IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/tkp/tiim13/s6_257-268.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Knowledge Dynamics and Innovation: Case Studies in a Sparsely Populated Area

Author

Listed:
  • Harri Jokela

    (University of Oulu, Finland)

  • Eija-Riitta Niinikoski

    (University of Oulu, Finland)

  • Matti Muhos

    (University of Oulu, Finland)

Abstract

Purpose: This study describes the sources of essential knowledge for the innovation cases in three micro companies and analyses the knowledge dynamics in these cases. This study seeks to answer the following questions: What are the sources of essential knowledge for the innovation cases in the three micro companies selected? What kind of knowledge is required in these cases, and what phases can be identified in these innovation cases? These questions are answered through a multiple case study that uses the knowledge biography technique. Method: This is a multiple case study with holistic strategy. The unit of analysis is the innovation case. We analyse innovation cases in three micro companies operating in the Oulu South region. At the heart of the study is the knowledge biography technique, an innovative approach that provides a deeper understanding of knowledge dynamics in firms and regions. The empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews and public archives related to the case company. The interviews with key informants were mainly conducted face-to-face during fieldwork in 2013. The data was analysed using an inclusive and iterative process, and the main findings were summarised. Findings: We tracked the sources of essential knowledge for the three innovation cases and the knowledge dynamics of these cases were described by using the knowledge biography method. This study will serve as an interesting benchmarking tool for any public organisation that offers business services to companies. The findings suggest that public actors should pay more attention to the case-specific needs of innovative micro companies while developing their services. Value: In the future studies, it would be interesting to analyse more innovation cases using the knowledge biography technique and make comparisons among these cases.

