Internationalization of Developing Country Firms into Developed Countries: The Role of Host Country Knowledge-Based Assets and IPR Protection in FDI Location Choice

Foreign direct investment (FDI) from developing to developed countries is a widespread phenomenon in the global economy. The literature suggests that such investments frequently follow a motive to seek knowledge-based assets, with the goal of augmenting the firm's resource base through internationalization. We argue that the prevalence of this motive may direct developing country firms' FDI toward developed countries with relatively stronger knowledge-based assets and weaker intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and that this effect is amplified when both conditions coincide. Furthermore, we suggest that the respective importance of knowledge-based assets and IPR protection diminishes as developing countries augment their own knowledge-based assets and that the importance of asset seeking as an internationalization motive for the country's firms declines compared with other motives such as institutional escapism. We investigate our model with FDI data including investment flows from 85 developing countries to 35 developed countries during 2009–2014. We find that developing country firms prefer investing in developed countries with stronger knowledge-based assets and weaker IPR protection. These criteria attract even more FDI when both co-occur. Furthermore, the influence of weaker host country IPR protection on the location decision diminishes for firms originating from home countries with higher stocks of knowledge-based assets.     

Opportunities for research about managing the knowledge-based enterprise

Potentially valuable directions for new research into the management of knowledge-based enterprises are identified in this paper. This was done by reviewing relevant literature to develop research questions, using a model of knowledge-based capabilities to focus the review. The model highlights six knowledge capabilities: acquisition, creation, capture, storage, diffusion and transfer. A knowledge-based enterprise would have to engage in (if not excel at) these activities simply to manage its key resource – knowledge. Forty-two research questions were proposed based on the review. The focus of the research questions varies widely, representing potential opportunities for researchers from many different areas to further our understanding of managing knowledge-based enterprises.     

基于元胞自动机的知识型组织中知识传播过程仿真研究

建立了知识型组织中知识型成员间知识传播过程的元胞自动机模型,对知识型成员间隐性知识传播过程的影响因素、传播规律等进行了仿真研究。模拟结果表明:知识型成员间的信任、知识传播者的意愿和影响力与知识传播速度正相关;扁平化的组织结构有利于知识自下而上的传播;当组织知识水平达到最优传播规模时,组织的知识传播瞬时速度将达到最大值。     

Reflections on knowledge-based approaches to the organization of production

Knowledge-based approaches to the firm offer valuable insights into some of the central issues of governance and organizational design—especially into long neglected problems of coordination. I start from the assumption that the fundamental problem of economic organization is reconciling efficiency in knowledge development with efficiency in knowledge application. The paper extends the knowledge-based view of the firm and knowledge integration approach to organizational capability that I outlined in earlier papers (Grant in Strategic Management Journal, 1996a; Grant in Journal of Management Studies 7(4)375–387, 1996b) and draws upon subsequent contributions to the literature. From this basis, I derive implications for the relative efficiencies of alternative institutions of economic organization and for the design of firm structures.     

The Use of Stochastic Simulation in Knowledge-Based Systems

Knowledge-based systems support the decision-making process with the help of domain specific knowledge bases. The knowledge bases almost always have uncertainty associated with them. A variety of approaches have been proposed in the artificial intelligence (AI) literature for the construction of and reasoning with uncertain knowledge bases. Building on this stream of research, we focus on how stochastic simulation can be used to construct and reason with knowledge bases that have uncertainties. An advantage of the simulation methodology is that it may not have to make many of the assumptions made by other approaches. It also allows the designer of the knowledge-based system to control the methodology based on accuracy and time requirements. The simulation approach to knowledge base construction is a modified version of the concept induction procedure used in AI. However, it incorporates, as does simulation modeling, statistical tests to identify the best rule that describes the relationship among the variables. We show that when simulation is used to reason with uncertain knowledge bases, under certain conditions, the number of simulation trials needed to achieve a given level of accuracy is independent of the characteristics, such as the size, of the knowledge base. Empirical results obtained from an experiment confirm our theoretical results and provide evidence that simulation methodology is practical for real life knowledge-based systems.     

开放式创新下的知识治理——基于认知视角的跨案例研究

开放式创新作为21世纪的创新趋势,所带来的挑战已经不是知识管理层面的问题,而是组织知识治理层面的问题,即迫切需要有效的治理机制来应对由知识差异性、知识复杂性以及创新者利益冲突所产生的知识基础性风险,从而为这种分布式、大规模的创新活动提供制度性保障.本文基于内涵更加丰富的认知视角,将知识治理的两种主要思路--情景组合观与流程设计观有机融合,以开放式创新中的知识流转作为分析单元,以创新过程各个环节中的知识基础性风险为分析的微观基础与治理对象,运用跨案例研究,旨在超越交易成本理论的传统思路建立一个开放式创新下知识治理的理论框架,从而为更加深入的实证研究奠定基础,也为企业的开放式创新实践提供有益的借鉴与参考.     

