IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/ijimxx/v15y2011i03ns1363919611003453.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

DO SMEsBENEFIT FROM HRM-RELATED KNOWLEDGE PROTECTION IN INNOVATION MANAGEMENT?

Author

Listed:
  • HEIDI OLANDER

    (Lappeenranta University of Technology, School of Business, P.O. Box 20, FIN-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland)

  • PIA HURMELINNA-LAUKKANEN

    (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4600, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland)

  • PIA HEILMANN

    (Lappeenranta University of Technology, School of Business, P.O. Box 20, FIN-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland)

Abstract

In terms of innovation generation and management, creative employees are the most valuable resources in small firms. Thus, knowledge leaking and leaving are the major staff-related risks. Protecting HRM-related knowledge is one effective way of dealing with these challenges, although this is not always acknowledged by academics or by managers. It is particularly valuable in safeguarding the existing background knowledge of the firm, and thus the prerequisites for future innovation. The aim in this study is to shed light on what is a somewhat neglected protection and appropriability mechanism, and thus to enhance understanding of the role of HRM in protecting core company knowledge—especially in SMEs. These issues are explored in a review of the latest literature and a case study of 15 SMEs representing three industries. The theoretical contribution of the study is to introduce and empirically test a typology of five HRM-related knowledge-protection mechanisms: recruitment, education and training on matters of confidentiality, retaining employees, capturing and diffusing knowledge in-house, and monitoring.

Suggested Citation

  • Heidi Olander & Pia Hurmelinna-Laukkanen & Pia Heilmann, 2011. "DO SMEsBENEFIT FROM HRM-RELATED KNOWLEDGE PROTECTION IN INNOVATION MANAGEMENT?," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(03), pages 593-616.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:15:y:2011:i:03:n:s1363919611003453
    DOI: 10.1142/S1363919611003453
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1363919611003453
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S1363919611003453?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Graham Cheetham & Geoff Chivers, 2005. "Professions, Competence and Informal Learning," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3109.
    2. James C. Y. Lee & R. S. M. Lau, 2005. "ERP Implementation Project at TS Group," Asian Case Research Journal (ACRJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(02), pages 263-282.
    3. Unknown, 2005. "UFW Contract: Major Farms, Inc," United Farm Workers (UFW) Contracts 236461, University of California, Davis, Changing Face.
    4. Wesley M. Cohen & Richard R. Nelson & John P. Walsh, 2000. "Protecting Their Intellectual Assets: Appropriability Conditions and Why U.S. Manufacturing Firms Patent (or Not)," NBER Working Papers 7552, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. -, 2005. "Major statistical publications: abstracts," Sede Subregional de la CEPAL para el Caribe (Estudios e Investigaciones) 27589, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    6. N/A, 2005. "New Developments in the Journal," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 23(1), pages 1-2, February.
    7. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jan Pawlowski & Markus Bick & René Peinl & Stefan Thalmann & Ronald Maier & Lars Hetmank & Paul Kruse & Malte Martensen & Henri Pirkkalainen, 2014. "Social Knowledge Environments," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 6(2), pages 81-88, April.
    2. Luis Enrique Valdez-Juárez & Domingo García-Pérez-de-Lema & Gonzalo Maldonado-Guzmán, 2018. "ICT and KM, Drivers of Innovation and Profitability in SMEs," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(01), pages 1-34, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hans Löfsten, 2016. "New technology-based firms and their survival: The importance of business networks, and entrepreneurial business behaviour and competition," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 31(3), pages 393-409, May.
    2. Leiponen, Aija & Byma, Justin, 2009. "If you cannot block, you better run: Small firms, cooperative innovation, and appropriation strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 1478-1488, November.
    3. Pamela Mueller, 2005. "Exploring the Knowledge Filter - How Entrepreneurship and University-Industry Relations Drive Economic Growth," ERSA conference papers ersa05p610, European Regional Science Association.
    4. Fritsch, Michael & Wyrwich, Michael, 2021. "Is innovation (increasingly) concentrated in large cities? An international comparison," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(6).
    5. Christopher S. Hayter & Albert N. Link, 2022. "From discovery to commercialization: accretive intellectual property strategies among small, knowledge-based firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1367-1377, March.
    6. Hasan, Iftekhar & Tucci, Christopher L., 2010. "The innovation-economic growth nexus: Global evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1264-1276, December.
    7. Anokhin, Sergey & Wincent, Joakim, 2014. "Technological arbitrage opportunities and interindustry differences in entry rates," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 437-452.
    8. Zabara, Tatiana, 2019. "Evolution of entrepreneurial teams in technology-based new ventures," Other publications TiSEM cc09d065-3811-47b6-9c93-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Leiponen, Aija & Drejer, Ina, 2007. "What exactly are technological regimes?: Intra-industry heterogeneity in the organization of innovation activities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1221-1238, October.
    10. Chang-Yang Lee & Ji-Hwan Lee & Ajai S. Gaur, 2017. "Are large business groups conducive to industry innovation? The moderating role of technological appropriability," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 313-337, June.
    11. Henri A. Schildt & Markku V.J. Maula & Thomas Keil, 2005. "Explorative and Exploitative Learning from External Corporate Ventures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(4), pages 493-515, July.
    12. Henrekson, Magnus & Johansson, Dan, 2010. "Firm Growth, Institutions and Structural Transformation," Ratio Working Papers 150, The Ratio Institute.
    13. Konon, Alexander & Fritsch, Michael & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2018. "Business cycles and start-ups across industries: An empirical analysis of German regions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 742-761.
    14. Talat Mahmood, 1997. "Survival of Newly Founded Businesses: A Log-Logistic Model Approach," CIG Working Papers FS IV 97-32, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    15. Emeric Henry & Francisco Ruiz-Aliseda, 2016. "Keeping Secrets: The Economics of Access Deterrence," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 95-118, August.
    16. Galasso, Alberto & Schankerman, Mark, 2013. "Patents and Cumulative Innovation:Causal Evidence from the Courts," IIR Working Paper 13-16, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    17. Andrés Langebaek R. & Diego Vásquez E., 2007. "Determinantes de la actividad innovadora en la industria manufacturera colombiana," Borradores de Economia 433, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    18. Crass, Dirk & Garcia Valero, Francisco & Pitton, Francesco & Rammer, Christian, 2016. "Protecting innovation through patents and trade secrets: Determinants and performance impacts for firms with a single innovation," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-061, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    19. Lars Håkanson, 2005. "Epistemic Communities and Cluster Dynamics: On the Role of Knowledge in Industrial Districts," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 433-463.
    20. Carla Daniela Calá & Miguel Manjón-Antolín & Josep-Maria Arauzo-Carod, 2016. "Regional determinants of firm entry in a developing country," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 259-279, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:15:y:2011:i:03:n:s1363919611003453. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/ijim/ijim.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.