The point of departure for this thesis is how a traditional service sector shifts towards becoming more energy efficient and the processes that enable environmental action. Traditional services are generally considered to be poorly innovative and inclined towards routine activity; this leaves a gap in understanding how these adapt to the challenge of taking environmental action. The study argues that service firms adapt by deploying capabilities to multitask or to carry out innovative activity alongside routine activities related to service delivery. The research problem is addressed through three objectives: i) explicating how dynamic capabilities enable environmental action in traditional services with a focus on energy efficiency; ii) investigating the interface between the service firm and a type of intermediary, the knowledge intensive business service firm (KIBS), and how this acts as a locus for intermediation activity, or the exchange of knowledge about energy efficient technologies and measures; and iii) exploring how developments in the external context may influence the firm’s capabilities to adapt.The key contributions are two-fold. Firstly, the research links different combinations of capabilities with particular innovative behaviours in service firms; this underscores the presence of a differential multitasking potential across firms in the same sector. Secondly, it demonstrates a link between the service firm’s internal capabilities and the extent to which it mobilizes absorptive capacity to obtain knowledge about energy efficiency measures from its relation with KIBS.A qualitative study is designed with the hotel sector in Malta as the empirical setting. The fieldwork was undertaken through interviews with 26 hotel managers, 14 engineering consulting firms and 16 actors in the broader institutional environment. The data from the hotels were clustered to derive different adaptation modes characterized by particular capabilities and patterns of environmental action. Then, pairs of hotels and engineering consulting firms were identified in order to investigate the relational dynamics that may be influencing intermediation activity. The findings distinguish between hotels with a low multitasking potential that adopt a narrow range of energy efficient measures and those with a higher multitasking potential that modify activities and make deeper structural changes to shift towards improved energy efficiency. Accounting for the range of multitasking potential are different combinations of capabilities to sense signals in the external environment and interpret these in the firm and the capability for problem-solving for energy efficiency. The findings demonstrate a different pattern of KIBS use by hotels that is suggestive of a cluster differentiation. This is linked to different levels of absorptive capacity in hotels that determines whether intermediation activity and therefore the exchange of knowledge and learning about energy efficient measures is constrained or otherwise enhanced at the KIBS-client interface. The conclusion provides policy implications and areas for future research.

Over the last decades, there has been a shift from a product intensive market to a service-based one which is based on knowledge being a high commodity in contrast to previous decades where tangible capital resources and products have been the primary focus. Over a similar time frame, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has become one of the most important theories/concepts within entrepreneurial research, which is a firm’s capacity to portray innovative, proactive and risktaking behaviour to outcompete their competitors. For a firm to develop an EO, the firm’s leadership is of the essence. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to research how leadership influences EO in the knowledge-intensive business service sector (KIBS-sector) from the perspective of consultants. Most studies on EO and leadership are conducted using quantitative methods, therefore the study was conducted qualitatively and is based on ten interviews with consultants from various professions within KIBS. The findings indicate that there are several leadership factors influencing whether a KIBS-firm can develop an EO which is categorisedi nto three distinct categories: Organisational culture, Leader skills and styles, and Managerial systems. Organisations can use these findings to highlight areas of improvement for leaders and how management in KIBS-firms can organise their firms to implement innovative, proactive, and risk-taking behaviours in their consultants

L’agriculture reste aujourd’hui verrouillée sur l'utilisation intensive des pesticides malgré leurs effets néfastes sur la santé et l'environnement et en dépit de la multiplication des réglementations restreignant leur utilisation. Les analyses menées sur les situations de verrouillage technologique montrent qu’une solution réside dans la production de connaissances sur des techniques alternatives aux pesticides. A ce titre, le recours au conseil agricole est présenté comme un élément clé. Mais, le conseil a connu en Europe de profondes transformations organisationnelles qui ont abouti à un pluralisme accru des types de prestataires.Dans ce contexte, cette thèse interroge la performance de conseil et sa capacité à produire des connaissances sur des techniques alternatives. En se fondant sur les apports d’analyses en économie institutionnelle des services intensifs en connaissances (KIBS), un cadre conceptuel et méthodologique a été conçu pour analyser la diversité des organismes de conseil, leurs relations et leurs logiques de performance de conseil. Ce travail s’appuie sur l’étude du cas du conseil agricole pour les producteurs de plants de pomme de terre en France. / The adverse effects of pesticides on health and the environment are well known and different regulations aim at decreasing their use in the agricultural sector in France and Europe. However, this use does not decrease in practice. Agriculture is as of yet characterized in academic literature by a technological lock-in on an intensive use of pesticides. Analyses of technological lock-in have shown that one solution is to produce knowledge on alternative techniques. In this regard, agricultural advisory services have a key role. These services have, nonetheless, undergone profound organisational transformations in European countries, leading to a greater pluralism of agricultural service providers.This PhD research questions the performance of farm advisory services and their capacity to produce knowledge on alternative farming practices that does not require an intensive use of pesticides. This work is based on advances from institutional economics dealing with knowledge intensive business services (KIBS). It presents a conceptual and methodological framework developed to analyse the diversity of service suppliers, their partnerships and their conception of the performance of advisory services. The research draws on case studies in the French potato seed industry.

