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This paper enhances our understanding of how national culture impacts manufacturing performance (assembly speed, consistency between teams, etc.) during a production process move. The authors also investigate the efficacy of co-location as a strategy to enhance knowledge transfer from one organization to another.

To study the impact of national culture on production process moves, the authors develop and employ a team-based behavioral experiment within and between an individualist society (the United States) and a collectivist one (China). The authors also examine the impact of co-location on knowledge transfer effectiveness within and between these two unique cultures.

Interestingly, co-location has little impact on the performance of US recipient teams. Without co-location, Chinese recipient team performance lags significantly behind the US teams. However, firms can overcome these knowledge transfer challenges by co-locating source and recipient team members. These results suggest that firms should assess the national cultural context when considering co-location to manage their production move. There are contexts where co-location may be incredibly useful to facilitate an effective knowledge transfer (e.g. collectivist cultures like China) and contexts where this approach may not be as valuable (e.g. individualistic cultures such as the United States).

This research contributes to the academic literature in several ways. First, while past research demonstrates that national culture can be an essential barrier to information and knowledge sharing, this paper extends these findings showing that co-location may effectively overcome this barrier. After the authors offer and test the merits of co-location, they also establish the boundary conditions of this approach by showing that the effect of co-location on knowledge transfer is contingent on the cultural context. This contribution enhances our understanding of the relationship between national culture and knowledge sharing and has implications for managers developing approaches to transfer knowledge between cultures. Second, the authors develop and execute a novel cross-country experimental design. While cross-country experiments have been done before (e.g. Ozer et al. 2014, Kuwabara et al. 2007, etc.), it is still rare to see such experiments due to them being “technically difficult and costly” (Ozer et al. 2014, p. 2437). This research not only offer insights into how teams of people from individualist and collectivist societies send, receive and comprehend production knowledge. It also documents how these teams convert this knowledge into production results.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how important is co-location of R&D and production for firms originated from high-cost countries and to provide evidence of the relationship between the different strategies of location choices and co-location.

In order to investigate the relationship between R&D/design-production co-location and strategies of location choices for production, this paper uses a cluster analysis of 37 Italian firms that operate in fashion industry.

This article finds that co-location results in a dominant strategy for firms under the following conditions: high level of product customization, coordination difficulties between R&D and production, rapid change in production process technologies and product complexity difficult to be coded.

This paper presents some limitations in that it focuses only on fashion industry without considering other sectors.

This paper has some managerial implication in that offers some insight on decision making in organization. In particular offers some insights of how important is having an internal R&D/design function rather than collaborating with external designers in order to achieve competitive advantage in terms of product quality, product design and also brand name reputation.

This paper suggests that the co-location of R&D and production may improve the firms' performance considering the need for constant interaction between the two units. Moreover, it suggests that the co-location of R&D and production both within and external (within the firms' region and/or within the country) to the firms might be important. Furthermore, larger firms in terms of turnover have a greater preference to locate the R&D function close to the production function.

This paper examines co-location as an important solution to design workspaces in research and development (R & D). It argues that co-locating R & D units in multi-space environments serves knowledge creation by leveraging knowledge sharing across boundaries.

This study is based on a co-location project of the knowledge-intensive, multi-national company Novartis. To compare communication and collaboration patterns, we interviewed and observed employees before and after co-location into the “co-location pilot” and investigated a control group that was not co-located. The use of data and method triangulation as a research approach underlines the inherent dynamics of the co-location in this study.

The study suggests findings leveraging knowledge sharing in two different ways. Co-location of dispersed project team members increases unplanned face-to-face communication leading to faster and more precise flows of knowledge by transcending knowledge boundaries. Co-location to an open multi-space environment stimulates knowledge creation by enabling socialization, externalization and combination of knowledge.

This study provides managerial implications for implementing co-location to achieve greater knowledge sharing across functions. The design of the work environment provides the framework for successful co-location.

This paper reports the findings of an empirical case study conducted within the “co-location pilot” of the pharmaceutical company Novartis. This study contributes to an in-depth understanding of the phenomena on a qualitative and micro-level.

