This paper investigates the mechanisms through which organizations develop dynamic capabilities, defined as routinized activities directed to the development and adaptation of operating routines. It addresses the role of (1) experience accumulation, (2) knowledge articulation, and (3) knowledge codifi- cation processes in the evolution of dynamic, as well as operational, routines. The argument is made that dynamic capabilities are shaped by the coevolution of these learning mechanisms. At any point in time, firms adopt a mix of learning behaviors constituted by a semiautomatic accumulation of experience and by deliberate investments in knowledge articulation and codification activities. The relative effectiveness of these capability-building mechanisms is analyzed here as contingent upon selected features of the task to be learned, such as its frequency, homogeneity, and degree of causal ambiguity. Testable hypotheses about these effects are derived. Somewhat counterintuitive implications of the analysis include the relatively superior effectiveness of highly deliberate learning processes such as knowledge codification at lower levels of frequency and homogeneity of the organizational task, in contrast with common managerial practice.

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Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities

http://www.oni.uerj.br/media/downloads/1-s2.0-S0048733399000554-main.pdf

The dynamics of innovation: from national systems and "Mode" 2 to a triple helix of university-industry-government relations.

Abstract The Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations is compared with alternative models for explaining the current research system in its social contexts. Communications and negotiations between institutional partners generate an overlay that increasingly reorganizes the underlying arrangements. The institutional layer can be considered as the retention mechanism of a developing system. For example, the national organization of the system of innovation has historically been important in determining competition. Reorganizations across industrial sectors and nation states, however, are induced by new technologies (biotechnology, ICT). The consequent transformations can be analyzed in terms of (neo-)evolutionary mechanisms. University research may function increasingly as a locus in the “laboratory” of such knowledge-intensive network transitions.

The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and

Contrary to some recent work on so-called 'globalisation', this paper argues that national and regional systems of innovation remain an essential domain of economic analysis. Their importance derives from the networks of relationships which are necessary for any firm to innovate. Whilst external international connections are certainly of growing importance, the influence of the national education system, industrial relations, technical and scientific institutions, government policies, cul- tural traditions and many other national institutions is fundamental. The historical examples of Germany, Japan and the former USSR illustrate this point, as well as the more recent contrast between East Asian and Latin American countries. Introduction: The National System of Friedrich List According to this author's recollections, the first person to use the expression 'National System of Innovation' was Bengt-Ake Lundvall and he is also the editor of a highly original and thought-provoking book (1992) on this subject. However, as he and his colleagues would be the first to agree (and as Lundvall himself points out) the idea actually goes back at least to Friedrich List's conception of "The National System of Political Economy' (1841), which might just as well have been called 'The National System of Innovation'. The main concern of List was with the problem of Germany overtaking England and, for underdeveloped countries (as Germany then was in relation to England), he advocated not only protection of infant industries but a broad range of policies designed to accelerate, or to make possible, industrialisation and economic growth. Most of these policies were concerned with learning about new technology and applying it. The racialist and colonialist overtones of the book were in strong contrast to the inter- nationalist cosmopolitan approach of the classical free trade economists and List's belief that Holland and Denmark should join the German 'Bund' and acquire German nationality because of their 'descent and whole character' reads somewhat strangely in the European Community of today. Nevertheless, despite these unattractive features of his outlook, he clearly anticipated many contemporary theories. After reviewing the changing ideas of economists about development in the years since the Second World War, the World Bank (1991) concludes that it is intangible investment in knowledge accumulation which is decisive rather than physical capital investment, as was at one time believed (pages 33-35). The Report cites the 'New Growth Theory'

The ‘National System of Innovation’ in historical perspective

Sectoral systems of innovation and production

This paper attempts a greater precision and clarity of understanding concerning the nature and economic significance of knowledge and its variegated forms by presenting "the skeptical economist's guide to 'tacit knowledge."' It critically reconsiders the ways in which the concepts of tacitness and codification have come to be employed by economists and develops a more coherent re-conceptualization of these aspects of knowledge production and distribution activities. It seeks also to show that a proposed alternative framework for the study of knowledge codification activities offers a more useful guide for further research directed to informing public policies for science, technological innovation and long-run economic growth. Copyright 2000 by Oxford University Press.

/pdf/the-explicit-economics-of-knowledge-codification-and-41vhqy6e4n.pdf

The explicit economics of knowledge codification and tacitness

The process by which knowledge or information evolves and spreads through the economy evolves changing its nature between tacit and codified forms The process of codification includes three aspects: model building, language creation and the writing of messages Recent technical changes in several technologies have impinged on these three activities and changed the costs and benefits from each of them, generally lowering the costs of codification Technical changes have also facilitated the diffusion of codified knowledge, which has increased its value Due to the temporal relations among the three aspects of codification, the ongoing process in which codification takes place may be path-dependent Copyright 1997 by Oxford University Press

The Economics of Codification and the Diffusion of Knowledge

This introductory article reviews the main themes relating to the development of new knowledge-based economies. After placing their emergence in historical perspective and proposing a theoretical framework which distinguishes knowledge from information, the authors characterize the specific nature of such economies. They go on to deal with some of the major issues concerning the new skills and abilities required for integration into the knowledge-based economy; the new geography that is taking shape (where physical distance ceases to be such an influential constraint); the conditions governing access to both information and knowledge, not least for developing countries; the uneven development of scientific, technological (including organizational) knowledge across different sectors of activity; problems concerning intellectual property rights and the privatization of knowledge; and the issues of trust, memory and the fragmentation of knowledge.

/pdf/an-introduction-to-the-economy-of-the-knowledge-society-3hu9z7jfr0.pdf

An introduction to the economy of the knowledge society

Note: OECD periodical Reference CEMI-ARTICLE-2005-039 Record created on 2005-07-25, modified on 2017-09-01

Accessing and expanding the science and technology knowledge base

http://www.regione.toscana.it/documents/10180/12421116/RIS3_GUIDE_FINAL_all1.pdf/1c554ca9-4d4e-469b-a35e-92f5ab36b671

Dominique Foray

Papers

The explicit economics of knowledge codification and tacitness

The Economics of Codification and the Diffusion of Knowledge

An introduction to the economy of the knowledge society

Accessing and expanding the science and technology knowledge base

Guide to Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisations (RIS 3)