Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Knowledge-intensity as an organisational characteristic

  • Article
  • Published:
Knowledge Management Research & Practice

Abstract

The sector of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) has a central role in modern economies. However, there are no explicit and generally acknowledged criteria for characterising KIBS or other knowledge-intensive organisations. In addition, the concept of knowledge-intensity has no significant managerial use. This paper aims to widen the existing understanding about the concept of knowledge-intensity and take a step towards its operational application and managerial usefulness. Methodologically, two steps are carried out. First, a conceptual study based on intellectual capital literature and literature on knowledge-intensive firms is carried out. Second, an interview study (n=8) is carried out to empirically examine the role of knowledge assets in selected KIBS organisations. This paper contributes by tackling the vagueness of the concept of knowledge-intensity: the paper demonstrates that there are different types of ‘knowledge-intensity profiles’ among KIBS companies and that knowledge assets can be used as an analytical framework to identify the sources of value creation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alvesson M (1993) Organizations as rhetoric: knowledge-intensive companies and the struggle with ambiguity. Journal of Management Studies 30 (6), 997–1015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alvesson M (2001) Knowledge work: ambiguity, image and identity. Human Relations 54 (7), 863–886.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alvesson M (2004) Knowledge Work and Knowledge-intensive Firms. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Autio E, Sapienza HJ and Almeida JG (2000) Effects of age at entry, knowledge intensity, and imitability on international growth. Academy of Management Journal 43 (5), 909–924.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackler F (1995) Knowledge, knowledge work and organizations: an overview and interpretation. Organization Studies 16 (6), 1021–1046.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boland RJ and Tenkasi RV (1995) Perspective making and perspective taking in communities of knowing. Organization Science 6 (4), 350–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ditillo A (2004) Dealing with uncertainty in knowledge-intensive firms: the role of management control systems as knowledge integration mechanism. Accounting, Organizations and Society 29 (3–4), 401–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doloreux D, Amara N and Landry R (2008) Mapping regional and sectoral characteristics of knowledge-intensive business services: evidence from the province of Quebec (Canada). Growth and Change 39 (3), 464–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson L (2001) Reflections on knowledge and knowledge-intensive firms. Human Relations 54 (7), 955–963.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EMCC (2005) Sector Futures: The Knowledge-intensive Business Services Sector. European Monitoring Centre on Change (EMCC), European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin, Ireland.

  • European Commission (2008) NACE Rev. 2 – Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.

  • European Parliament (2008) New Professional and Business-related Services. Status and Prospects. Policy Department Economic and Scientific Policy, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium.

  • Freel M (2006) Patterns of technological innovation in knowledge-intensive business services. Industry and Innovation 13 (3), 335–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant RM (1996) Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal 17 (Winter Special Issue), 109–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauknes J (1998) Services in innovation – innovation in services. STEP Report R-13-1998, STEP Group, Oslo.

  • Hipp C (1999) Knowledge-intensive business services in the new mode of knowledge production. AI & Society 13 (1–2), 88–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hipp C and Grupp H (2005) Innovation in the service sector: the demand for service-specific innovation measurement concepts and typologies. Research Policy 34 (4), 517–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horgos D and Koch A (2008) The internal differentiation of the KIBS sector: empirical evidence from cluster analysis. International Journal of Services Technology and Management 10 (2/3/4), 190–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kärreman D and Alvesson M (2004) Cages in tandem: management control, social identity, and identification in a knowledge-intensive firm. Organization 11 (1), 149–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kogut B and Zander U (1992) Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organization Science 3 (3), 383–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kujansivu P (2008) Intellectual capital management: understanding why Finnish companies do not apply intellectual capital management models. Doctoral dissertation, Tampere University of Technology, Publication 747, Tampere, Finland.

  • Lee SH (1999) Taxonomy of HRM policies of knowledge-based firms: a resource-based explanation. International Journal of Innovation Management 3 (4), 379–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lönnqvist A (2004) Measurement of intangible success factors: case studies on the design, implementation and use of measures. Doctoral dissertation, Tampere University of Technology, Publication 475, Tampere, Finland.

