Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Eduardo Rodriguez, John Edwards and Angel Facundo
in <strong>the</strong> competitiveness <strong>of</strong> organizations. Innovative new products launched into <strong>the</strong> market with and
without <strong>the</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> departments <strong>of</strong> research and development.
On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, <strong>the</strong> increase in intangible assets is a factor that can contribute to growth in
productivity. Figure 2-1 shows how Sweden has <strong>the</strong> largest investment in intangible capital. Finland,
Denmark and <strong>the</strong> USA all invest more in intangible capital than tangible. The Czech Republic, Italy
and Spain, which are not part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> top 20 GCI, still emphasize investment in tangible capital
suggesting <strong>the</strong> need for a different balance to improve GCI.
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
Share <strong>of</strong> GDP in tangible and intangible capital
Physical capital deepening Intangible capital deepening
Figure 2-1 Tangible and Intangible capital (Source OECD 2010)
Now, innovation, productivity, working capacity and qualification <strong>of</strong> human resources <strong>of</strong> companies
could make countries attractive to stable and consolidated foreign investment to contribute
strategically to organizations and economic development.
Given <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> creating value and adding richness in a process <strong>of</strong> improvement, a question
<strong>the</strong>n arises on: what types <strong>of</strong> innovation are possible? Innovation can occur in processes, products
and systems. The important point is to understand that <strong>the</strong>re are various innovation levels and that
<strong>the</strong> costs and benefits are different. Table 2.6 shows that countries adopt different routes: while Japan
concentrates on marketing or organizational innovation, Finland concentrates on product and process
innovation as well.
In short, organizations that are in that learning process, have strategies where <strong>the</strong> generation <strong>of</strong>
knowledge and learning have positive effects on <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organization.
Mintzberg and Waters (1985) explained that <strong>the</strong> strategies can be originated by different sources, by
beliefs shared on restrictions in <strong>the</strong> process, <strong>the</strong> consensus about <strong>the</strong> risk or <strong>the</strong> environment.
Mintzberg (1994) pointed out that <strong>the</strong> strategic process has to be an adaptation to <strong>the</strong> strategy
environment. Organizations can, for example, use scenarios instead <strong>of</strong> forecasts or adapt <strong>the</strong>ir
analysis to possible changes in culture, society and political circumstances. A condition for learning in
<strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> strategies in an organization is based on <strong>the</strong> dissemination <strong>of</strong> knowledge, not only
in <strong>the</strong> implementation <strong>of</strong> strategies, but also <strong>the</strong>ir formulation. This goes hand in hand with success in
<strong>the</strong>ir results.
Therefore, such as Alavi and Leidner 2001 support <strong>the</strong> notion that <strong>the</strong> knowledge is a competitive
factor and that <strong>the</strong> SECI model introduces innovation and competitiveness. Von Krogh (1998) pointed
out that KM is a process <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organization in order to compete. Then developing an academic
program, which forms researchers capable <strong>of</strong> promoting <strong>the</strong> creation <strong>of</strong> solid bases for innovation and
productivity, is not only a necessity, but one that is highly relevant for <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> country.
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