The Role of Knowledge Management in Innovation

Abstract

Research on innovation practices reinforces the notion that majority of innovation projects fail systematically due to being managed as raw technology projects. Open forms of innovation where internal and external ideas are leveraged across the organisation are gaining importance over the internal and centralised approach to R&D. India, during the last 15 years, has been spiralling ahead towards ultimate economic success based on its 'knowledge-based talent pool'. Innovation has become a top strategic focus for most Indian companies. Seeing the growing importance of innovation and knowledge management, a need was felt to understand how organisations manage their knowledge capital so as to promote innovation. This paper aims to provide insights into how an organisation manages knowledge through culture, structure, technology and leadership, so as to promote acquisition and application of knowledge which leads to innovation. The study brings out the importance of tacit knowledge embedded in the firm's culture, structure and leadership as a complement to the explicit knowledge embedded in the firm's technology and documents.

Primary knowledge management practices applied in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) industries from 2001-2010

“…Miller et al (2011) reiterated the importance of adopting standardized management practices that are crucial for market competitiveness. Dasgupta et al (2009) also highlighted factors that promote KM initiatives to enhance innovation, the most cited of which were organizational culture, open communication and encouragement to leadership.…”

Knowledge management in higher education institutions: enablers and barriers in Mauritius

“…In a knowledge economy, knowledge management has been recognized as one of the determining factors for innovation and competitive advantage (Darroch, 2005;Dasgupta et al, 2009). There is evidence that knowledge management could be important in supporting universities in their teaching, research and knowledge transfer missions, but also evidence that the approaches adopted by universities are passive and inconsistent (Donate and Canales, 2012).…”

The strategic dilemmas of innovative enterprises: proposals for high‐technology sectors

“…Only then will the indicator of R&D intensity be greater than when a firm limits itself only to development and implementation work. The scope of R&D work carried out determines the technological strategy (Burgelman et al., ; Dodgson et al., ; Dasgupta et al., ), which constitutes a set of investment programmes created in order to give a firm the capacity for research, development and applications. An especially important element here is the route by which new technology is acquired.…”