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How Small Kibs Companies Manage Their Intellectual Capital? Towards An Emergent Km Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Ettore Bolisani

    (University of Padua, Vicenza, Italy)

  • Enrico Scarso

    (University of Padua, Vicenza, Italy)

  • Malgorzata Zieba

    (Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland)

Abstract
The growing interest in Intellectual Capital management and Knowledge Management is now reaching small companies, especially those in the Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) sector. This paper aims to explore this issue, starting from the assumption that a planned and systematic approach to KM, as is used in large companies, is rarely applicable in small organizations. It is more likely that small companies adopt an approach to KM that could be defined as “emergent”, i.e. KM is not planned rationally and in advance, but emerges and is developed along with time. In the paper, the concept of emergent KM approach will be defined and discussed, and three research questions will be examined: a. Is it possible to detect an emergent KM approach in the practice of small KIBS? b. If so, why small KIBS companies follow an emergent KM approach? c. What particular features this approach can have in those companies? The study is based on the results of a qualitative survey involving several owners and managers of small companies operating in the KIBS sector. The survey uses the case study method, and gives grounds for a preliminary analysis of emergent KM approach is small companies offering KIBS. The findings confirm that it is easy to find small companies adopting an emergent approach to KM: in the analysed cases there were no formal KM plans, despite the fact that they have all introduced various KM practices. This shows that there can be the need to define KM approaches that better fit smaller companies

Suggested Citation

  • Ettore Bolisani & Enrico Scarso & Malgorzata Zieba, 2014. "How Small Kibs Companies Manage Their Intellectual Capital? Towards An Emergent Km Approach," GUT FME Working Paper Series A 25, Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdansk University of Technology.
    • Handle: RePEc:gdk:wpaper:25
    as

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    File URL: https://cdn.files.pg.edu.pl/zie/Strona%20polska/Nauka/Publikacje/Working%20Papers/WP_GUTFME_A_25.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2014
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Consoli, Davide & Elche Hortelano, Dioni, 2009. "Variety in the Knowledge base of Business Service sectors," INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) Working Paper Series 200909, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), revised 19 Jul 2010.
    2. Consoli, Davide & Elche-Hortelano, Dioni, 2010. "Variety in the knowledge base of Knowledge Intensive Business Services," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1303-1310, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Patrizia Gazzola & Gianluca Colombo & Roberta Pezzetti & Luminița Nicolescu, 2017. "Consumer Empowerment in the Digital Economy: Availing Sustainable Purchasing Decisions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-19, April.
    2. Elena-Madalina Vatamanescu & Bogdan Gabriel Nistoreanu & Andreea Mitan, 2017. "Competition and Consumer Behavior in the Context of the Digital Economy," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 19(45), pages 354-354, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Knowledge Management; KIBS; Emergent KM Approach; Case-study analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L84 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Personal, Professional, and Business Services
    • M1 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration

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