As transformações no capitalismo mundial nos últimos 30 anos geraram condições significativas para o crescimento de atividades de serviços, principalmente aquelas voltadas às empresas e em especial as chamadas intensivas em conhecimento. O objetivo geral do trabalho é contribuir para o estabelecimento do debate sobre knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) ou serviços empresariais intensivos em conhecimento (SEIC) no Brasil. Trata-se de enquadrar a discussão da literatura internacional em uma economia periférica e avaliar sua pertinência. A hipótese é que este grupo de atividades se torna necessário para o desenvolvimento dos países nesta nova era do capitalismo, especialmente por sua atuação na difusão de conhecimento e sua participação positiva em processos de inovação. Neste sentido, os propósitos do texto são: 1) fazer uma revisão da literatura sobre KIBS; 2) definir os KIBS no Brasil em comparação com os outros setores da economia, mostrando sua participação significativa em termos de geração de receita, sua dinâmica de crescimento acima da média nos últimos anos e sua capacidade de empregar mão-de-obra de mais alta qualificação; 3) investigar em que medida este grupo é importante na difusão de conhecimento e em processos de inovação; 4) discutir a concentração destas atividades em áreas metropolitanas. Pelo fato de atuarem como difusores de conhecimento e pelo seu enredamento vasto na cadeia produtiva, os KIBS podem representar uma tendência analítica promissora, especialmente em um momento em que atores públicos têm pensado políticas de desenvolvimento de escopo transversal, nas quais a inovação é elemento central. / The changes in capitalism in the last thirty years created conditions to service industries growth, especially those ones related to knowledge-intensive activities. The main objective of this master thesis is to contribute to build a knowledge-intensive business services debate in Brazil. It means that this thesis tries to bring an important debate from the developed countries academia to a developing country in order to analyze if it could be applied in other context. The hypothesis is that KIBS are necessary to increase economic development in Brazil in the new era of capitalism, also known as knowledge-based economy or informational society. The relevance of these activities is due to their role as sources, carriers and diffusers of knowledge that can generate externalities to innovation processes. The aims of this text are: 1) make a literature review of KIBS debate; 2) define KIBS in Brazil comparing to the rest of service sector, showing how important they are in terms of growth in the last years, high value added generation, and qualified labor force employment; 3) investigate how these industries are important to knowledge diffusion and to innovation processes; 4) discuss the reasons why KIBS are agglomerated in metropolitan regions. Once KIBS are known as sources, carriers and diffusers of knowledge and as they are connected to many of others activities, I assume that they can be an interesting and promising approach. This becomes even more important nowadays, in a context in which innovation takes place as a central issue of the development policies debate.

