Table of Contents
General Introduction vii
Chapter 1. Innovation Processes, Innovation Capabilities and Knowledge Management 1
1.1. Does knowledge management improve the performance of innovating enterprises? 2
1.1.1. Does empirical research confirm the existence of a connection between knowledge management and the performance of innovative enterprises? 2
1.1.2. Beyond the enterprise: knowledge management, innovative territories and innovation projects 4
1.2. Innovation capability and knowledge management 7
1.2.1. The decomposition of innovation: invention and commercialization 8
1.2.2. Innovation activities and aptitudes 11
1.2.3. Dynamic capability and knowledge processes 15
1.2.4. Innovation capability as dynamic capability rooted in the management of knowledge 17
Chapter 2. Knowledge Typology and Knowledge Processes at the Service of Innovation 21
2.1. Knowledge generation 24
2.1.1. Knowledge creation: a process of combination/recombination of background knowledge 25
2.1.2. Absorption and integration of knowledge 31
2.2. Knowledge application 35
2.2.1. Codification and personalization: two complementary strategies of knowledge alignment 36
2.2.2. The role of architectural knowledge in the process of knowledge alignment 39
2.3. Knowledge valorization 42
2.3.1. Patents: protection and knowledge management instruments 44
2.3.2. Cooperation agreements: instruments of anticipation of knowledge management strategies 48
Chapter 3. Managing Knowledge to Innovate: Open and Distributed Innovation Models 53
3.1. Open innovation 54
3.1.1. The concept of open innovation 55
3.1.2. The two facets of open innovation 56
3.1.3. Open innovation modalities 57
3.1.4. The importance of intellectual protection 58
3.1.5. Advantages and drawbacks of open innovation 59
3.1.6. Implementation of open innovation 61
3.2. User innovation 61
3.2.1. The concept of user innovation 63
3.2.2. Lead users activities 65
3.2.3. Competencies of user-innovators 66
3.2.4. Implementation of user innovation 68
3.3. Innovating with communities 72
3.3.1. Social interactions and knowledge production within communities 74
3.3.2. Communities in the firm: between governance and spontaneity 75
3.3.3. Innovating with external communities: the role of the middleground 77
3.4. Crowdsourcing 79
3.4.1. A typology of crowdsourcing 79
3.4.2. The relevance of crowdsourcing for innovation 82
3.4.3. Crowdsourcing platforms 83
3.4.4. Crowdsourcing and other open innovation models 85
General Conclusion 87
Bibliography 91
Index 111