Which retail services are co-located in space? Is it possible to categorize retail stores of different kinds with respect to their location pattern? Acknowledging the spatial dependency between different and similar kinds of retailing activities, the aim of this paper is to find if and to what extent co-location is present in a retail market and what kind of retailing activities are co-located.

The authors analyse the co-location of different types of retail stores in Sweden by using geo-coded data. The data they use allows them to pinpoint each establishment in Sweden down to a 250 by 250m square in space. First, they identify a measure of co-location for each retail service by utilizing pairwise correlations between the different retail service establishments with respect to the squares in which they are present. Later, by using the finest level of industrial categorization for all physical retailing activities (and limiting their geographical unit to the Stockholm metropolitan market), they perform factor analysis to nest these retailing activities under relevant categories based on their co-location pattern.

In this analysis the authors obtain four major factors for the squares with retail stores, in which several kinds of retail activities are nested. These factors reveal a certain degree of location commonality for the markets in question.

The authors' empirical design is based on a highly disaggregated spatial information and the methodology is novel in a sense that it has not been used to address a similar question. Rather than sampling, the authors use the total population, where they take all physical retailing activities into account to be able to draw a general picture for the co-location phenomena in the entire retail market.

The purpose of this paper is to is focus on the role of geographic co‐location in the development of firm‐level marketing externalities.

A mail survey and quantitative analysis were used to examine the effect of co‐location on externalities. Fast growing salmon farming clusters in Scotland and Chile were chosen where most environmental variables could be controlled. These clusters enjoy business to business marketing practices.

Respondents indicated several externalities yielded by co‐location such as buying intermediate goods, enhanced reputation and joint participation in trade fairs. However, other externalities such as providing access to new technology and referrals to other firms were only slightly indicated useful as produced by co‐location.

Practitioners in the salmon farming industry are suggested to pursue inter‐cluster cooperation.

While previous findings are conflicting, the contribution of this study within the limits of its sample is in differentiating the specific traditional and marketing externalities in which co‐location is beneficial for clustered firms.

The adoption of a team approach in new product design, particularly in recent years, has shaped the nature and context of design activities. Concepts of teaming and team building have been around for many decades and are seen as the means for enhancing organizational and individual performance. It is assumed that through teaming, that is, more social interactions, shared focus and physical proximity, the design process and its outcome will be improved. Virtual teaming, a relatively recent phenomenon, is becoming increasingly attractive to organizations due to developments in communication technologies. The implications of a remote distributed working environment, though, are not illustrated or experienced extensively. This paper explores the evolution of virtual co‐location of product design teams within the context of concurrent engineering. It, thus, attempts to highlight paradoxes and dilemmas in setting up physically and virtually co‐located teams. These issues are illustrated in case studies from ongoing pan‐European projects that depict product design and development activities in certain manufacturing organizations. A survey of some manufacturing firms highlights these dilemmas as perceived by participating firms. The paper closes by examining the extent that teaming, as a performance enhancer, can be diffused to other activities than design, and thus the extent that experiences can be shared within the organization.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model that portrays how contextual factors and behavioural cooperation mechanisms influence the effect of trade associations on the export performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a Latin American emerging economy.

The author draws on multiple streams of literature including: co-location, networks, cooperation and export performance to suggest a series of solid theoretical insights to the literature on SMEs’ export performance, networks and co-location in the Latin American context.

Contextual factors and behavioural cooperation mechanisms influence the effect of trade associations on export performance determining the final sign of such effect. Trust plays a role within all proposed mechanisms, but is not as fundamental as previously characterised in studies on the export performance of SMEs. Cooperation might exist, prevail, and exert a positive impact on SMEs’ export performance even in the absence of trust.

This paper contributes to the literature on SMEs’ export performance, networks and co-location in the Latin American context by presenting a theoretical model that enfolds co-location, networks, trade associations and cooperation effects on SMEs’ export performance under the same foundation. It creates the categories of “contextual factors” and “behavioural cooperation mechanisms” to differentiate the elements that weight on the relationship between firms and trade associations, thus facilitating or hindering export performance. It guides policy makers and company managers on where to focus when incentivizing conduct towards a more productive export performance in Latin America and other emerging economies.

