Knowledge intensive business services: ambiguities and continuities

Abstract

Foresight 1 Knowledge Intensive Business Services: Ambiguities and Continuities Structured AbstractPurpose of this paper The substantial growth in literature on Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) has thrown light on their contributions to innovation and innovation systems: this paper is the first of a set that examines major debates and conclusions to have emerged from this growing body of evidence. Design/methodology/approach This is a review essay, which also presents relevant statistics. It addresses definitional issues and controversies, and sets out basic trends and characteristics of the KIBS industries. The focus is mainly on KIBS firms, though the production of similar services in other types of organisation is also considered. FindingsMany of the conclusions of an earlier (2005) review in this journal remain valid, though difficulties in capturing these activities in official statistics, mean that there are many issues that demand closer inspection. Understanding the role and future prospects of KIBS will also require looking beyond the literature that focuses just on KIBS industries. Research limitations/implications (if applicable)The study involves literature review and statistical analysis. Future work would benefit from involvement of practitioners and users of KIBS. Practical implications (if applicable)More explicit consideration of KIBS in statistical frameworks is still required, and novel approaches to data conceptualisation and production should be explored. What is original/value of paperThe growing literature on KIBS, and its implications for understanding the roles and future development of the firms and their relationships to innovation systems, requires systematic analysis. Available statistics have been brought together, and the paper also reflects critically on the trajectories of research on these topics.

Knowledge-Intensive Services Development in the EU: Forecasts for Selected Countries and Implications for Poland

“…Among the determinants of the development of the KIS sector one can mention (Miles et al, 2018): − growing demand from organisations that focus on 'core competences', outsourcing non-core activities to specialised suppliers, − increasing requirements for external knowledge, − changing environments and technologies which require knowledge to fully utilise them, − growing complexity of economies and the technologies which are deployed in them.…”

“…What is more, some KIS/KIBS firms follow their clients overseas, and/or seek new markets in (especially) emerging economies. A possible trend is likely to be the emergence of KIBS firms within emerging economies -catering to local and/or world markets (Miles, 2018). Having considered this, we proposed the main hypothesis of the study, which posits that the process of development of knowledge-intensive services has a certain limit that cannot be overcome, which can be called a 'glass ceiling'.…”

Variety in the innovation process of UK research and development service firms

“…RDSFs provide contract R&D services to both manufacturing and non‐manufacturing industries (Koschatzky, ; Jankowski et al, ). RDSFs have typically been classified as a subsector of technology‐related knowledge‐intensive business services (T‐KIBS, as opposed to P‐KIBS, professional services) (den Hertog, ; Muller and Zenker, ; Muller and Doloreux, ; Schnabl and Zenker, ; de Matos Ferreira, ; Miles et al, ). While T‐KIBS have been repeatedly noted to be particularly innovative in studies using innovation surveys (Freel, ; Corrocher et al, ; Toivonen and Tuominen, ), there has been little attention paid specifically to RDSFs.…”

The Impact of Coproducing Services with Clients on Knowledge-Intensive Business Services’ Innovativeness

“…It leads to a rapid development of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS)a set of industries that provide intermediate inputs for business processes of other companies by applying professional knowledge, expertise and experience (Miles, 2005). As a result, KIBS contribution in terms of value added and employment is still growing in developed economies like EU and the USA (Miles et al, 2018) and emerging ones like China, India or Russia (Chichkanov et al, 2019b). In addition, KIBS tend to be one of the most innovative sectors, compared to other services and most of manufacturing industries (Miles et al, 2019).…”