The disruption of the international supply chain: Firm resilience and knowledge preparedness to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak

The lockdowns of several countries due to COVID-19 outbreak resulted in severe economic consequences, among which was the immediate general disruption of the international supply chain, with few exceptions. This article aims to investigate whether some supply chains were resilient or not and why, using a knowledge-based approach and specifically focusing on the role played by supply chain innovation in building resilience to disruptions, thanks to knowledge preparedness. The study is motivated by two main rationales: the unique situation of a global pandemic and the absence of studies providing grounded evidences of supply chain resilience in a worst-case scenario.The research is based on the assumption that knowledge preparedness introduces logistics/supply chain innovations and enables companies to prevent, detect, and respond to unpredictable negative events.By using a large-scale sample of European firms' data from the Eurostat and a multivariate regression analysis, the authors cross-study the effects of supply chain knowledge preparedness – based on innovation type and expenditures – on the international trade of goods from January to June 2020. The results confirm that the most resilient supply chains were those that had previously introduced innovations, a factor that strengthens the knowledge preparedness of firms when faced with unforeseeable supply chain disruptions.     

TWO DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS*

This paper discusses two principles that have become increasingly important in the design of knowledge-based systems: domain-specific knowledge used to support opportunistic reasoning and hierarchical organization structure used to control and coordinate problem-solving activity. We propose a design framework that embodies these two principles and describe how this framework has been used to develop a knowledge-based job-shop scheduling system. This system, called OPIS 0, has undergone limited testing in an experimental environment modeled after an actual job shop. Its performance has been very good compared to ISIS and to the more traditional approach of constructing a schedule by dispatching jobs using the COVERT priority rule. The resulting design also shows potential for use in a decision support role.     

University-to-industry knowledge transfer: literature review and unanswered questions

This paper reviews the economic literature concerning university-to-industry knowledge transfer. Papers on this topic are divided into four categories. Research in the 'firm characteristics' category focuses directly on company issues, such as internal organization, resource allocation, and partnerships. In contrast, research in the 'university characteristics' stream pays little attention to the firms that commercialize inventions, but rather focuses on issues relating to the university, such as licensing strategies, incentives for professors to patent, and policies such as taking equity in return for intellectual property. The 'geography in terms of localized spillovers' stream of research considers the spatial relationship between firms and universities relative to performance in terms of knowledge transfer success. Finally, the 'channels of knowledge transfer' literature examines the relative importance of various transfer pathways between universities and firms, such as publications, patents, and consulting. Each of these research streams is discussed and key papers are described highlighting important methodologies and results. Finally, an outline of topics requiring further research in each of the four categories is offered.     

Towards intellectual globalization: A theoretical exploration and its implications for research

Globalization is a complex process which changes as well as has the potential to change the various events in the world at multiple levels. It is widely recognized that there are multiple facets of globalization including political, economic and cultural. In this paper, I advance the concept of intellectual globalization—a process of knowledge creation, transformation, and diffusion that goes beyond the immediate theoretical confines of knowledge management. The roots and functioning of this process are examined at the level of the nation, organization, and the individual. Implications for future research on the relationship of this aspect of globalization with various cultures of the world are discussed.     

以知识为视角的跨国公司理论演化过程分析

跨国公司理论由垄断优势理论和内部化理论强调的市场交易性失效观点过渡到了知识基础观理论强调的市场在能力上的不完善源于对知识特征看法的演变。因此以知识为着眼点在MNCs理论领域描绘一个清晰的研究纲要,系统地梳理各理论对知识属性看法以及其对跨国公司本质分析的演变,对于构建在跨国公司领域更加折中的分析框架是有益的。     

Uncertainty,pluralism, and the knowledge-based theory of the firm: From J.-C. Spender’s contribution to a socio-cognitive approach

J.-C. Spender’s award-winning, knowledge-based theory of the firm is based on four premises: (1) The firm can be sufficiently understood as a system of knowledge, (2) explicit and implicit knowing can be clearly dissociated, (3) organizations are conceived as cognizing entities, and (4) intuition shaped by shared cultural practices is a superior source of managerial knowledge. This line of reasoning represents a social constructionist view of the enactment, transfer, and storage of knowledge according to which managerial knowledge is largely tacitly shaped by industry recipes and the firm’s socio-cultural conventions and other social processes. Although comprehensive in scope, we argue that a knowledge-based theory of the firm needs to integrate a cognitivist approach that includes the synergetic production of tacit and explicit knowledge, the role of reflective thinking in resolving strategic uncertainties, and the interaction between the individual and the social. This socio-cognitive theory of the firm posits that sustained competitive advantage of a firm is founded on the ability to align knowledge internally within the firm as well as externally with its stakeholders through the individual sense-making of feedback from other individuals.     

