A comparative study of innovation behaviour in Singapore's KIBS and manufacturing firms

While most services innovation studies are concentrated on the OECD or EU countries, research on services innovation in the non-OECD context is still rare. This study investigates innovation behaviour of a certain group of services – knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), compared with the manufacturing sector in Singapore. The main findings of this study are: (1) KIBS firms have higher innovating ratio than manufacturing firms, but innovating manufacturing firms are more likely to do R&D than innovating KIBS firms; (2) KIBS firms have higher human capital intensity, training spending intensity, innovation spending intensity, and R&D spending intensity than manufacturing firms; (3) KIBS firms and manufacturing firms have similar innovation objectives, although some delicate nuances do exist; (4) KIBS firms are less likely to have overseas partners for innovation collaboration than manufacturing firms; (5) there is a U pattern of innovation collaboration with geographic distance for both KIBS and manufacturing firms; (6) social capitals are important for KIBS firms' successful provision of innovation support to manufacturing clients; (7) the importance of spatial proximity varies over different phases of innovation support.     

Knowledge intensive business services and their impact on innovation in China

This study investigates the impact of knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) on innovation in China. First, we review the development of KIBS in China by analyzing the agglomeration, utilization, and quality of KIBS. Second, regression techniques are employed to investigate the impact of KIBS on innovation in the Chinese economy. We found that KIBS are becoming a major force in promoting innovation, especially in eastern China. Furthermore, we also found that the effect of KIBS on innovation is highly related to the average level of human capital. Given the findings in this study, we provided some policy suggestions.     

Dynamics of Firm Profitability and Growth: Do Knowledge-Intensive (Business) Services Persistently Outperform?

This paper explores the persistence of profitability and growth for firms operating in the Greek service sector, paying special attention to knowledge-intensive services (KIS) and knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). The generalized method of moments is used on a rich panel of firms over a recent nine-year period. Quantile regressions are complementarily applied for KIS and KIBS industries. The key results from both growth and profit dynamics suggest that firms in KIS and KIBS industries persistently outperform firms in less knowledge-intensive service industries, pointing to strategic advantages of the former. Importantly, KIS and KIBS seem to be able to sustain their growth and profitability persistent trends even in times of crisis. Further insight into these issues is provided by the quantile analysis, the exploration of the profitability and growth inter-linkages, and the investigation of differences among various size groups in KIS and KIBS.     

Bridging what we know: The effect of cognitive distance on knowledge-intensive business services produced offshore

The rise of offshoring of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), causing a physical separation between clients and service providers in co-created services, is a major trend in practice but challenges existing theories. International business literature has addressed many types of distance that may affect (service) offshoring, such as cultural or geographic distance. However, limited emphasis has been placed on the implications of differing cognitions of individuals that produce a cognitive distance (CD). We address this gap and ask how increased CD through offshoring affects KIBS production processes. This conceptual paper focuses on how CD interacts with the modularity of different process stages in service production and what effect CD has on repeated production processes. In order to do so we first predict what stages of KIBS production processes can be offshored and what implications offshoring has on these services. We contribute to literature by deepening the understanding of CD and providing a process perspective on KIBS offshoring that looks at modularity within services, rather than firms as bundles of modular production, and on the impact repeated production processes have on service characteristics.     

Shopping Motives

Knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) are a key sector in any knowledge economy, and as such they are subject to multiple policy influences. This article considers the inadvertent impacts of policies on KIBS, using examples drawn from the policy setting in Finland. The key elements of the policy environment are described, with particular attention to innovation policy and small and medium enterprise support policies. The direct and indirect effects of public policies on KIBS are explored with particular attention to effects on innovativeness. The role of research and training organisations as a semi-competitor of KIBS is highlighted. The examples analysed suggest that policy has simultaneously both positive and negative impacts on the innovativeness of KIBS industries.     

知识密集型服务企业的知识创新体系

文章指出,基于专业知识储备提供满足客户需求的解决方案,是知识密集型服务企业(KIBS)的一大特征,而知识的储备与恰当运用是KIBS固本强基的两个重要方面。文章提出了一个以KIBS为主角,以客户群组为协作方,以外部知识源为参与方,以联系这三大要素的知识反馈与升华机制为保障的KIBS知识创新体系模型,为知识密集型服务企业做好固本强基工作提供参考。     

Knowledge-exchange strategies between KIBS firms and their clients

Based on a survey of 1124 knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms, this paper explores the extent and determinants of knowledge exchange between KIBS and their clients. An ordered logistic regression was estimated. The results show that the propensity of KIBS firms to rely more on a commoditization strategy and less on a personalization strategy increases with the variety of research sources of information, the number of knowledge employees, the variety of knowledge management practices, the firm's size, the business age, and being a KIBS firm operating in a technology-based industry rather than a traditional professional industry, while it decreases with R&D investments, the variety of advanced technologies, and the strength of ties.     