Suggested Citation

  • Harri Jokela & Eija-Riitta Niinikoski & Matti Muhos, 2013. "Knowledge Dynamics and Innovation: Case Studies in a Sparsely Populated Area," Diversity, Technology, and Innovation for Operational Competitiveness: Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Technology Innovation and Industrial Management,, ToKnowPress.
    • Handle: RePEc:tkp:tiim13:s6_257-268
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.toknowpress.net/ISBN/978-961-6914-07-9/papers/S6_257-268.pdf
    File Function: full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bjørn Asheim & Lars Coenen, 2006. "Contextualising Regional Innovation Systems in a Globalising Learning Economy: On Knowledge Bases and Institutional Frameworks," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 163-173, January.
    2. repec:nct:journl:v:17:y:2009:i:8:p:1223-1241 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Olivier Crevoisier & Hugues Jeannerat, "undated". "Territorial Knowledge Dynamics: From the Proximity Paradigm to Multi-location Milieus," GRET Journal Papers 08-09, GRET Group of Research in Territorial Economy, University of Neuchâtel.
    4. Schutjens, Veronique & Stam, Erik, 2003. "The Evolution and Nature of Young Firm Networks: A Longitudinal Perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 115-134, September.
    5. Peter N. Golder & Gerard J. Tellis, 2004. "Growing, Growing, Gone: Cascades, Diffusion, and Turning Points in the Product Life Cycle," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(2), pages 207-218, December.
    6. Simone Strambach, 2010. "Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS)," Chapters, in: Philip Cooke & Carla De Laurentis & Stewart MacNeill & Chris Collinge (ed.), Platforms of Innovation, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Olivier Crevoisier & Hugues Jeannerat, 2009. "Territorial Knowledge Dynamics: From the Proximity Paradigm to Multi-location Milieus," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(8), pages 1223-1241, August.
    8. Meghana Ayyagari & Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirguc-Kunt, 2007. "Small and Medium Enterprises Across the Globe," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 415-434, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Strambach , Simone, 2015. "Combining knowledge bases in transnational innovation - microfoundations and the geography of organization," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/10, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    2. Strambach Simone & Klement Benjamin, 2013. "Exploring plasticity in the development path of the automotive industry in Baden-Württemberg: the role of combinatorial knowledge dynamics," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 57(1-2), pages 67-82, October.
    3. Franz Tödtling & Alexander Auer, 2021. "Knowledge bases, innovation and multi-scalar relationships: which kind of territorial boundedness of industrial clusters?," Chapters, in: Dirk Fornahl & Nils Grashof (ed.), The Globalization of Regional Clusters, chapter 7, pages 163-188, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Simone Strambach & Annika Surmeier, 2012. "Knowledge Dynamics in Sustainable Standard Setting in Tourism – The case of "Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA)"," Working Papers on Innovation and Space 2012-04, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    5. Dominik Santner & Dirk Fornahl, 2014. "From here, from there, and from beyond: endogenous and exogenous factors triggering change along the cluster life cycle in a multi-scalar environment," Working Papers on Innovation and Space 2014-02, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    6. Markus Grillitsch, 2016. "Institutions, smart specialisation dynamics and policy," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(1), pages 22-37, February.
    7. Grillitsch, Markus & Sotarauta, Markku, 2018. "Regional Growth Paths: From Structure to Agency and Back," Papers in Innovation Studies 2018/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    8. Marcus Conlé & Henning Kroll & Cornelia Storz & Tobias ten Brink, 2023. "University satellite institutes as exogenous facilitators of technology transfer ecosystem development," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 147-180, February.
    9. Binz, Christian & Truffer, Bernhard & Coenen, Lars, 2014. "Why space matters in technological innovation systems—Mapping global knowledge dynamics of membrane bioreactor technology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 138-155.
    10. Kuebart, Andreas & Ibert, Oliver, 2019. "Beyond territorial conceptions of entrepreneurial ecosystems: The dynamic spatiality of knowledge brokering in seed accelerators," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 63(2-4), pages 118-133.
    11. Rehák Štefan & Hudec Oto & Buček Milan, 2013. "Path dependency and path plasticity in emerging industries: Two cases from Slovakia," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 57(1-2), pages 52-66, October.
    12. Shuai Shi & Kathy Pain, 2020. "Investigating China’s Mid-Yangtze River economic growth region using a spatial network growth model," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(14), pages 2973-2993, November.
    13. Jonas Heiberg & Bernhard Truffer, 2021. "The emergence of a global innovation system – a case study from the water sector," GEIST - Geography of Innovation and Sustainability Transitions 2021(09), GEIST Working Paper Series.
    14. Hugues Jeannerat & Leila Kebir, 2012. "Mobility of Knowledge. Knowledge resources and markets: What territorial economic systems ?," GRET Publications and Working Papers 02-12, GRET Group of Research in Territorial Economy, University of Neuchâtel.
    15. Nathalie Schieb-Bienfait & Anne-Laure Saives & Brigitte Charles-Pauvers & Sandrine Emin & Hélène Morteau, 2018. "Grouping and/or grounding : a closer look at cultural quarters and creative cluster management in Nantes (France)," Post-Print hal-02502524, HAL.
    16. Christophe Carrincazeaux & Frederic Gaschet, 2015. "Regional Innovation Systems and Economic Performance: Between Regions and Nations," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 262-291, February.
    17. Jonas Heiberg & Christian Binz & Bernhard Truffer, 2020. "The Geography of Technology Legitimation. How multi-scalar legitimation processes matter for path creation in emerging industries," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2034, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2020.
    18. Brita Hermelin & Margareta Dahlström & Lukas Smas, 2014. "Geographies of Knowledge and Learning: The Example of Medical Technology," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 450-470, September.
    19. Zebo Ni & Taohua Ouyang & Jianxiong Xu, 2023. "Research on the Sustainable Development of Enterprises That Evoke Industrial Heritage—A Case Study of Taoxichuan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, January.
    20. Joan Crespo, 2021. "Agencies, scales and times of path creation: The case of IoT in Toulouse," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(5), pages 1527-1545, October.

    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:tkp:tiim13:s6_257-268. 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: Maks Jezovnik (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.toknowpress.net/conferences .

    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.