An Empirical Study on the Impact of Knowledge Intensive Business Service on Technology Innovation of Equipment Manufacturing Industry

The knowledge intensive business service has obvious technological innovation effects. It can promote the technological innovation of the equipment manufacturing industry and enhance the innovation capability of the equipment manufacturing industry through the integration and diffusion of knowledge, technology, human resources and other resources. Taking the equipment manufacturing industry and knowledge intensive business service in Liaoning Province of China as the research objects, this paper analyzes the mechanism of knowledge intensive business service in promoting equipment manufacturing innovation, and constructs a model of the impact of knowledge intensive business service on the innovation of equipment manufacturing industry.

The effect of ambidextrous leadership on employee voice: A moderated mediation model

I drew on social identity theory to explore the influence of ambidextrous leadership on employee voice. Participants were 208 employees at 5 knowledge-intensive business service enterprises in China. Hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping analysis results show that ambidextrous leadership was positively correlated with employee voice, and leader identification played a partial mediating role in this relationship. Further, this mediating role was positively moderated by cognitive flexibility, which also positively moderated the relationship between leader identification and employee voice. These findings support a positive link between ambidextrous leadership and employee voice, with leader identification mediating, and cognitive flexibility moderating this relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Territorial servitization: Conceptualization, quantification and research agenda

Territorial servitization is the analysis of how manufacturing firms and knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) sectors collaborate in working towards a renaissance of manufacturing competitiveness within regions of developed economies. This editorial note provides four insights. First, it sums up the existing body of knowledge on the topic. Second, it quantifies and maps the territorial servitization activity in Spanish regions. Third, it presents and reflects on the collection of five papers in this special issue, which bring new insights into how geographical proximity, innovation systems, and KIBS heterogeneity benefit our understanding of territorial servitization. Finally, the study provides a number of yet unresolved topics that deserve further academic attention.

A nonparametric analysis of competitiveness efficiency: The relevance of firm size and the configuration of competitive pillars

This study employs a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model with a single constant input to analyze the competitiveness performance of a unique sample of 103 knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) firms from Hungary, Spain, Colombia, and Costa Rica for the year 2017. Also, we assess how the configuration of competitive pillars—strengths and weaknesses—affects efficiency and how firm size moderates this relationship. The mean efficiency scores by which the competitiveness output can be optimized is 47.43%. The results suggest that the configuration of competitive pillars has important implications for efficiency analyses. For small businesses, competitive-enhancing actions should focus on mitigating competitive weaknesses that are detrimental to efficiency. Also, a configuration of competitive pillars in which one or various competitive strengths prevail is more beneficial for small businesses. Managerial tools such as the proposed competitiveness measure may offer useful information on what strategic actions can contribute to optimize business competitiveness. JEL CLASSIFICATION C14; L19; L25

Employees’ agency in the formalisation of knowledge-intensive business service processes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and explain how different kinds of knowledge-intensive business service processes (KIBS processes) can be formalised without excessively limiting employees’ agency, and thus flexibility in value creation. Previous research acknowledges the need to balance flexibility and formalisation but does not investigate how employees achieve this balance in various types of KIBS processes. Design/methodology/approach This paper employs a qualitative multiple-case study approach to compare employees’ agency in six successful formalisation projects targeting different types of KIBS processes in three firms. Through a systematic mapping of employees’ agency across the cases, this study reveals alternative patterns of formalisation that enable agency. Findings The findings reveal notable differences in employees’ agency in the studied cases. When KIBS processes were scale intensive and/or the culture-favoured conformity, formalisation projects were centrally organised, and employees obeyed codified process templates, even though some agency remained. When KIBS processes were smaller scale and/or the culture-favoured freedom, employees conducted formalisation projects autonomously and retained higher levels of agency in formalised KIBS processes. Practical implications Firms and business units providing KIBS should choose their formalisation approaches locally based on the scalability of the KIBS process, their employees’ skill levels, knowledge bases and culture. Choosing the right approach enables flexibility while striving for efficient processes. Originality/value Previous studies suggest that formalisation benefits only some KIBS, but this comparative approach shows that a variety of KIBS processes benefit from formalisation if the formalisation approach is tailored to the context. Alternative patterns of formalisation are revealed to guide further empirical research on the topic.

INTERNAL R&D AND EXTERNAL INFORMATION IN KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE BUSINESS SERVICE INNOVATION: COMPLEMENTS, SUBSTITUTES OR INDEPENDENT?

This paper analyses the effect of internal R&D and of external sources of information on the innovation performance of Knowledge intensive business services (KIBS). The analysis is based on an establishment-level survey covering the period of 2011–2014 in Canada (Quebec). In order to determine the influence of different external information sources on innovation and the extent to which internal R&D and the use of external information sources are related to innovation, a series of logistic regressions are performed on four different measures of innovation. The results show that KIBS innovation is positively connected to market-related information sources (but not to research and academic sources), that KIBS innovation is positively associated with the performance of R&D, and that there are no synergies associated with the combined performance of R&D and external information gathering: their effects are independent and additive. These results share some similarities, but also some important differences, with those that have been obtained from the study of R&D and external information sourcing in manufacturing establishments.