The role of a firm's absorptive capacity and the technology transfer process in clusters: How effective are technology centres in low-tech clusters?

Abstract

This paper analyses how the internal resources of small-and medium-sized enterprises determine access (learning processes) to technology centres (TCs) or industrial research institutes (innovation infrastructure) in traditional low-tech clusters. These interactions basically represent traded (market-based) transactions, which constitute important sources of knowledge in clusters. The paper addresses the role of TCs in low-tech clusters, and uses semi-structured interviews with 80 firms in a manufacturing cluster. The results point out that producer-user interactions are the most frequent; thus, the higher the sector knowledge-intensive base, the more likely the utilization of the available research infrastructure becomes. Conversely, the sectors with less knowledge-intensive structures, i.e. less absorptive capacity (AC), present weak linkages to TCs, as they frequently prefer to interact with suppliers, who act as transceivers of knowledge. Therefore, not all the firms in a cluster can fully exploit the available research infrastructure, and their AC moderates this engagement. In addition, the existence of TCs is not sufficient since the active role of a firm's search strategies to undertake interactions and conduct openness to available sources of knowledge is also needed. The study has implications for policymakers and academia.

Intermediation for technology diffusion and user innovation in a developing rural economy: a social learning perspective

“…Yet, these national innovation systems appear to have evolved into weak entities, with human capital remaining low and science and technology institutions, especially universities, not fully performing an enabling role (Bebbington and Thiele 1993;Bastos and Cooper 2005;Beddington and Farrington 2007;Metcalfe 2010). A multitude of challenges have been identified in the literature, covering a broad geography (Bercovitz and Feldman 2006;Anderson, Daim and Lavoie 2007;Decter, Bennett and Leseure 2007;Hervas-Oliver et al 2012;Ranga and Etzkowitz 2013). These relate to overcoming cultural/epistemic differences, defining accurately end-user needs, demonstrating the benefits of new technologies to potential end-users, providing 'knowhow' and taking advantage of government institutions and networks that facilitate dissemination and influence user acceptance.…”

“…Spithoven, Clarysse and Knochaert 2011;Hervas-Oliver et al 2012), studies on the role of such intermediaries have, by and large, focused on firms operating in high technology clusters. Relatively little attention has been paid to how third-sector research and advisory centres, as technology intermediaries, facilitate technology transfer and user innovation in low technology, rural clusters of small-scale agribusinesses in developing countries.…”

Competitive low-tech manufacturing and challenges for regional policy in the European context--lessons from the Danish experience

“…Thus, low-tech firms with highly qualified personnel are more innovative (Vaz et al 2006) and investment in training and upgrading of employees' skills is positively associated with revenue growth (Thornhill 2006), increased sales (Corbett 2008) and innovativeness (Santamaria et al 2009;Hervas-Oliver et al 2011b;Giannetti and Madia 2013). Further, highly skilled labour also facilitates collaboration with high-tech firms (Hervas-Oliver et al 2012). To enter such collaborations, high-tech firms often require that some highly skilled employees work in development positions in the low-tech firms to ensure that work routines are not too dissimilar between the partners (Hansen 2012).…”

“…Multiple contributions highlight the importance of suppliers as a source of new knowledge and inputs which would be difficult to obtain elsewhere (Boly et al 2000;Garibaldo and Jacobson 2005;Hervas-Oliver et al 2011b;Grosse and Fonseca 2012). Thus, suppliers from more researchintensive industries are important sources of innovativeness for low-tech firm (Robertson and Smith 2008;Heidenreich 2009;Trippl 2011;Hervas-Oliver et al 2012). However, it is important to note that the relation between high-and low-tech firms is one of interdependency: low-tech manufacturing constitutes a main market for high-tech products and low-tech firms often play a central role in the development of these (Robertson and Patel 2005;Hauknes and Knell 2009;Hansen and Winther 2011).…”

Absorptive capacity and innovation in low-tech companies in emerging economies

“…Although these studies have allowed analyzing the role of innovation in business performance, there are scant research studies in countries of emerging economies that focus in low technological industries (Hervas-Oliver, Albors-Garrigos, de-Miguel & Hidalgo, 2012). Consequently, it is necessary to verify current studies for new environments.…”