Themed issue on innovation: Towards a knowledge based economy

Citation

Papadopoulos, I. (2012), "Themed issue on innovation: Towards a knowledge based economy", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 15 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejim.2012.22015baa.001

Themed issue on innovation: Towards a knowledge based economy

Article Type: Introduction From: European Journal of Innovation Management, Volume 15, Issue 2

The scientific and technological developments, the creation and management of new knowledge and a rapidly evolving entrepreneurial economic environment in Europe demand novel methods for the adaptation of economic activities to the continuous changes. Innovation is a result of this adaptation and an enabler for the creation of new economic resources and capabilities. Together with knowledge they constitute major challenges in the pursuit of competitive advantage within the framework of the global financial crisis.

Innovation is a complex and dynamic concept. It is not only about ideas or patents. It’s about people working on new things and in new ways. Studying innovation is inherently subjective and imprecise, like studying creativity or art, characterized by a diversity of approaches, prescriptions and practices that can be confusing and contradictory.

Innovation is directly linked to knowledge. The perceived link between them has been widely discussed by scholars and practitioners in both innovation and Knowledge Management literature. Knowledge and innovation play an increasingly vital role in technological advances and the transformation of society. They are both a means of sustaining survival, growth and competitiveness.

As business environment becomes global and highly complex, organizations have to develop cumbersome and intensive processes to successfully face knowledge and innovation choices. A whole new era arises characterizing its transition towards a knowledge based economy. More diverse and widespread innovation has created new types of organizations and activities, having much more complex and hard to define outputs. This trend has also become perceptible within EU toward significant efforts of planning and supporting implementation of new initiatives aimed at reinforcing research and innovation performance.

The present special edition is the result of a collaborative effort of the EuroMed Academy of Business and the European Journal of Innovation Management (EJIM) to advance research on innovation and knowledge management. On that basis, the best papers of the two latest Annual Euromed Conferences of the EuroMed Academy of Business have been selected for publication in EJIM international journal under the title “Innovation: Towards a knowledge based economy”. Its aim is to collect and provide high quality research that addresses innovation issues and advance knowledge and understanding in this high priority field. In the three triple peer-reviewed articles, the emerging theme of knowledge within innovation management is addressed from different perspectives.

Trigkas et al. present a prototype research in order to map, measure and evaluate innovative activity in the wood and furniture sector in Greece. They show that among other factors, innovation is related to an expanded system of procedures for knowledge management. The study constitutes a useful benchmarking tool for decision makers and entrepreneurs to evaluate innovative activities and develop ways of improvement.

Amiryany et al. claim that the success of knowledge acquisitions depends on being able to share knowledge to innovate. They explore the ways that firms use to build acquisition reconfiguration capabilities and thus manage more successful knowledge acquisitions within an innovation strategy.

Armano and Scagnelli add some more argumentation to the considerable debate developed in the recent years, about the outcomes of firm-university linkages in terms of economical and financial performance. They propose that potential benefits of the presence of academic entrepreneurs could improve companies’ performance only when academics are not used as “knowledge providers”, but when they are really and deeply involved and integrated into corporate management.

It is evident that the attempted synergy seeks to highlight the critical role of innovation in economic growth, as well as the importance of knowledge and knowhow exchange, the need of enhancing research – industry relations and the promotion of innovative activities.

Closing my short introductory note, I would like to thank the contributors to this issue, both authors and reviewers, for their interest and commitment.

Ioannis PapadopoulosAssociate Professor – TEI Larisa – Greece, EJIM’s Guest Editor