Este artículo presenta un modelo teórico que describe cómo factores de contexto y mecanismos de cooperación conductuales impactan el efecto de las asociaciones de negocios en el desempeño exportador de las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES) en el contexto de los países emergentes de América Latina.

Los autores se basan en diversas líneas de investigación de la literatura, incluyendo: Co-locación, Redes, Cooperación y Desempeño Exportador para sugerir una serie de conclusiones teóricas referentes a la relación entre las PYMES y las asociaciones de negocios.

Los factores contextuales y los mecanismos de cooperación conductuales influyen en el efecto de las asociaciones de negocios en el desempeño de las exportaciones de las PYMES, determinando el signo final de dicho efecto. La confianza desempeña un papel dentro de todos los mecanismos conductuales propuestos, pero no tan fundamental como se caracterizó previamente en los estudios sobre el desempeño exportador de PYMES. La cooperación podría existir, prevalecer y ejercer un impacto positivo en el desempeño de las exportaciones de las PYMES, incluso en ausencia de confianza.

Este artículo contribuye a la literatura enfocada en PYMES, redes, co-locación y desempeño exportador, mediante la introducción de un modelo teórico que incluye en una plataforma única los conceptos de co-localización, redes, asociaciones de negocios y efectos de la cooperación en el desempeño de las exportaciones de las PYMES. En adición, crea las categorías de “factores contextuales” y “mecanismos de cooperación conductual” para diferenciar los elementos que influyen en la relación entre las empresas y las asociaciones de negocios, facilitando u obstaculizando así el desempeño de las exportaciones de PYMES en América Latina y otras economías emergentes.

Coworking spaces use the idea of spatial co-location that improves communication and knowledge sharing among independent knowledge professionals. Fluid work structures and a sense of community can facilitate work satisfaction, creativity and entrepreneurship. Fundamentals to those positive outcomes are the knowledge sharing processes between users of coworking spaces. The purpose of this study is to explore the knowledge sharing processes in this setting where researchers still have very little understanding.

Based on an inductive research methodology, qualitative data were collected through observations and interviews with a variety of users (including freelancers, entrepreneurs and firms) incumbent in various coworking spaces in Germany.

Co-location of individuals in coworking spaces is first about physical proximity and second about socialization and collaboration opportunities, which then advance cognitive proximity. Thus, co-location can facilitate tacit knowledge exchange, ignite the social disembodiment of ideas, synthesize domain-related knowledge sharing and promote inter-domain learning. The institutionalization of knowledge management services will allow coworking spaces to increase these positive outcomes.

Findings of this study are interesting for managers of shared spaces and traditional firms that use spatial co-location. The authors propose institutionalized knowledge management services to enable multifaceted and multidisciplinary knowledge creation in organizations.

This paper sheds light on the role of spatial co-location in knowledge sharing processes among independent knowledge professionals in shared office spaces. Thereby, this study provides valuable insights into a phenomenon that has received little attention even though its practical importance is high.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop a typology of co‐located supplier clusters, such as logistics centres or supplier parks, and second, to evaluate the theoretical perspectives at hand to investigate the co‐location phenomenon.

The research encompasses 28 semi‐structured interviews with key operations executives from vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers and logistics service providers at nine co‐located supplier clusters, the findings of which are triangulated with secondary sources.

The investigation yields two main findings: first, a typology is proposed based on two key dimensions “spatial integration and infrastructure” and “local value‐added”. From a theoretical perspective, the paper further concludes that transaction cost economics is less suited for studying dedicated co‐location, and suggests that future investigations should focus on consolidating the contributions on the spatial dimension of sourcing configurations into a novel theoretical framework.

The study is based on an exploratory research design, investigating a selected number of co‐located supplier clusters only. While the research does not claim to provide a comprehensive survey of co‐located supplier clusters, it proposes a general categorisation that aims to provide a structure currently lacking further research into this phenomenon.

A structured overview of the phenomenon of co‐located supplier clusters is provided, extending the existing morphological debate. Furthermore, the discussion of their theoretical foundations provides novel insights into this phenomenon as well as into the operational implications of value chain modifications in general, with the intention of guiding further research in this area.