The effects of industry cluster knowledge management on innovation performance

Research on industrial clusters mostly focuses on the effects of the competitive advantage they generate. This study takes a different approach, conducting empirical research on three types of Taiwanese parks (export processing zones, industrial zones, and science parks), in which economic development is particularly prominent, and which have industry cluster characteristics. The study explores the effects of special resources and relationships among cluster firms on innovation performance, and focuses on knowledge management as the mediator for investigation. A survey, regression analysis, and correlation analysis probe into the effects of the special resources and relationships among industrial clusters on corporate knowledge management and innovation performance. Knowledge management emerges as the mediator of industry clusters in terms of corporate innovation performance, thus providing support for the research hypotheses. The findings of this study are valuable for further research and strategic thinking on the sustainability of corporate operations.

[1]  Michael E. Porter,et al.  The global competitiveness report 2000-2001 , 2002 .

[2]  Peter Maskell,et al.  Towards a Knowledge‐based Theory of the Geographical Cluster , 2001 .

[3]  Geoffrey G. Bell RESEARCH NOTES AND COMMENTARIES:CLUSTERS, NETWORKS, AND FIRM INNOVATIVEN ESS , 2005 .

[4]  Devi R. Gnyawali,et al.  Complementary effects of clusters and networks on firm innovation: A conceptual model , 2013 .

[5]  C. Phelps A Longitudinal Study of the Influence of Alliance Network Structure and Composition on Firm Exploratory Innovation , 2009 .

[6]  Cheryl Gaimon,et al.  Managing Knowledge-Based Resource Capabilities Under Uncertainty , 2004, Manag. Sci..

[7]  H. Bahrami,et al.  Flexible Re-Cycling and High-Technology Entrepreneurship , 1995 .

[8]  Jan B. Heide,et al.  The Organization of Regional Clusters , 2009 .

[9]  Ching-Chiang Yeh,et al.  The Taiwan system of innovation in the tool machine industry: a case study , 2003 .

[10]  Julia Connell,et al.  Knowledge integration and competitiveness: a longitudinal study of an industry cluster , 2013, J. Knowl. Manag..

[11]  A. Zaheer,et al.  Bridging ties: a source of firm heterogeneity in competitive capabilities , 1999 .

[12]  Peter Maskell,et al.  The Firm in Economic Geography* , 2001 .

[13]  D Leonard,et al.  Gurus in the garage. , 2000, Harvard business review.

[14]  N. Thrift,et al.  Institutional issues for the European regions: from markets and plans to socioeconomics and powers of association , 1995 .

[15]  F. Xavier Molina-Morales,et al.  Clustering and internal resources: moderation and mediation effects , 2011, J. Knowl. Manag..

[16]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[17]  H. Bathelt,et al.  Clusters and knowledge: local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation , 2004 .

[18]  E. Autio,et al.  SOCIAL CAPITAL, KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION, AND KNOWLEDGE EXPLOITATION IN YOUNG TECHNOLOGY-BASED FIRMS , 2001 .

[19]  Michael E. Porter,et al.  Innovation: Location Matters , 2001 .

[20]  José Luis Galán,et al.  Informational networks and innovation in mature industrial clusters , 2013 .

[21]  Michael E. Porter,et al.  Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008 , 2007 .

[22]  Hannu Vanharanta,et al.  Tacit knowledge acquisition and sharing in a project work context , 2003 .

[23]  Subodh P. Kulkarni,et al.  Innovation Management: Strategies, Implementation and Profits , 1998 .

[24]  Peter Maskell,et al.  The cluster as a nexus of knowledge creation , 2005 .

[25]  Haiyang Li,et al.  Innovation search of new ventures in a technology cluster: the role of ties with service intermediaries , 2010 .

[26]  M. Feldman,et al.  R&D spillovers and the ge-ography of innovation and production , 1996 .

[27]  F. Malerba,et al.  The Geography of Innovation and Economic Clustering: Some Introductory Notes , 2001 .

[28]  Nick Oliver,et al.  New product development benchmarks: The Japanese, North American, and UK consumer electronics industries , 2004 .

[29]  Andaç T. Arıkan,et al.  Interfirm Knowledge Exchanges and the Knowledge Creation Capability of Clusters , 2009 .

[30]  Maryann P. Feldman,et al.  The Geographic Sources of Innovation: Technological Infrastructure and Product Innovation in the United States , 1994 .

[31]  Stephen Tallman,et al.  Knowledge, clusters, and competitive advantage , 2004 .

[32]  Meric S. Gertler,et al.  Tacit knowledge and the economic geography of context, or The undefinable tacitness of being (there) , 2003 .

[33]  Geoffrey G. Bell Clusters, networks, and firm innovativeness , 2005 .

[34]  Laurence E. Leigh,et al.  The competitive advantages of nations , 2006 .

[35]  K. Seltman Marketing for management. , 2004, Marketing health services.

[36]  Francesco Lissoni,et al.  Knowledge codification and the geography of innovation: the case of Brescia mechanical cluster , 2001 .

[37]  Klaus Schwab,et al.  The Global Competitiveness Report 2009–2010 , 2009 .

[38]  野中 郁次郎,et al.  The knowledge-creating company , 2008 .

[39]  Kaj U. Koskinen Tacit knowledge as a promoter of project success , 2000 .

[40]  M. Porter Clusters and the new economics of competition. , 1998, Harvard business review.