This dissertation consists of three essays examining the role of connectivity in the catch-up process of a nation primarily focusing on East Asian countries. Specifically, I investigate the sourcing of knowledge, especially tacit knowledge, on local innovation capability building and thus catch-up process of a nation. I argue that for any country, sourcing from the diverse pools of tacit knowledge available in different parts of the world is a crucial requirement in maintaining a robust innovation eco-system. This becomes much more important in the catch-up process of a less-developed or emerging economy that is attempting to build local innovation capability. In the first chapter, I lay the theoretical groundwork for the dissertation by reviewing how existing studies have contributed to our understanding of the catch-up process of an economy. Then, in the second chapter, I explore how the openness of an economy underpins contrasting economic outcomes by comparing the economies of South Korea and Brazil. The third chapter emphasizes that the connectivity to the global innovation system is equally important for a more advanced economy such as Japan. Lack of such connectivity could lead to systemic “lock-in” in the long term. This is done by investigating the national systems of innovation of Japan in four knowledge-intensive industries: automotive, electronics, robotics and pharmaceuticals. Using patent data, I demonstrate that compared to other advanced countries such as Germany and Denmark, the Japanese innovation system is quite closed. I speculate that closedness to global innovation systems could be one of the reasons for Japan’s prolonged economic recession and the underperformance of its once world leading firms. The fourth chapter proposes an alternative catch-up strategy by investigating the innovation catch-up processes in Korea and Taiwan. These two Asian economies achieved developed status in a remarkably short period of time. Surprisingly, I found that these two countries are not well-connected to the rest of the world when it comes to innovation networks. These two countries achieved innovation catch-up rapidly by focusing on specific technologies that inherently require less reliance on learning through co-inventor networks. These technologies are the so-called “short cycle” technologies, i.e., technologies where the time period between innovation and maturation is very short. Therefore, relatively advanced technologies can be obtained in an “off-the-shelf” manner through outright purchase, licensing, and other means that do not require in-house wholly-owned innovation systems. / Business Administration/International Business Administration

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:51:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissMGB.pdf: 768562 bytes, checksum: 81d3b1834461b6442dc5eee2ccf7fd41 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-12-19 / During the 90s, Brazilian market open to imported goods sets the beginning of food industry transformation in Brazil. Other factors led to competitiveness growth among food companies, such as: the development of new technology, and consumers knowledge and expectation level increase. Therefore, food companies were forced to seek for competitive advantage which allowed the differentiation of their products in the market. In this context, product development process (PDP) gains fundamental importance. Due to the importance of PDP in the food industry, this work seeks characterize the food product development process management. Besides, this work aims to characterize the capability to PDP. In order to reach these purposes, eight food companies and three organizations (ITAL, SENAI, and a consultant company) that backup food industry were studied. Three food companies were chosen out of the eight which were studied and were presented in this work. The chosen companies have a more structured PDP, which allows a discussion on capability building process. The findings showed that food companies follow a sequence of phases and activities during PDP. This sequence is very similar when food companies are compared with each other and with the theoretical background. Concerning capability, food companies see capability building restrict to courses, and to market fairs visiting. The organizations that backup food industry serve mainly small companies, which do not have either enough technical or managerial knowledge in order to develop a product. Therefore, we consider that food product development process management is based on technical aspects. However, a minimal of managerial structure has been started by the companies. Besides, the need to develop new products tends to make food companies put in resources to build capability. / Na década de 90, a abertura do mercado brasileiro à importação marca o início da reestruturação da indústria brasileira de alimentos. Outros acontecimentos também contribuíram para o crescimento da concorrência entre as empresas de alimentos, como o desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias e o aumento do nível de conhecimento e de expectativas dos consumidores. Portanto, as empresas foram obrigadas a buscar vantagens competitivas que possibilitassem a diferenciação de seus produtos no mercado. Nesse contexto, o processo de desenvolvimento de produto (PDP) passou a ter fundamental importância. Considerando a importância do PDP na indústria de alimentos, este trabalho tem como objetivo caracterizar a gestão do processo de desenvolvimento de produto em empresas da indústria de alimentos. Além disso, este trabalho visa caracterizar a capacitação para o PDP. Para que os objetivos fossem alcançados, foram realizados estudos de caso em oito empresas alimentícias e em três instituições (ITAL, SENAI e uma empresa de consultoria) de apoio à indústria de alimentos. Das oito empresas pesquisadas, foram selecionadas três para apresentação e análise dos resultados. As empresas selecionadas possuem o PDP mais bem estruturado, possibilitando uma discussão acerca da capacitação para esse processo. Como resultado, foi constatado, que as empresas de alimentos seguem uma seqüência de fases e atividades no PDP. Essa seqüência é bastante similar tanto na comparação entre empresas, quanto na comparação com a literatura. Quanto à capacitação, as empresas de alimentos vêem a construção da capacitação para o PDP limitada a cursos e treinamentos, e a visitas a feiras. As instituições de apoio prestam serviços principalmente a pequenas empresas, que não possuem conhecimento técnico e gerencial necessário ao desenvolvimento de produto. Conclui-se que a gestão do PDP alimentício é muito baseada no aspecto técnico. Porém, um mínimo de estruturação para gestão já foi iniciado pelas empresas. Além disso, a necessidade de desenvolver novos produtos tende a fazer com que as empresas de alimentos aloquem recursos para a construção da capacitação.

