Creating Product Innovation Strategies through Knowledge Management in Global Business

This chapter aims to create product innovation strategies through knowledge management (KM) in global business, thus explaining the theoretical and practical concepts of product innovation strategy and KM; the significance of product innovation strategies and KM in global business; and the creation of product innovation strategies through KM in global business. The capability of product innovation strategies and KM is significant for modern organizations that seek to serve suppliers and customers, increase business performance, strengthen competitiveness, and attain regular success in global business. Modern organizations should establish a strategic plan to create product innovation strategies through KM. The chapter argues that creating product innovation strategies through KM has the potential to improve organizational performance and achieve strategic goals in global business.

Digital Technologies as Media to Transfer Knowledge in IT Firms

During the last decade, improvements in information and communication technologies have made possible the transformation of knowledge transfer processes from purely informal to increasingly formal and more diverse communication mechanisms that enrich intra-organizational communication channels. In this chapter, the authors followed a case study approach to analyze three Mexican companies with the objective of understanding how companies in the IT sector are implementing digital technologies to achieve knowledge transfer in their organizations. The findings suggest that workers seek and choose tools that can be personalized and customized to adapt to their own needs. New digital technologies are proving to be a new and relevant channel of communication among people: therefore, these should be considered to be one possible way to motivate knowledge transfer at work.

Social Aspects of Reverse Logistics and Knowledge Management

The main contribution of this chapter is the study of the generation and management knowledge, emphasizing the social aspects, from an area of the Logistic Model Based on Positions (LoMoBaP). The area to use is the Inverse logistics, which is integrated for the Reverse logistics manager, the Compilation and Reception manager and the Classification and use manager. The analysis will be done via dynamic knowledge, studying the upward spiral of knowledge creation, tacit to explicit to tacit. To do this will be constructed tables where the functions of these three positions will be identified and will be discussed, as these functions are involved in the process of management and generation of knowledge, following the processes of Socialization, Externalization, Combination and Internalization, simultaneously that are located in the Ba and knowledge assets are analyzed: Experimental, Conceptual Systemic and Routine Knowledge.

Social Media as Elements of Shared Workspaces

Shared workplaces are becoming very common within Europe. Multifactories are shared working environment that combine traits of a Coworking Space, a Fab Lab and a Makerspace. One of the traits that characterize a Multifactory is how knowledge exchange brings to innovation. This chapter has its focus on a case study that shows how a traditional SME and a multifactory can work together in order to develop an innovative idea and how Social Media can be parts of an overall strategy set to product innovation.

Innovation Landscape Idea to Product Development

This study seeks to address various phases, challenges and the principles influencing transforming an idea into a product innovation. This study is particularly relevant in light of the driving role given to small scale enterprises by the supporting policies and practices in the process of transforming India into an innovation-oriented nation and leading ‘Make in India' program. Based on a multi-disciplinary the framework discussed in this study highlights a number of internal processes and external network attributes, their interactions and moderating relationships as related to their impact on Indian small scale enterprises' product innovation capabilities. This study offers an overview of the factors that affect product innovation capabilities, with particular reference to entrepreneurial orientation of Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This study showcase provocative views that considers the concept of innovation ecosystem and new product development central to its philosophy and objectives.

Relationship between Knowledge Management and Academic Integrity in a Middle Eastern University

The difference between knowledge sharing as enabled in a knowledge management (KM) environment, and academic honesty continuously needs clarification and reinforcement in academic institutions. Teaching includes getting students to realize that knowledge is an asset that can be ethically used for creativity and innovation, resulting in the enhancement of the corporate image and effectiveness of a university. Studies have confirmed that academic dishonesty is an ethical challenge facing many academic institutions of higher learning. In the Middle East, the use of English as a second language is often cited as a contributing factor to students' plagiarizing, but the problem extends to the use of Arabic language sources too. Conflicts in approach may arise because KM works well in an environment of sharing, and yet acknowledging academic productivity of others may not always happen spontaneously. This is a challenge faced in MOOCs and by institutions of higher learning the world over.

Orientism Management (OM)

The model of learning/training in the 21st century requires the evaluation of new and better ways to measure what matters, diagnosing strengths and weaknesses, to improve people performance, and to involve multiple stakeholders in the process of designing, conducting and use of knowledge. The thesis is that the orientation, today, is no longer limited only to outline the direction of a professional career, but it concerns “Life designing” over which “Work designing”. This chapter intends to describe a new interpretative paradigm, Orientism, to understand and manage fluid nature of knowledge, but at the same time to seize and manage the unpredictability and risks of the dynamics of knowledge management in relationships complex environment, in a society. Element of news are 5 key factors and criteria to direct and motivate people in choosing process, and following 10 different and key relationships between them. They define areas of management to improve own personal leadership and success. The concept becomes the conceptual base of an Instructional Design Model (PENTHA 2.0).

How to Improve Knowledge Exchange by Using Internet Technologies

This paper seeks to extend previous studies on the use of Internet technologies and knowledge management by analyzing factors affecting Web knowledge exchange in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). More specifically, by drawing on the technology-organization-environment framework, a model to examine how distinct contextual factors influence Web knowledge exchange in SMEs is developed. The hypotheses are tested by using structural equation modelling on a large sample of Spanish SMEs from different industries. Results suggest that IT expertise and commitment-based human resource practices positively affect Web knowledge exchange, with the latter being the strongest factor in our proposed model. In contrast, a negative relationship is found between competition and Web knowledge exchange.

Best Practices in Social Media for Knowledge Management

The spirit of Social Media is in community building, and they have enriched the practice of Knowledge Management in very exciting ways. CoPs and Forums are ideal platforms to share experiences and lessons learnt. Communities are extremely valuable because of their informal, just-in-time, increasingly real-time advantage and cannot be replaced by structured KM platforms. It is this aspect of communities, that new Social Media enhances, in spirit as well as in tools support. Social Media provides multiple user-friendly tools to make it easy to share experiences and Lessons Learnt as they happen, as well as in a curated form. Best practices developed by this author and other practitioners are presented, so that other communities can benefit from them. Cases and anecdotes from organizations across industry sectors enliven the discussions. Emerging trends and innovative use of Social Media, are introduced as benchmarks.

Start-Up

Nowadays, we are witnessing an increase of innovation both on start-up and SME. The implementation of innovation has a strong impact in the knowledge of economy. The ability of human being in creating it can be defined as a basic skill in a global economy, involving learning as an essential dynamism of the competition. Furthermore, the research and development activities are very important not only for universities and companies but also for the global economy. This paper presents a new conceptual approach for innovation process in start-ups and a new methodology to know how long the innovation process must take. The conceptual approach proposed is divided into seven interactive steps: 1) Have an idea (product, service, process, business/marketing; 2) Analyze the state-of-the-art and the market; 3) R&D activities and Intellectual Property; 4) Listen the market; 5) Define a flexible business plan; 6) Find a business partner; and 7) Go-to-market. Regarding the time of innovation, the presented methodology is based on five Porter's Forces.