic success in the mechanical industry can be interpreted in terms of a specific path-dependant evolution of a stable sector of the national system of innovation, but with the tendency to lock-in effects.
Whether social networks diffuse knowledge across firm boundaries has been the topic of much debate. To inform these theories, this article considers two questions. First, who has contacts across firm boundaries? And second, when do these relations diffuse knowledge? Our empirical evidence comes from a survey of 346 engineers in the wireless communication industry around Aalborg in Northern Denmark. Our analysis finds that social contact between these engineers is frequent and is used to diffuse knowledge that receivers find useful. More experienced engineers are more likely to receive valuable knowledge from their networks. These findings show that the long-term relationships, which are more likely based on trust and reputation, are also more likely to be a channel valuable knowledge.
The paper re-examines the twin concepts of knowledge “tacitness” and “codification”, which both the literature on (broadly defined) industrial districts, and some recent econometric literature on “localized knowledge spillovers” have possibly mis-handled. Even within specialized local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) clusters, knowledge may be highly codified and firm-specific. The case study on Brescia mechanical firms shows that knowledge, rather than flowing freely within the cluster boundaries, circulates within a few smaller “epistemic communities”, each centered around the mechanical engineers of individual machine producers, and spanning to a selected number of suppliers’ and customers’ technicians. Physical distance among members of each community vary a lot, but even local messages may be highly codified.
This paper models the phenomenon of collective invention as it exists when the disclosure of information among competing entities creates a positive feedback that allows for high innovation rates and fast knowledge accumulation. Develop a formal model that accounts for the dynamics of knowledge and collective invention and examining how the architecture of the network of agents influences patterns and rate of innovation, we find that the communication network structure has a strong influence on system performance. The small world structure is an efficient architecture when absorption capacities are low, while large absorbing capacities, by contrast, emphasise the value of short path length.
The role of informal networks in the development of regional clusters has recently received a lot of attention in the literature. Informal contact between employees in different firms is claimed to be one of the main carriers of knowledge between firms in a cluster. This paper examines empirically the role of informal contacts in a specific cluster. In a questionnaire survey, we asked a sample of engineers in a regional cluster of wireless communication firms in Northern Denmark a series of questions on informal networks. We analyze whether the engineers actually acquire valuable knowledge through these networks. We find that the engineers do share even quite valuable knowledge with informal contacts. This shows that informal contacts represent an important channel of knowledge diffusion.
Employees frequently give technical information or advice to colleagues in other firms, including direct competitors. This paper addresses whether such information-transfer is in the economic interests of the firms involved.It is hypothesized that employees trade information in accordance with the economic interests of their firms. Conditions are discussed in which information trading creates an economic advantage for the participating firms.Data on specific information transfer decisions were obtained from a survey of 294 technically oriented middle-level managers from the U.S. specialty steel and mini-mill industry. The observed pattern of information transfer strongly supports the hypotheses (1) that employees trade information and (2) that such trading is desirable from a firm's point of view. Furthermore, the data suggest a positive link between the participation of a firm's employees in informal informationtransfer networks and the economic performance of the firm. Indeed, it can be in a firm's interest to make its boundaries penetrable for informal information trading rather than to discourage such transfers.
Knowledge is recognized as a crucial element of economic growth in addition to physical capital and labor. Knowledge can be transformed into products and processes and is, in this way, exploited commercially. The ability to produce, identify, and exploit knowledge depends on the existing knowledge stock and the absorptive capacity of actors such as employees at firms and researchers at universities and research institutions. The existing knowledge stock might not be commercialized to its full extent; therefore, knowledge flows must occur and transmission channels are needed. The paper tests the hypotheses that entrepreneurship and university–industry relations are vehicles for knowledge flows and, thus, spur economic growth.
The mid-1990s saw the rise of an important movement: a recognition that organizational knowledge, in its various forms and attributes, could be an important source of competitive advantage in the marketplace. Knowledge management has become one of the core competencies in today's competitive environment, where so much value in companies resides in their people, systems, and processes. This book examines a variety of important knowledge-related topics, some of which has been previously published in such journals as the Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, and the Sloan Management Review, such as the use of informal networks, communities of practice, the impact of knowledge on successful alliances, social capital and trust, narrative and storytelling and the use of human intermediaries in the knowledge management process. The book includes contributions from such leading thinkers as Lawrence Prusak, Dorothy Leonard, Eric Lesser, Rob Cross, and David Snowden. This book synthesizes some of the best thinking by the IBM Institute for Knowledge-Based Organizations, a think tank whose research agenda focuses on the management methods for deriving tangible business value from knowledge management and their real-world application.
Chapter 1: The Inconstant Geography of Capitalism Chapter 2: Industrialization as Disequilibrium Growth Chapter 3: How Industries Produce Regions Chapter 4: Technological Change and Geographical Industrialization Chapter 5: The Territorial Organization of Production Chapter 6: Labour - The Politics of Place and Workplace Chapter 7: The Process of Territorial Development Chapter 8: Economy, Society, Territory.
Propuesta administrativa inscrita dentro la corriente de la administración del conocimiento, consistente en la formación de lo que los autores llaman comunidades de práctica, para la creación de una verdadera organización de conocimiento. Aunque las comunidades en general tienen un proceso de formación "natural", las compañías han de ser más proactivas y sistemáticas para desarrollarlas e integrarlas dentro de la estrategia corporativa. Las comunidades de práctica son una palanca dentro de la planeación estratégica general, que origina nuevas oportunidades de negocios, mecanismos de identificación entre las metas empresariales y el desarrollo personal, transferencia de las mejores prácticas y la retención de los talentos más calificados de las compañías.
"I have spent my whole professional life as an international economist thinking and writing about economic geography, without being aware of it," begins Paul Krugman in the readable and anecdotal style that has become a hallmark of his writings. Krugman observes that his own shortcomings in ignoring economic geography have been shared by many professional economists, primarily because of the lack of explanatory models. In Geography and Trade he provides a stimulating synthesis of ideas in the literature and describes new models for implementing a study of economic geography that could change the nature of the field. Economic theory usually assumes away distance. Krugman argues that it is time to put it back - that the location of production in space is a key issue both within and between nations.