The manufacture of photovoltaic (PV) system components has a role to play in the industrialisation and poverty reduction strategies of developing countries. It has also been suggested that small scale local manufacture of balance of systems components has the potential to improve the maintenance, installation and use of the technology. However, PV is a complex technology and most developing countries have not been able to build the capabilities required to manufacture PV system components of an appropriate quality and price, either in the modern or small scale sectors. The factors that determine the success of PV manufacturers in developing countries are therefore of interest. Previous studies on learning in the PV industry have been focused on industry-wide concerns and have not explicitly addressed enterprise-level capability building or challenges specific to developing countries. In particular, there has been very little published about small scale PV manufacture. This thesis therefore aims to improve understanding of the factors that influence capability building, with a view to assisting decision making in relation to PV manufacture in developing countries. The aims of the study have been fulfilled by the development and assessment of a software simulation training tool for PV cell production line engineers, the development of an analysis framework, and application of it to several case study PV enterprises. Through the application of the framework to the case studies, it has been possible to assess the role of software simulations, the suitability of countries with different types of infrastructure for hosting PV manufacturing and the institutional arrangements or interventions that could be used to promote capability building for PV manufacturers in developing countries. While further case studies are required to make more than tentative conclusions, the framework developed and tested in this thesis may now be used as a tool to systematically and rapidly analyse the appropriateness of different types of PV manufacture in particular countries, to identify the weaknesses in their PV technological systems and therefore to suggest where resources should be invested and where appropriate institutional changes could be made. The simulation software has been demonstrated to be an effective capability building tool, thus providing one of the key elements required for successful manufacturing.

The manufacture of photovoltaic (PV) system components has a role to play in the industrialisation and poverty reduction strategies of developing countries. It has also been suggested that small scale local manufacture of balance of systems components has the potential to improve the maintenance, installation and use of the technology. However, PV is a complex technology and most developing countries have not been able to build the capabilities required to manufacture PV system components of an appropriate quality and price, either in the modern or small scale sectors. The factors that determine the success of PV manufacturers in developing countries are therefore of interest. Previous studies on learning in the PV industry have been focused on industry-wide concerns and have not explicitly addressed enterprise-level capability building or challenges specific to developing countries. In particular, there has been very little published about small scale PV manufacture. This thesis therefore aims to improve understanding of the factors that influence capability building, with a view to assisting decision making in relation to PV manufacture in developing countries. The aims of the study have been fulfilled by the development and assessment of a software simulation training tool for PV cell production line engineers, the development of an analysis framework, and application of it to several case study PV enterprises. Through the application of the framework to the case studies, it has been possible to assess the role of software simulations, the suitability of countries with different types of infrastructure for hosting PV manufacturing and the institutional arrangements or interventions that could be used to promote capability building for PV manufacturers in developing countries. While further case studies are required to make more than tentative conclusions, the framework developed and tested in this thesis may now be used as a tool to systematically and rapidly analyse the appropriateness of different types of PV manufacture in particular countries, to identify the weaknesses in their PV technological systems and therefore to suggest where resources should be invested and where appropriate institutional changes could be made. The simulation software has been demonstrated to be an effective capability building tool, thus providing one of the key elements required for successful manufacturing.

The manufacture of photovoltaic (PV) system components has a role to play in the industrialisation and poverty reduction strategies of developing countries. It has also been suggested that small scale local manufacture of balance of systems components has the potential to improve the maintenance, installation and use of the technology. However, PV is a complex technology and most developing countries have not been able to build the capabilities required to manufacture PV system components of an appropriate quality and price, either in the modern or small scale sectors. The factors that determine the success of PV manufacturers in developing countries are therefore of interest. Previous studies on learning in the PV industry have been focused on industry-wide concerns and have not explicitly addressed enterprise-level capability building or challenges specific to developing countries. In particular, there has been very little published about small scale PV manufacture. This thesis therefore aims to improve understanding of the factors that influence capability building, with a view to assisting decision making in relation to PV manufacture in developing countries. The aims of the study have been fulfilled by the development and assessment of a software simulation training tool for PV cell production line engineers, the development of an analysis framework, and application of it to several case study PV enterprises. Through the application of the framework to the case studies, it has been possible to assess the role of software simulations, the suitability of countries with different types of infrastructure for hosting PV manufacturing and the institutional arrangements or interventions that could be used to promote capability building for PV manufacturers in developing countries. While further case studies are required to make more than tentative conclusions, the framework developed and tested in this thesis may now be used as a tool to systematically and rapidly analyse the appropriateness of different types of PV manufacture in particular countries, to identify the weaknesses in their PV technological systems and therefore to suggest where resources should be invested and where appropriate institutional changes could be made. The simulation software has been demonstrated to be an effective capability building tool, thus providing one of the key elements required for successful manufacturing.

