Stefania Testa

Innovation or imitation

Traditionally, benchmarking has been described as a practice that promotes imitation. However, according to a more recent approach, this paper suggests that benchmarking, looking outside the firm boundaries and enabling comparison with others, in terms of both practices and performances, enable the process of acquiring external explicit and tacit knowledge. Such newly acquired knowledge, once integrated with previous internal knowledge of the firm, creates new knowledge that may give rise to improvements and innovations. In order to study the innovative power of benchmarking, this paper presents a three‐year research undertaken in the maintenance‐services sector that is becoming more and more global and competitive. A model that integrates benchmarking, knowledge management and innovation is presented as the main result of the research.

Knowledge Bases in Worlds of Production: The Case of the Food Industry

This paper aims to contribute to research on the knowledge dimension of industrial innovation and competitive advantage by combining two conceptual constructs that are applied in growing but separate bodies of research. One, the so-called “SAS model”, regards knowledge bases of firms and distinguishes between Synthetic, Analytical and Symbolic knowledge. The second, the “Worlds of Production” construct, classifies firms according to differences in technologies and markets and outlines four possible action frameworks within which companies operate and innovate. Combining these conceptualizations seems to enrich analyses within both perspectives and provide a useful framework for studies on knowledge dynamics in different economic contexts. Empirical evidence regarding knowledge dynamics of two “alternative food” producers is presented, indicating that symbolic knowledge which in current literature is mainly delimited and described within cultural industries, may also be relevant for other industries such as the alternative food sub-sector.

The Role of Social Software for Customer Co-Creation: Does It Change the Practice for Innovation?

This article investigates a customer co-creation project at the front end of the innovation process at a large well-known Italian food manufacturer, which is enabled by social media. The purpose is to shed light on the role of such technology in transforming the characteristics of the FEI, in terms of boundaries and knowledge distance: what type of innovation ideas – exploratory or exploitative – does the practice enable? Could social media be used to manage the explore-exploit paradox, thus transforming the practice into an ambidextrous one? The empirical analysis highlights that the investigated customer co-creation practice has evolved from the initial stage of idea exploitation to a stage in which both exploitation and exploration are simultaneously accomplished.

The role of ideology in brand strategy: the case of a food retail company in Italy

Purpose – This paper aims to study the role of ideology in brand strategy with reference to large‐scale food retailing. By means of a thorough case study investigation of highly ideology‐focused food retailer Eataly, the paper aims to enrich existing theory on retailer branding. The various elements of Eatalys brand have been studied in order to identify how they enact the ideology for which the retailer stands. This topic is particularly relevant in a context where consumers appear increasingly committed to social responsibility and business ethics. So the final goal of the paper is to identify ideology‐focused brand choices that lead to a preference towards the retailer.Design/methodology/approach – In order to address this papers research aim, a well known framework developed by Esbjerg and Bech‐Larsen is adopted to conceptualize the retail brand. Case study methodology is applied.Findings – This paper provides both research‐related and practical contributions. From a research perspective, it provide...

Unveiling the intellectual origins of Social Media-based innovation: insights from a bibliometric approach

This article uses a bundle of bibliometric and text-mining techniques to provide a systematic assessment of the intellectual core of the Social Media-based innovation research field. The goal of this study is to identify main research areas, understand the current state of development and suggest potential future directions by analysing co-citations from 155 papers published between 2003 and 2013 in the most influential academic journals. The main clusters have been identified, mapped, and labelled. Their most active areas on this topic and the most influential and co-cited papers have been identified and described. Also, intra- and inter-cluster knowledge base diversity has been assessed by using indicators stemming from the domains of Information Theory and Biology. A t test has been performed to assess the significance of the inter-cluster diversity. Five co-existing research streams shaping the research field under investigation have been identified and characterized.