As transformações no capitalismo mundial nos últimos 30 anos geraram condições significativas para o crescimento de atividades de serviços, principalmente aquelas voltadas às empresas e em especial as chamadas intensivas em conhecimento. O objetivo geral do trabalho é contribuir para o estabelecimento do debate sobre knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) ou serviços empresariais intensivos em conhecimento (SEIC) no Brasil. Trata-se de enquadrar a discussão da literatura internacional em uma economia periférica e avaliar sua pertinência. A hipótese é que este grupo de atividades se torna necessário para o desenvolvimento dos países nesta nova era do capitalismo, especialmente por sua atuação na difusão de conhecimento e sua participação positiva em processos de inovação. Neste sentido, os propósitos do texto são: 1) fazer uma revisão da literatura sobre KIBS; 2) definir os KIBS no Brasil em comparação com os outros setores da economia, mostrando sua participação significativa em termos de geração de receita, sua dinâmica de crescimento acima da média nos últimos anos e sua capacidade de empregar mão-de-obra de mais alta qualificação; 3) investigar em que medida este grupo é importante na difusão de conhecimento e em processos de inovação; 4) discutir a concentração destas atividades em áreas metropolitanas. Pelo fato de atuarem como difusores de conhecimento e pelo seu enredamento vasto na cadeia produtiva, os KIBS podem representar uma tendência analítica promissora, especialmente em um momento em que atores públicos têm pensado políticas de desenvolvimento de escopo transversal, nas quais a inovação é elemento central. / The changes in capitalism in the last thirty years created conditions to service industries growth, especially those ones related to knowledge-intensive activities. The main objective of this master thesis is to contribute to build a knowledge-intensive business services debate in Brazil. It means that this thesis tries to bring an important debate from the developed countries academia to a developing country in order to analyze if it could be applied in other context. The hypothesis is that KIBS are necessary to increase economic development in Brazil in the new era of capitalism, also known as knowledge-based economy or informational society. The relevance of these activities is due to their role as sources, carriers and diffusers of knowledge that can generate externalities to innovation processes. The aims of this text are: 1) make a literature review of KIBS debate; 2) define KIBS in Brazil comparing to the rest of service sector, showing how important they are in terms of growth in the last years, high value added generation, and qualified labor force employment; 3) investigate how these industries are important to knowledge diffusion and to innovation processes; 4) discuss the reasons why KIBS are agglomerated in metropolitan regions. Once KIBS are known as sources, carriers and diffusers of knowledge and as they are connected to many of others activities, I assume that they can be an interesting and promising approach. This becomes even more important nowadays, in a context in which innovation takes place as a central issue of the development policies debate.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose Geraldo de Araujo Guimaraes.pdf: 1895764 bytes, checksum: 70225a32f8624fa7404fac2bfb11e57e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-08-04 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / This master s degree dissertation was aimed at the study of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) in Brazil, in particular, Technology KIBS (T-KIBS) and the identification of the concentration of these activities and its factors. By means of identifying CNAE groups of activities categorized as T-KIBS according to the international literature and with the application of SGT software made available by the Department of Labor in its dissemination of labor statistics program based on the annual relations of social information of year 2006 it was identified the presence of each group of activity in each one of the 5653 Brazilian counties. In the process of identifying these concentration of activities the localization quotients (QL) where calculated for each county and by means of a geo-referencing software individual maps and a consolidated map of all concentration of activities associated with T-KIBS in Brazil was presented. As expected, it was observed a high degree of difference in the level of geographic concentration of activities associated with these services which confirmed the differences referenced in theory as it relates to the type of market and the nature of the production process of these activities. The spectrum of activities is wide, including a range from producers to proliferation of knowledge and this wide spectrum influences the dynamics of location and concentration of activities patterns. Regarding the variables used, the calculation of QL s with reference to number of locations did not explicitly reveal the existence of concentration of activities in comparison to the quantity of employees. In addition to the results originated from the secondary data analysis the intent of this dissertation was to identify the conditional factors for these T-KIBS concentration of activities according to the executives of these companies. Three interviews with executives from companies considered T-KIBS businesses were conducted in cities where the concentration of activities was high and considered in any way to have influenced the process of defining the location of these companies and included conditional factors of these locations. Several important points regarding the location of T-KIBS companies and the dynamics that lead to concentration of activities where identified in interviews. Some of these important points include differences between producers and developers of knowledge and implementation or dissemination of knowledge. While for the earlier the proximity of universities demonstrates to be one of the most relevant factors, for the later, this is not a significant factor due to the high degree of mobility of the