  • Marr B, Schiuma G and Neely A (2004) Intellectual capital – defining key performance indicators for organizational knowledge assets. Business Process Management Journal 10 (5), 551–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles I (2005) Knowledge intensive business services: prospects and policies. Foresight 7 (6), 39–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles I, Kastrinos N, Flanagan K, Bilderbeek R, den Hertog P, Huntink W and Bouman M (1995) Knowledge-intensive business services: users, carriers and sources of innovation. European Innovation Monitoring System (EIMS), EIMS Publication No. 15, Luxembourg.

  • Morgan-Thomas A and Jones MV (2009) Post-entry internationalization dynamics: differences between SMEs in the development speed of their international sales. International Small Business Journal 27 (1), 71–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller E and Doloreux D (2009) What we should know about knowledge-intensive business services. Technology in Society 31 (1), 64–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller E, Zenker A and Héraud J-A (2009) Entering the KIBS’ black box: There must be an Angel! (Or is there something like a knowledge Angel?). Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Working Papers Firms and Region, No. R7/2009, Karlsruhe, Germany.

  • Nahapiet J and Ghoshal S (1998) Social capital, intellectual capital and organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review 23 (2), 242–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nonaka I (1994) A dynamic theory of organizational value creation. Organization Science 5 (1), 14–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2006) Innovation and Knowledge-intensive Service Activities. OECD Publishing, Paris, France.

  • Rylander A and Peppard J (2009) What really is a knowledge-intensive firm? – the rise and fall of an organizational category. Manuscript currently under review at Journal of Management Studies.

  • Schiuma G, de Pablos PO and Spender JC (2007) Foreword: intellectual capital and company's value creation dynamics. International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital 4 (4), 331–341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott-Kemmis D (2006) Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS). [WWW document] http://www.servicesaustralia.org.au/pdfFilesResearch/DITR-KnowledgeServices.pdf (accessed 15 April 2010).

  • Spender JC (1996) Making knowledge the basis of a dynamic theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal 17 (Winter Special Issue), 45–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spender JC and Grant RM (1996) Knowledge and the firm: overview. Strategic Management Journal 17 (Winter Special Issue), 5–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Starbuck WH (1992) Learning by knowledge-intensive firms. Journal of Management Studies 29 (6), 713–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Starbuck WH (1993) Keeping a butterfly and an elephant in a house of cards: the elements of exceptional success. Journal of Management Studies 30 (6), 885–921.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strambach S (1997) Knowledge-intensive services and innovation in Germany. Report for TSER project, University of Stuttgart.

  • Sveiby KE (1997) The New Organizational Wealth. Managing & Measuring Knowledgebased Assets. Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sveiby KE and Risling A (1986) Kunskapsföretaget – Seklets viktigaste ledarutmaning? (The Knowledge Firm – This Century's Most Important Managerial Challenge?) Liber AB, Malmö.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swart J and Kinnie N (2003) Sharing knowledge in knowledge-intensive firms. Human Resource Management Journal 13 (2), 60–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsoukas H (1996) The firm as a distributed knowledge system: a constructionist approach. Strategic Management Journal 17 (Winter Special Issue), 11–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (2008) International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Rev. 4. United Nations, Department of Social and Economic Affairs, Statistics Division, New York.

  • von Nordenflycht A (2010) What is a professional service firm? Toward a theory and taxonomy of knowledge-intensive firms. Academy of Management Review 35 (1), 155–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winch G and Schneider E (1993) Managing the knowledge-based organization: the case of architectural practice. Journal of Management Studies 30 (6), 923–937.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Windrum P and Tomlinson M (1999) Knowledge-intensive services and international competitiveness: a four country comparison. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management 11 (3), 391–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tampere University of Technology, Finland

    Jonna Käpylä, Harri Laihonen & Antti Lönnqvist

  2. University of Basilicata, Italy

    Daniela Carlucci

Authors
  1. Jonna Käpylä
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Harri Laihonen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Antti Lönnqvist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Daniela Carlucci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Appendix

Appendix

KIBS sectors based on NACE Rev. 2

illustration

figure a

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Käpylä, J., Laihonen, H., Lönnqvist, A. et al. Knowledge-intensity as an organisational characteristic. Knowl Manage Res Pract 9, 315–326 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2011.23

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2011.23

Keywords

Search

Navigation