Search results for "knowledge sources"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
Modes of innovation and differentiated responses to globalisation - a case study of innovation modes in the Agder region, Norway
2011
Published version of an article in the jounal: Journal of the Knowledge Economy. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13132-011-0060-9 The main argument of this paper is that firms and industries are dominated by different innovation modes and that they therefore respond differently to challenges of globalisation. The paper differentiates between three modes: science, technology and innovation (STI), doing, using and interacting (DUI) application mode and the DUI technological mode. These innovation modes are based on different dominant knowledge bases, modes of learning and external knowledge. What is the implication of these differences with regard to competing…
Depth and breadth of external knowledge search and performance: The mediating role of absorptive capacity
2015
Nowadays it is commonly accepted that exploiting external knowledge sources is important for firms' innovation and performance. However, it is still not clear how this effect takes place and what internal capabilities are involved in the process. We propose to open the black box between external knowledge search strategies, and innovation and performance by proposing absorptive capacity (AC) as the mediating variable. A sample of 102 biotechnology firms from Spain is used to test the proposed theoretical model through structural equation modeling taking the partial least squares approach. Results suggest that AC acts as a full mediator in the relationship between the depth of external knowl…
Knowledge-Intensive Business Service as innovation agent through client interaction and labour mobility
2008
Theoretical propositions often maintain that the Knowledge-Intensive Business Service (KIBS) sector is important in stimulating innovation activity in other industries. Empirical results from quantitative innovation surveys on the other hand generally regard KIBS as less important innovation partners for other firms. Such results may rely on the fact that quantitative surveys do not seize all the roles KIBS firms have as knowledge sources. The paper thus demonstrates that many workers left the KIBS sector in Norway to start working in other sectors during parts of the 1990s, signifying a flow of knowledge following the workers out of the KIBS sector.
What Is Regional in Regional Clusters? The Case of the Globally Oriented Oil and Gas Cluster in Agder, Norway
2012
This paper focuses on the question to what extent knowledge sources in regional clusters stimulate the innovation activity of cluster firms. In doing so we contribute to the literature by combining two analytical approaches: by (1) distinguishing firms dominated by different innovation modes; and (2) differentiating between inter-organizational linkages and open knowledge environments as two distinct knowledge sources. Based on data from the Agder equipment supplier industry we demonstrate that mobility of labour, local buzz and inter-organizational linkages are key regional knowledge sources, but clearly more so for some types of firms than others.
Competitive firms in thin regions in Norway: The importance of workplace learning
2015
The article departs from empirical studies of two competitive firms in an organisationally thin region in Norway. The main question in the article is how these firms have achieved global competitiveness. The article focuses its inquiry on how the firms organise their innovation activity, giving special attention to the firms' organisational learning and absorptive capacity. It is found that find that workplace learning enables the firms to utilise knowledge in uncommon ways. The learning rests on specific organisational traits in the firms, such as broad participation, long-term on-the-job training, the use of practice-based knowledge in innovation projects, and links to national and global…
Dynamic assessment of word derivational knowledge: Tracing the development of a learner
2016
The present paper reports on a case study that explored the applicability of dynamic assessment (DA) for promoting learners’ word derivational knowledge in English as a second or a foreign language (L2). One learner’s performance on tasks assessing his word derivational knowledge was measured four times. The first two measurements were conducted before and after three weekly human-mediated DA sessions and the last two, which took place a year and a half later, before and after three weekly computerised DA sessions. Think aloud protocols and interviews were used to trace changes in the learner’s use of strategies and knowledge sources. The results revealed that following the dynamic assessme…