work force. / Esta dissertação de mestrado buscou estudar a Localização dos Serviços Intensivos em Conhecimento (em inglês KIBS) no Brasil, em especial dos KIBS de natureza tecnológica (TKIBS), e identificar as aglomerações destas atividades e seus fatores condicionantes. Por meio da identificação dos grupos CNAEs das atividades classificadas como T-KIBS pela literatura internacional, e com o emprego do software SGT disponibilizado pelo Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego em seu Programa de Disseminação das Estatísticas do Trabalho (PDET) baseado nos dados da Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (RAIS) do ano de 2006, foi identificada a presença de cada grupo de atividades em cada um dos 5653 municípios brasileiros. Na identificação das aglomerações foram calculados os Quocientes de Localização (QL) de cada município e, por meio de um software de geo-referenciamento, foram apresentados mapas individuais e um mapa consolidado com todas as aglomerações de todas as atividades T-KIBS no Brasil. Como esperado, observou-se uma alta heterogeneidade no nível de aglomeração geográfica destes serviços, confirmando as diferenças apontadas no referencial teórico pesquisado no que se refere ao tipo de mercado e à natureza do processo produtivo destas atividades. O espectro de atividades é variado, incluindo desde produtores de conhecimento até difusores e esta variação implica em dinâmicas diferenciadas de localização e padrões de aglomeração. Em relação às variáveis utilizadas, o cálculo dos QLs com base na dimensão de número de estabelecimentos não revelou tão explicitamente a existência de aglomerações em comparação com a dimensão quantidade de empregados. Além dos resultados provenientes da análise dos dados secundários, buscou-se nesta dissertação identificar os fatores condicionantes para as aglomerações dos T-KIBS segundo a percepção de executivos destas empresas. Para tanto, foram realizadas três entrevistas com executivos de empresas consideradas como empresas T-KIBS, que estivessem localizadas em cidades cujas aglomerações destas atividades fossem altas e que tivessem de alguma forma participado do processo de definição da localização das empresas e pudessem discorrer sobre os fatores condicionantes da localização. Uma série de pontos importantes sobre a localização de empresas T-KIBS e também sobre a dinâmica que conduz às aglomerações foram identificados nas entrevistas, como as diferenças entre produtores ou desenvolvedores de conhecimento e implementadores ou difusores do conhecimento. Enquanto para os primeiros a proximidade de universidades e instituições formadoras de mão-deobra qualificada se mostra ser um dos fatores mais relevantes, para os últimos este não é um fator tão relevante, uma vez que a mão-de-obra apresenta alto grau de mobilidade.

The thesis is concerned with clients’ perspective towards large engineering consultancies. Thecore aim of this work is to understand what client evaluates when trying to define how engineering consultancies are different from each other. To understand this area, theories of marketing and branding in professional service industry will be analyzed. Further interviews with both clients and consultants were held and based on empirical findings and theoretical perspective, conclusions are drawn.

Esta pesquisa promove uma discussão sobre os critérios de desempenho na internacionalização de serviços de design, a partir de um estudo exploratório sobre o desempenho de escritório de design, chamados na literatura de KIBS, knowledge intensive business services (MILES et al., 1995; DEN HERTOG, 2000; TOIVONEN, 2004, 2006; MULLER; DOLOREUX, 2007), que tem tido notável relevância como players no cenário internacional (ABECASSIS- MOEDAS, 2012; TOIVONEN, 2004, 2006; HALLDIN, 2010). A literatura tradicional sobre internacionalização, com suas diversas teorias, não contempla especificamente desempenho na internacionalização de empresas de serviços, e neste sentido, foi necessária a validação dos critérios de avaliação de desempenho em internacionalização de serviços com especialistas. Determina-se como objetivo geral avaliar o desempenho de escritórios de design em seu processo de internacionalização e assim realizou-se um estudo qualitativo com seis especialistas de mercado e nove incubados da incubadora Start Line no segundo semestre de 2016. Verifica-se que indicadores comportamentais são determinantes na avaliação do processo de internacionalização de escritórios de design, e que empresas born global tem mais rapidez na sua expansão internacional, bem como uma rentabilidade superior em pouco tempo de atividade. Recomenda-se a validação destes indicadores com KIBS de outros ramos de atividade, pois é um setor carente de literatura sobre internacionalização. / This research promotes a discussion about performance criteria in the internationalization of design services, based on an exploratory study about incubated design offices, a service that in the literature is known as, knowledge intensive business services or KIBS (MILES et al, 1995), which have had relevance in the international scenario (ABECASSIS-MOEDAS, 2012; TOIVONEN, 2004, 2006, HALLDIN, 2010). Traditional internationalization literature, with its various theories, does not specifically study performance in the internationalization of service companies, and in this sense, it was necessary to validate the performance evaluation criteria in internationalization of services with specialists. The main objective of this research is to evaluate performance of design offices in its internationalization process,and thus a qualitative study was carried out with six market specialists and nine incubators from the Start Line incubator in the second half of 2016. It has been found that behavioral indicators are decisive in the evaluation of the internationalization process of design offices, and that born global companies are faster in its international expansion, as well as having superior profitability in a short time of activity. It is recommended to validate these indicators with KIBS from other branches of activity, since it is a sector lacking literature on internationalization.

