Abstract
Mechanization of production processes allows the achievement of important advantages,especially in terms of increase in production volumes and decrease in production costs.Despite of these advantages, many micro and small companies are still adopting manualproduction. Causes can be searched in the characteristics of the production process itself thatcan make the mechanization difficult. This paper aims to investigate if the decision aboutthe mechanization is influenced by the characteristics of the knowledge underpinning theproduction. On the basis of empirical evidences collected in micro and small companiesoperating in the diary sector, we discuss how the knowledge tacit dimension influencesthe mechanization of the production process, the diffusion and transfer of productioncapabilities in a given territory.References
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1, pp.89-115
Cohendet, P., and Meyer-Krahmer, F. 2001. The Theoretical and Policy Implications of Knowledge Codification. Research Policy 30:1563–1591;
Cowan, R., David, P. D.; and Foray, D. 2000. The Explicit Economics of Knowledge Codification and Tacitness. Industrial and Corporate Change 9:211–253;
Cowan, R., Foray, D. 1997. The Economics of Knowledge Codification and the Diffusion of Knowledge. Industrial and Corporate Change, 6: 595-622
Dosj, G., Marengo, L., Fagiolo, G., 1996. Learning in Evolutionary Enwromments. IIASA Working Paper N° 96-124
Kogut, U. Zander, B. 1992. “Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities and the Replication of Technology”, Organization Science, Vol. 3, No. 3, August, pp. 383-397
Kogut, U. Zander, B. 1995. “Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Innovation of Organizational capabilities: An Empirical Test, Organization Science, Vol. 6, No. 1 January-
February, pp. 76-96
Miller, D., Shamsie, J. 1996. “The Resource-Based View of the Firm in Two Environments: The Hollywood Film Studios From 1936–1965.” Academy of Management Journal, 39(3):
519–543.
Nelson, R. Winter, S. 1982. An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Canbridge, MA, Belknap Press.
Penrose, E. T. 1959. The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. Wiley, New York.Polanyi, M. 1962. Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy. New York: Harper & Row.
Polanyi, M. 1967. The Tacit Dimension. London: Routledge & Kegan Poul Ltd.
Rose, R. 2005. Making the Most of Buffalo Mozzarella. Financial Times, October 8/9.
Spender, J. C. 1996. Competitive advantage from tacit knowledge? Unpacking the concept and its strategic implications. In Organizational learning and competitive advantage, ed. B. Moingeon and A. Edmondson, 56–73. London: Sage.
Winter, S. 1987. “Knowledge and Competence as Strategic Assets “ in Teece, D. J. (Ed.), The Competitive Challenge-Strategies for Industrial Innovation and Renewal, Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Ballinger.
Yin, R. K. 1994. CaseStudy Research: Design and Methods, London and New Delhi: Sage Publications.
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