KIBS 嵌入对中国制造业贸易竞争优势的促动效应

随着产业的不断分化和价值链的延长,知识密集型服务业(KIBS)嵌入对制造业的贸易竞争优势产生了至关重要的作用。本文通过面板矫正标准误差(PCSE)模型实证中国KIBS对制造业贸易竞争优势带来的复杂效应。从整体KIBS对中国制造业贸易竞争优势的促动效应看,KIBS只对技术密集型制造业具有较大的正面促动效应,对资本密集型制造业几乎没有影响,而对于劳动密集型制造业反而具有明显的负作用。从具体KIBS看,科学研究服务和信息通讯服务业对制造业贸易竞争优势具有明显的正向带动作用,金融服务业的发展对不同要素密集度制造业的贸易竞争优势具有非对称性的影响,而商务服务则对各种要素密集度制造业的贸易竞争优势都具有明显的负面影响。     

The role of intermediate demand and technology for international competitiveness of the KIBS sector: evidence from European Union countries

In this paper, it is tested whether intermediate consumption of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in the economy and technology advancement in the KIBS sector (measured by R&D expenditures) affect the international competitiveness of a country's KIBS sector. First, the definition of KIBS trade, in light of the available data from the balance of payments statistics, is presented. Then, using a panel data set from the EU countries over the period 2000–2009, a panel cointegration approach to estimating the model is adopted. The empirical study shows that among the old EU countries only those with high income are competitive in KIBS exports. Estimation results demonstrate that their competitiveness in KIBS exports is positively determined by domestic and imported KIBS intensity in the economy, as well as by the KIBS sector's technology advancement. The new EU countries usually were not competitive in KIBS exports, and those which were successful in this field seem to have derived their success mainly from international outsourcing rather than from building their own capacities. Their competitiveness in KIBS exports was positively determined by the KIBS sector's endowment in human capital, or via domestic KIBS intensity in the economy together with lower labour costs.     

The internationalization of knowledge-intensive business services: the effect of collaboration and the mediating role of innovation

This study theoretically and empirically analyzes the mediating role of innovation on the relation between collaboration and internationalization strategies in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). The work also considers the impact of foreign-based partners and examines the potential direct and indirect effects via innovation of cross-border collaboration on the internationalization of KIBS. The empirical analysis uses a wide sample of Spanish KIBS for the period 2003–2005. The study finds that collaboration positively affects the internationalization of KIBS via innovation. The results related to cross-border collaboration indicate the existence of direct and indirect effects via innovation on internationalization.     

Does innovativeness of knowledge-intensive business services differ from other industries?

This article seeks to determine whether the innovative capabilities of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) do actually differ from other industries through comparing the innovation capacities and financial performance of KIBS with firms operating in other sectors (non-KIBS). Based upon a 1000-firm sample, the results of our estimated econometric model demonstrate that non-KIBS firms are in possession of significantly greater innovation capacities than KIBS firms. These differences were observed across factors such as organisational process innovation, the launch of already existing products in new markets, branding and new product designs. Nevertheless, as regards the actual importance attributed to product/service innovation, KIBS firms place a greater comparative importance on innovation in comparison with their non-KIBS peers. In addition, the empirical evidences display a significantly different range of effects of innovation capacities on financial performance and concludes that non-KIBS firms turn in better comparative performances than specialist KIBS firms.     

湖北省地级市KIBS发展现状及预测

KIBS是国家创新系统的重要部分,担负着知识的交流、整合、创新的循环过程。近几年,湖北省地级市KIBS从业人员总数增加,KIBS增加值增加,问题是KIBS增加值的增长速度低于从业人数增长速度。其根本原因是KIBS从业人员的行业技能、专业知识不能满足KIBS发展的需求。提升知识密集型服务业的质量,湖北省政府不仅要创造环境和条件,及时出台促进KIBS行业发展的法律法规,鼓励龙头企业大力发展KIBS行业起模范带头作用,完善计算机软硬件设施,也要有对教育事业进行改革的决心,提升学生的素质和专业技术知识能力,为KIBS更好发展提供人才支撑。     

Knowledge Intensive Business Services and Urban Industrial Development

This paper analyses the role of knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) as innovation agents for other firms and industries with empirical evidence from the capital region of Oslo, Norway. It focuses in particular on the role of two sectors (software industry and organisational consultants) in stimulating innovation and growth, showing that firms in the two KIBS sectors mainly provide products and services tailored to individual clients and have frequent face-to-face meetings, relationships that may stimulate innovation. Moreover, data reveal that Oslo firms are more frequent users of consultancy services than firms located outside urban areas, suggesting a gap between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’.     

