Knowledge and Innovation in Business and Industry: The Importance of Using Others

Provocative and reflective, this volume on the notion of knowledge and innovation in the business industry provides readers with a holistic approach to the subject of 'knowledge'. Structuring their arguments around four case studies of innovation within four entirely different contexts, Håkansson and Waluszewski invite the business-minded reader to consider the costs of adopting new knowledge and innovation within a business setting. This book: questions the long-held assumption that new knowledge and innovation are universally advantageous follows the tremor of an innovation as new knowledge reverberates through, or is dampened by the larger economic community - including cultural structures, the industrial standards and the foundational assumptions that rule a particular economic domain focuses in particular on the interfaces where the innovative agent connects to its customers, suppliers and competitors. An ideal reference source for postgraduate students taking advanced courses in science and technology studies, innovation management, industrial marketing and purchasing, technological development and innovation systems.