How do Miles and Snow's strategic types differ in their knowledge assets? Evidence from Italian SMEs

This paper takes a knowledge-based view of firms and discusses the importance of linking organizational knowledge assets into corporate strategy. In order to conceptualize knowledge assets, the paper adopts the intellectual capital (IC) framework, which distinguishes three IC components: human, structural and relational capital. As regards business strategy, the paper adopts Miles and Snows model, which identifies three strategic types of successful organizations: Defenders, Analysers and Prospectors. The paper explores the ways in which the three strategic types differ in weighting the single components of their IC. This study represents an attempt to extend the Miles and Snow typology including the aspect of knowledge assets. The link between knowledge asset management and strategy is investigated by means of three case studies conducted in Italian small and medium enterprises from the food sector. The paper argues that firms of different Miles and Snow strategic types have different mix of IC components.

Knowledge domain and innovation behaviour: A framework to conceptualize KMSs in small and medium enterprises

Purpose – This study aims to develop a categorization framework for knowledge management systems in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Framework dimensions have been identified as company knowledge domain (organization, marketing and technology) and company innovation behaviour (high and low).Design/methodology/approach – The framework is derived by means of a qualitative approach based on a set of 20 case studies. The cases regard Italian SMEs in the food sector.Findings – Data seem to suggest that knowledge domain and innovation behaviour permit significant distinctions between different kinds of knowledge management systems (KMSs). The features of these KMSs as configurations of technical, organizational and managerial tools are described in this paper with reference to the main knowledge process they are intended to support.Originality/value – The research provides a variety of insights into new ways of conceptualizing KMSs. Moreover, the paper provides some practical examples of successful implemen...

Internationalization patterns among speciality food companies: some Italian case study evidence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of internationalization patterns among speciality food small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), investigating dimensions that may have a bearing on such patterns, using a series of case studies. In particular the investigation seeks to gain new insights about differences among companies in their internationalization patterns. These differences are examined in a framework which tries to relate three company‐level dimensions (market, technology and space) to internationalization patterns. The three dimensions are derived from the constructs developed by Storper and Salais, and Straete.Design/methodology/approach – Two research questions (RQs) are formulated: Is there a relationship between the internationalization pace of speciality food SMEs and their technology, market, and space dimensions? Is there a relationship between the internationalization modes of speciality food SMEs and their technology, market, and space dimensions...

Combinatorial Knowledge Bases: An Integrative and Dynamic Approach to Innovation Studies

abstract The aims of this article are (1) to critically review the theoretical arguments and contribution of the knowledge base approach to economic geography and innovation studies, and the value added and limitations of applying it in empirical studies as reported about in the extant literatures; (2) to propose a new interpretation of the knowledge base approach by integrating it into a larger analytical framework for innovation studies that integrates individual, organizational, and contextual aspects, and to discuss the possible advances that come from using it in economic geography studies. The article dismisses the widespread taxonomical application of knowledge base conceptualizations for classification of firms, industries, and economies into fixed categories based on their dominant knowledge base characteristics. Rather it argues that the knowledge base characteristics vary not only between firms and industries but also over time and through innovation trajectories in firms and industries. The new interpretation implies that the knowledge base characteristics are defined not only by individual-level modes and rationales for knowledge creation and application and by their related spatial implications but also by managerial–organizational aspects with regard to coordination and exploitation of such knowledge dynamics. The integration of literatures from different disciplinary strands, now unified under the umbrella of a reinterpreted knowledge base approach, advances the explanatory value of the knowledge base approach in economic geography and innovation studies as well as related disciplines.

Collaborative network of firms: antecedents and state-of-the-art properties

The concept of collaborative networks has attracted considerable attention, especially in two knowledge domains: innovation and operation management. Although collaborative networks have evolved into many forms, their central role in triggering debates has not gone unnoticed. In this paper, we aim to contribute to these debates through a bibliometric review of a decade of research on collaborative networks (2002–2015). By using a combination of document co-citation and bibliographic coupling analyses, we unveil the origins and evolution of collaborative networks over time by analysing the references from the most important academic contributions. Our goal is threefold: first, to systematise the state of the art in the Input-Process-Output (IPO) framework; second, to elucidate the antecedents of the research field on collaborative networks (research streams originating from the field, main authors and journals) by organising them in six thematic clusters; and third, to show how the antecedents shaped the IPO framework. While ‘collaborative networks’ used to belong to two distinct domains, the research agendas seem to converge because of the interactions between their most active authors. As such, cross-fertilisation occurs with the International Journal of Production Research, which plays a central role in this process.