心理契约类型对隐性知识共享意愿影响的实证研究

通过结构化问卷对知识密集型企业中的216名知识员工进行了实地调查,从实证的角度证实了不同类型的心理契约对员工隐性知识共享意愿具有不同的影响力。分析结果表明,ROUSSEAU对心理契约3种类型的划分依然适用于中国知识员工的心理契约研究,平衡型心理契约对知识员工隐性知识共享意愿具有显著的正相关性,交易型心理契约具有显著的负相关性,关系型心理契约则具有弱负相关性。     

Unveiling the black box of IJV innovativeness: The role of explicit and tacit knowledge transfer

This paper explores the relationships between the tacit knowledge, explicit knowledge, and innovativeness of International Joint Ventures (IJVs) based on knowledge-based and learning theories. In the context of IJVs, the relationship between knowledge (explicit and tacit) transfer and innovativeness is still complicated by many challenges. We conducted a survey of 199 IJVs in South Korea. A structural equation model was used to test hypothesized linkages. Our results confirm that explicit knowledge transfer is positively associated with innovativeness. The explicit knowledge transferred from the foreign parent to the IJV has a stronger impact on innovativeness than tacit knowledge does. Additionally, tacit knowledge proved to not exhibit a direct impact on the innovativeness of IJVs. The results provide strong support for the mediating role of explicit knowledge in the relationship between tacit knowledge transfer and an IJV's innovativeness. Finally, the strength of the relationship between only explicit knowledge transferred from a parent firm and an IJV's innovativeness increases with international work experience.     

基于知识的组织结构模型

本文在分析企业组织结构发展历程的基础上,深入研究了知识与组织之间的内在联系,提出了一种基于知识并面向任务的三维立体组织结构,以智能化的模型分析方法为现代制造企业经营业务过程分析与企业重组提供先进的组织管理模式,对提高企业组织系统的核心竞争能力将发挥积极的促进作用。     

将知识管理纳入企业战略

分析了知识管理的渊源,论述了将知识管理纳入企业战略的可能性,提出了基于知识的企业持续竞争优势框架。     

社会资本、吸收能力对创新绩效影响的实证研究

以企业知识理论为基础,从吸收能力这一视角出发,剖析企业外部社会资本和内部社会资本与企业创新绩效之间的关系;依据经典文献,对外部社会互动、基于认知的信任、共同语言、内部社会互动、基于情感的信任和共同愿景与知识识别、知识获取、知识共享和知识应用的关系进行重新梳理,并对知识应用与企业创新绩效的关系进行阐述;构建概念模型,并采用469个样本进行实证。研究结果表明,基于认知的信任、共同语言促进知识识别,外部社会互动、共同语言促进知识获取,内部社会互动抑制知识共享,基于情感的信任、共同愿景促进知识共享,基于情感的信任促进知识应用,知识识别促进知识获取,知识获取促进知识共享和知识应用,知识共享促进知识应用,知识应用促进企业创新绩效。从整体上看,吸收能力在企业社会资本对企业创新绩效的影响中起中介作用。     

知识产权保护对经济增长的作用研究

实证研究加强知识产权保护是否会促进经济增长。论述知识产权保护与R&D活动以及国际贸易的交互作用,分析其在国家经济增长中发挥的作用,并确定采用R&D知识存量作为R&D活动的代理变量,采用进出口总额占GDP的比重作为国际贸易的代理变量,基于柯布道-格拉斯生产函数构建理论模型,基于影响因素分析推导并建立实证回归模型;依据传统的永续盘存法分别测算固定资本存量和R&D知识存量,利用1980年至2005年27个发达国家和22个发展中国家的面板数据,采用固定效应与随机效应相结合的方法,检验知识产权保护对经济增长的影响效果。实证研究结果表明,加强知识产权保护对经济增长有正向的促进作用,加强知识产权保护和扩大国际贸易对经济增长的促进作用显著,加强知识产权保护和R&D活动对经济增长的促进作用不显著。     

Effects of intellectual capital and university knowledge in indigenous innovation: evidence from Indian SMEs

Abstract

Intellectual capital and collaboration with universities are vital knowledge management practices for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to innovate and improve the effectiveness of their operations. This study investigates empirically the impacts of intellectual capital and university knowledge on indigenous innovation and how business and institutional environments affect the relationships. The research model is tested using moderated regression analysis and data collected from 150 SMEs in India. The results show that intellectual capital and university knowledge improve indigenous innovation, both individually and interactively. The effect of intellectual capital in indigenous innovation is amplified by dysfunctional competition whereas the effect of university knowledge in indigenous innovation is attenuated by environmental uncertainty. In addition, we find that indigenous innovation is positively associated with business performance. The impact of indigenous innovation on business performance is enhanced by dysfunctional competition but reduced by environmental uncertainty.     

The knowledge management of micro-firms in the crowd: key challenges for successful operations*

Abstract

Crowdfunding platforms are increasingly being used by small and micro-firms to fund the development and initial promotion of their new products. The transition from a crowdfunding campaign to the subsequent operational phase is critical to successfully fulfil the expectations of the backers who supported the micro-firm and expect to receive the new product. This paper analyzes the main challenges that must be faced by micro-firms during this transition, adopting the perspective of knowledge management theory. Based on an exploratory case study analysis, the paper highlights the particularities of these knowledge management challenges in terms of knowledge diversity, dependence and novelty. Asymmetry, dispersion, synchronization, a lack of a common understanding and backer lock-in are the main knowledge-based challenges for the operations of micro-firms that use crowdfunding. Various theoretical and practical implications of the findings are offered.