L'innovation dans les services à forte intensité de connaissances (SFIC)†

This article examines the determinants of innovation in knowledge intensive business services (KIBS), generally hypothesizing that differences in the effect of the determinants of innovation depend on the type of innovation developed within KIBS. The study results are based on estimates of two econometric models using data from a survey of 392 firms in the province of Ontario, Canada.     

Finnish polytechnics as providers of knowledge-intensive services

Polytechnics are newcomers in companies' regional innovation environments in Finland. Particularly in regions with no university of their own or with only few knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) providers, they may become, and in some cases already are, important providers of science-and-technology-related services. The aim of this article is to analyse the roles, possibilities and challenges of polytechnics as public KIBS providers. Also, the position of polytechnics as a tool of Finnish innovation policy will be discussed.     

‘Do versus Buy’ Decisions in the Demand for Knowledge Intensive Business Services

The search for the maximum use of scale and agglomeration economies and the need to operate firms in the most flexible way have provided a strong impulse for companies to increase their use of external intermediate services. Because of their strategic role, the use of business services that are intensive both in labour qualification and in technological requirements is key for these policies. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the patterns followed by companies in the two relevant decisions on this issue: firstly, whether to use knowledge intensive business services or not and, secondly, whether (and to what extent) to buy these services from another firm or to provide them inside the organisation. In both cases, we intend to identify the factors that affect the ‘do versus buy’ decision with respect to total KIBS as well as particular categories. A specific feature in our study is that it focuses on the behaviour of firms working in a region without a well-developed supply of KIBS. Applying discrete response models to the data obtained in a survey elaborated by the authors, the most relevant variables for the use of KIBS are satisfaction with previous outsourcing experiences and location of the firm in a large urban centre, but they do not affect their external provision. The size of the firm, its export orientation and its technological complexity have opposite effects on use and outsourcing.     

The moderating effects of service solution characteristics on competitive advantage

The objective of this study is to improve the understanding of the moderating effects of service solution characteristics on competitive advantage of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). This study is among the first to systematically operationalize the contingents in the absorptive capacity construct as service solution characteristics, that is, intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, and perishability, and tested them in the KIBS sector. Using a sample of 327 new technology-based KIBS firms in Finland, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis is applied to test the hypothesized moderator effects. The results suggest that service solution characteristics moderate the effects of the antecedents on absorptive capacity and the effect of absorptive capacity on competitive advantage. Guidelines are provided to practitioners to deal with projects with different service solution characteristics.     

The level of innovation among young innovative companies: the impacts of knowledge-intensive services use,firm characteristics and the entrepreneur attributes

The link between difficulties in obtaining funding and young innovative companies (YICs) has been investigated in numerous studies. YICs also face other barriers such as limited internal resources, access to technology services, etc. Thus, any public policy on innovation for providing financial support to YICs must be accompanied by offering technical assistance and consulting services. The purpose of this study is to determine the characteristics of YICs that enhance their innovation and, specifically, if the use of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) helps drive innovation. This study also investigates the level of innovation among YICs in relation to the firms’ characteristics (size, sector, competition) and the entrepreneurs’ attributes (age, gender). This study found that the use of KIBS stimulates innovation in YICs.     

How much does KIBS contribute to the generation and diffusion of innovation?

This article aims to estimate the contribution of KIBS to the innovation system. Data on innovation gathered from national and European databases are analyzed using a methodology based on an input–output framework to estimate the drive for innovation in the Spanish economy and the contribution of KIBS. KIBS are found to be crucial to both the creation and diffusion of innovation. From among the four classifications of sectors analyzed herein, KIBS is found to be the only significant net generator of innovation.     

Growth of KIBS and non-KIBS firms: evidences from university spin-offs

Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) firms are emerging into a knowledge-processing and knowledge-producing industry. Universities contribute to the creation of KIBS firms through university spin-offs (USOs), which represent an opportunity to boost knowledge spillovers from university to industry thanks to their cutting-edge research knowledge, consolidated research experience and well-developed interactive learning processes. The study of the growth of the KIBS USOs is needed to better understand whether these entrepreneurial ventures represent strategic elements of regional innovation systems and economic growth, distinguishing them from the other USOs in terms of growth. The paper explores whether KIBS firms grow more than non-KIBS firms. Using a sample of 1394 Italian and Spanish USOs over the period 2005–2013, the results show that being a KIBS firm has a positive effect on the growth of Spanish USOs, whereas the same does not hold for Italian USOs. Some relevant policies and practical implications are provided.