知識經濟的時代，企業最重要的資產是「人」與「知識」，如何運用與積蓄這兩項資產，對企業的持續競爭力有關鍵性的影響。本文以知識管理的文獻探討為基礎，從中萃取出攸關的議題，以問卷調查的方式來收集相關資料，並透過統計檢定方法來分析資料，以發掘事實。這些攸關的議題共有八項，分別為：一、鼓勵員工勇於表達自己意見與想法的文化（組織的文化），與員工勇於表達自己意見與想法的行為（組織的行為），彼此是否為正向相關。二、高階主管主動傳授知識與技能的行為（主管的行為），與員工彼此分享知識與技能的行為（部屬的行為），彼此是否為正向相關。三、金錢、名聲、交情與互惠，這四項影響「知識分享意願與行為」的因子，其影響力的強弱順序為何。如果我們能釐清這四項因子影響力的強弱順序，則可據此設計出更為有效的激勵制度，將知識分享所產生的綜效極大化。四、是否超過半數的受訪者，無法容忍一個問題的解決方案，是處於模稜兩可、曖昧不明的狀況。五、當理性的分析結果與當事人的直覺相互衝突時，是否超過一半的受訪者，選擇相信理性的分析結果。議題四與五，主要是由認知風格的差異，來探討人才的多樣性。六、是否超過一半的受訪者，認為管理階梯的社會評價較高，以及肯定技術階梯職位具有激 勵效果。七、是否超過一半的受訪者，無法確定公司是否具有概念傘。八、個案公司的知識管理現況為何。 根據上述八項議題所發掘而得的事實，以及個案訪談所得之資料，本文提出了一個能夠有效活絡知識創造與能耐積蓄的平台，該平台包含五大建構單元，分別為：一、建立優質文化。二、落實雙軌生涯制度。三、建立知識管理專員制度。四、建立系統化的流程來引導知識創造與能耐積蓄活動。五、落實知識管理的配套措施。我們相信，企業藉著由五大單元所建構而成的平台，必可建立企業獨有的環境與氛圍，以利企業核心能力的滋長。最後，本文期盼該平台能為企業界提供實踐的重點與方向，成為一個最佳實施例的範本，並對有志於知識管理的人士，提供智識上的啟發，如此則已達成本文之目的。 關鍵詞：知識管理、企業概念傘、雙軌生涯制度，知識創造，能耐積蓄 / In this knowledge economic era, “people” and “knowledge” are very essential to keep the enterprises’ sustainable competence. Hence, based on the survey of books and papers about knowledge management, this thesis distills diverse perspectives and best practices into eight issues for further study, they are as follows: (1) Is there any positive correlation between “organizational culture” and “organizational behavior”? For an organizational culture that encourages people to express their opinions and ideas without any concerns, can we really have the distinguishable perception that people really behave so in this circumstance? (2) Is there any positive correlation between “managers’ behavior” and “subordinates’ behavior”? If managers are willing to mentor subordinates, willing to share their knowledge and skills, can it become a driving force to make subordinates behave the same? (3) As we know, money, reputation, friendship and reciprocal, all these four factors affect the extent of knowledge-sharing willingness and behavior, but can we figure out the strength order of these four factors? If we can, then we may devise a better, more effective incentive system to maximize the synergy of knowledge-sharing. (4) If the solutions to a problem are ambiguous and equivocal, is it true that more than half the people can not accept this situation? (5) If the rational analysis conflicts with your instinct, which one do you trust? The issue 4 and 5 are actually discussing the varieties of cognitive style. (6) For dual career ladder, is it true that more than half the people give higher evaluation to managerial ladder than technical one? Is it true that more than half the people regard the technical ladder as an incentive? (7) Is it true that more than half the people who are not clear about the concept umbrella of the company? (8) Based on nine indicators about knowledge management, conduct surveys of the four cases, and try to find out the strength and weakness of each case. By the data analysis and case studies, this thesis has found out several facts, and then proposes a platform for knowledge creation and capability building. The platform is composed of five units, they are as follows: (1) Instill good and appropriate cultures. (2) Put dual career ladder into practice. (3) Establish knowledge steward system. (4) Establish systematic procedure as the guide for the knowledge creation and capability building activities. (5) Find out the necessary auxiliary measures for knowledge management, put them into practice. With the platform constructed by the five units, we believe that each enterprise is able to construct a unique environment and atmosphere of its own, which in itself is beneficial to nurture and consolidate the core competence. Finally, we hope this thesis has shed light on the enterprises, and provided some intellectual stimuli for those people who are interested in knowledge management. Keyword: knowledge management, dual career ladder, concept umbrella, knowledge creation, capability building