Coesione e competitività sono i principali obiettivi della politica regionale Europea. È però possibile che investimenti in competitività possano beneficiare maggiormente le regioni più sviluppate, a discapito della coesione. Si tratta di una contraddizione? In questo lavoro si risponde a questa domanda approfondendo tre argomenti. Il primo riguarda le determinanti della crescita regionale. Il secondo interessa il ruolo degli spillover di conoscenza per l’innovazione regionale. Il terzo è relativo al contributo delle infrastrutture di conoscenza all’attività innovativa regionale. I principali risultati possono essere sintetizzati in questa maniera. Una più alta crescita nella regioni meno sviluppate è importante ma non sufficiente a garantire convergenza. La crescita, nel lungo periodo, è determinata dagli investimenti in conoscenza, che producono rendimenti crescenti. La mancanza di sviluppo nelle regioni più arretrate può essere attribuita a questi divari di conoscenza, non sempre facili da colmare. Le esternalità alla base dei rendimenti crescenti sono estremamente localizzate e non si diffondono facilmente nelle economie. D’altra parte la conoscenza non si produce solamente con investimenti in ricerca. La promozione della ristrutturazione economica regionale verso modelli basati sulla conoscenza dovrebbe dedicare particolare attenzione alle fonti esterne di conoscenza, quali, accanto alle università, i servizi ad alto contenuto di conoscenza. / Cohesion and competitiveness are the two main objectives of the EU regional policy. It seems however that improving competitiveness will benefit developed regions more, implying a less cohesive Europe. Is that a contradiction? This work answers this question by studying three related topics. The first concerns the determinants of regional growth in Europe. The second is about the importance of interregional knowledge spillovers for the regional innovative activity. The third is related to the way knowledge infrastructures can shape regional innovative activity. The main results can be summarized as follows. The higher growth in least developed region is important but not sufficient to catch-up. Growth, in the long-run, is determined by investments in knowledge, which produce increasing returns. The lack of development of lagging regions could be accordingly ascribed to the existence of knowledge gaps which are not as easy to be filled. Knowledge externalities, the essence of the more than proportional returns, are extremely localized and do not necessarily spread across the economies. However knowledge is not only produced through R&D. The promotion of economic restructuring of lagging regions toward a knowledge-based economy should deserve special attention to external knowledge sources like, alongside universities, Knowledge Intensive Business Services.

Esta pesquisa promove uma discussão sobre os critérios de desempenho na internacionalização de serviços de design, a partir de um estudo exploratório sobre o desempenho de escritório de design, chamados na literatura de KIBS, knowledge intensive business services (MILES et al., 1995; DEN HERTOG, 2000; TOIVONEN, 2004, 2006; MULLER; DOLOREUX, 2007), que tem tido notável relevância como players no cenário internacional (ABECASSIS- MOEDAS, 2012; TOIVONEN, 2004, 2006; HALLDIN, 2010). A literatura tradicional sobre internacionalização, com suas diversas teorias, não contempla especificamente desempenho na internacionalização de empresas de serviços, e neste sentido, foi necessária a validação dos critérios de avaliação de desempenho em internacionalização de serviços com especialistas. Determina-se como objetivo geral avaliar o desempenho de escritórios de design em seu processo de internacionalização e assim realizou-se um estudo qualitativo com seis especialistas de mercado e nove incubados da incubadora Start Line no segundo semestre de 2016. Verifica-se que indicadores comportamentais são determinantes na avaliação do processo de internacionalização de escritórios de design, e que empresas born global tem mais rapidez na sua expansão internacional, bem como uma rentabilidade superior em pouco tempo de atividade. Recomenda-se a validação destes indicadores com KIBS de outros ramos de atividade, pois é um setor carente de literatura sobre internacionalização. / This research promotes a discussion about performance criteria in the internationalization of design services, based on an exploratory study about incubated design offices, a service that in the literature is known as, knowledge intensive business services or KIBS (MILES et al, 1995), which have had relevance in the international scenario (ABECASSIS-MOEDAS, 2012; TOIVONEN, 2004, 2006, HALLDIN, 2010). Traditional internationalization literature, with its various theories, does not specifically study performance in the internationalization of service companies, and in this sense, it was necessary to validate the performance evaluation criteria in internationalization of services with specialists. The main objective of this research is to evaluate performance of design offices in its internationalization process,and thus a qualitative study was carried out with six market specialists and nine incubators from the Start Line incubator in the second half of 2016. It has been found that behavioral indicators are decisive in the evaluation of the internationalization process of design offices, and that born global companies are faster in its international expansion, as well as having superior profitability in a short time of activity. It is recommended to validate these indicators with KIBS from other branches of activity, since it is a sector lacking literature on internationalization.