Knowledge is defined one of the fundamental resources for development, competitiveness and power of firms, industrial clusters and regions. Their competitiveness and development have a strong relationship with their ability to create, absorb and utilize knowledge and to learn, i.e. their cognitive capabilities.
This thesis is focused on clusters as cognitive and learning systems. Clusters are the agglomerations where collective learning may take place. New knowledge is created and shared within the clusters' / knowledge networks. Knowledge networks and cognitive communities as a part of these networks are seen as the significant topics in the literature to explain both the cognitive processes in firms, in industrial clusters and between industrial clusters.
The main aim of the thesis is to explore the creation, absorption and transfer of knowledge in networks and cognitive communities in industrial clusters based on different technologies. To achieve this aim two empirical studies on different clusters with different technologies have been elaborated. The first one is an ICT cluster in METUTech and the second one is agricultural tools and machinery cluster in Konya.
The data for the analysis collected through two different types of questionnaire, firm questionnaire and employee questionnaire. The first questionnaire is realized with producer firms in those sectors. The second questionnaire is conducted with the engineers. The data acquired from the questionnaire were evaluated based on descriptive analysis, correlation and social network analysis. Results are used to evaluate and compare the knowledge structures and cognitive communities in those clusters.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612621/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 September 2010 |
| Creators | Yasar, Suna Senem |
| Contributors | Kayasu, Serap |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Ph.D. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for METU campus |
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