De la creatividad al lanzamiento de productos: el papel del conocimiento en los procesos de innovación e imitación | Cuadernos de Economía y Dirección de la Empresa CEDE

Article information

Resumen

El conocimiento juega un papel ambivalente en el proceso de innovación. Por una parte, cuando es nuevo, inobservable, incodificado y exploratorio, incentiva la creatividad y es el fermento en la generación de ideas. Por otra parte, cuando es observable, codificado y explotador, facilita la culminación exitosa del proceso de innovación o del de adopción de imitaciones. Este artículo, utilizando una muestra de 400 empresas, analiza empíricamente los roles que desempeña el conocimiento en los procesos de innovación e imitación, radical e incremental. Los resultados obtenidos señalan que el conocimiento no observable favorece el desarrollo de inventos (radicales e incrementales), que el conocimiento codificado influye positivamente en la obtención de inventos e imitaciones incrementales y de innovaciones radicales e incrementales, y que la radicalidad de innovaciones e imitaciones está relacionada con el conocimiento complejo. Estos hallazgos ayudan a despejar algunas de las cuestiones no resueltas de estudios previos.

Palabras clave:

Proceso de innovación

Tipos de innovaciones

Imitación

Conocimiento

Abstract

Knowledge plays an ambiguous role in the innovation process. On one hand, when it is new, non-observable, uncodified and explorative, knowledge incentives creativity and it is the ferment of any idea generation. On the other hand, when it is observable, codified and exploitative, knowledge facilitates the culmination of the innovation or imitation process. This paper, using a survey of 400 companies, empirically analyzes the knowledge roles in radical and incremental innovation and imitation processes. Our results point out that non-observable knowledge favors the development of inventions (radical and incremental), that codified knowledge positively influences the obtaining of incremental inventions and imitations; and of radical and incremental innovations; and that innovation and imitation radicalness is related with complex knowledge. These findings help to clear some of the non resolved questions of previous studies.

Keywords:

Innovation process

Types of innovations

Imitation

Knowledge

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Los autores agradecen los comentarios y sugerencias realizados por el profesor José E. Navas López. También agradecen el apoyo del MEC por la financiación aportada a través del grupo de investigación SEC2003-07741.

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