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Innovation implies newness. To define and measure innovation better, we investigated three dimensions of newness: what is new, how new, and new to whom? Drawing on prior research by Schumpeter and Kirzner, we developed a scale that addresses six areas of innovative activity: new products, new services, new methods of production, opening new markets, new sources of supply, and new ways of organizing. Using factor analysis on data from two separate field studies – 684 firms from eight industries and 200 information technology firms – we found that innovation as newness represents a unidimensional construct, distinguished only by the degree of radicalness.

In the knowledge economy, where the business environment is characterised by turbulence and complexity, knowledge is the main source of creating both innovation and sustainable competitive advantage. This paper describes a conceptual model and an associated set of managerial and organising implications for the innovation‐led company. The question we are trying to answer is: which management and organising characteristics are necessary to manage innovation in the knowledge economy? The paper is based on in‐depth interviews of 32 CEOs and top executives in leading European organisations, 40 people known internationally for their ability to achieve and maintain a position among the top performers in their fields, and a “best practice study” of five leading international companies.

In this article we will discuss the link between systemic thinking, organizational learning and knowledge management. We will develop a conceptual model to illustrate and explain this link, which will be further discussed throughout the article. The main entities of this model are: emphasis on internal motivation, relations in and among systems, in addition to the development of vision, generation of ideas and creativity. The philosophical basis for this model is systemic thinking. We will thus explain the meaning of this way of thinking, before we discuss the individual elements of the conceptual model.

The purpose of this paper is to develop the case for studying non-interaction in networks, particularly instances of intentional avoidance of interaction.

The paper is based on the analysis of instances of interaction avoidance across four case studies in medical technology development, food product development, food distribution network change, and regional innovation in construction.

Some answers are provided to the questions of why and how actors may seek to avoid interaction. Five modes of interaction avoidance are identified and outlined. Within these modes, interaction avoidance took place in order to protect knowledge, enforce progress, economise in business networks, avoid wasting resources, and maintain opportunities respectively. This list is not seen to be exhaustive of the theme, and further studies are encouraged.

Few inter-organisational network studies have dealt explicitly with interaction avoidance or non-interaction.

Turbulence and complexity in the business environment is growing along with the need for external information in creating innovation, as innovation is seen as the primary source of sustainable competitive advantages in the knowledge economy. Consequently, the underlying information processes were external information are gathered and put into use, are crucial for companies in their development of innovation, and ultimately their capacity to limit imitation and create sustainable competitive advantages.

The research question in this paper is, how can systemic knowledge processes create innovation and promote competitive advantages? Through a conceptual model it is argued that a prerequisite for the acquisition, development, integration and application of knowledge, is the existence of systemic knowledge processes, percolation processes and networking.

It is through these processes that organizations can develop innovations, which ultimately will lead to sustainable competitive advantages.

Provides an insight into, and an understanding of knowledge processes, innovation and sustainable competitive advantages in the business environment.

Although we observe a general optimism concerning IT’s potential for creating suitable competitive advantages, there exists a lack of empirical support for the positive economic impact of IT on businesses. This is denoted as the productivity paradox of IT. We argue that in situations of hypercompetition, using conventional productivity measures as the only performance indicator would be inadequate when studying the impact IT has. Furthermore, investing in IT does not ensure its proper implementation. Consequently there is a need to consider what companies are using IT for and its consequences for innovation and a variety of performance measures. In a study of 200 firms within the Norwegian IT sector, we found that focusing on the use of IT might be a promising route for studying the relationship between IT and successful innovations, and between IT and performance. We also found a number of trade‐offs between the various performance measures and between successful innovations and performance. Although we were able to find positive effects of IT we argue in favour of developing an information and a knowledge strategy prior to developing an IT strategy

The purpose of the paper is to examine the service branding process of the historic tourist attraction, the Norwegian Coastal Voyage (Hurtigruten).

A qualitative design guided the research and the research instrument employed was semi-structured in-depth interviews with service employees employed in the shipping line Hurtigruten ASA.

The research shows that the long history of the Hurtigruten, the role of leadership and culture, organising principles and analytical orientation were influential factors to the branding process on the Hurtigruten and that determined the key characteristics of the process, that of a structured process.

Although, the study is innovative in its orientation, the research findings are restricted to the research context: on the Hurtigruten. However, the inductive approach makes it possible to conduct follow-up studies including more cruise line carriers.

A set of advices is provided which is beneficial in making the Hurtigruten an even stronger brand. One advice is to develop brand messages to be used in market communication which is built on attractive values to tourists such as Norwegian sea man skills, safety, reliability, comfort and exoticness.

One important social implication is the suggestion to integrate the service employees in branding processes which may have consequences for employees’ brand commitment and loyalty.

In the research literature, more research on services branding is called for. Thus, the study contributes to the extant knowledge on an interesting research field and the value of the study lies in its in-depth exploration of an important management process, that of services branding.

The purpose of this paper is to facilitate understanding of the interaction between tacit knowledge and innovation.

The paper addresses the puzzle related to the impact tacit knowledge has on innovation. It appears that tacit knowledge has both negative and positive effects on innovation. The authors argue that solving this puzzle might find its solution in moving away from a one‐dimensional view of both tacit knowledge and innovation. Hence, they develop a typology of tacit knowledge to facilitate our understanding of the interaction between different types of tacit knowledge and different types of innovation. In conducting an aspect of a cybernetic theory of tacit knowledge and innovation, the authors develop a number of propositions for the influence different types of tacit knowledge have on different types of innovation.

The authors' argument is that different types of tacit knowledge hold different potential abilities for different types of innovation. The negative effect (a decrease in number of innovations) found in the tacit knowledge's conservative element might be explained in that the lower level of experience are more tied up in rule, procedures and analysis, than is the case for higher levels of experience.

In developing a typology of tacit knowledge and relating it to different types of innovation, the paper contributes to a new understanding of the complexity between tacit knowledge and innovation.

Considers from a cybernetic point of view, a number of philosophical problems raised by the design and utilization of information systems and knowledge management. Discusses the transformation from facts in social systems, via data and information into knowledge, and the practical use of knowledge, which is defined as the cybernetic strategy of action. This paper is normative and conceptual and the research question posed is: How are social facts transformed into data, data into information, and information into knowledge?

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the question: how can we study clusters from a systemic perspective?

First, clusters are discussed from a strategic point of view, then it is determined what is meant by a systemic perspective. In part two of the paper systemics applied to the study of clusters is discussed. In the last part of the paper a systemic research strategy for the study of clusters is discussed.

The paper produces a research strategy based on three main entities: composition, environment and structure.

The paper develops a systemic research strategy for the study of innovation based in clusters.