Browsing Research documents by Author "Håkanson, Lars"
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Håkanson, Lars; Ambos, Björn (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This study investigates the antecedents of psychic distance. Building on original data in 25 of the world’s largest economies, we investigate potential drivers of the perceived distance among a given pair of countries. Results confirm that psychic distance is indeed a multifaceted construct which is determined by cultural, geographic and economic factors. Furthermore, our results indicate that geographic distance accounts for the largest share of the explained variance, suggesting that future studies should attribute geographic distance a more prominent role when it comes to empirically investigating international business decisions for which psychic distance perceptions may be important. They also suggest that, used in isolation, cultural distance – as measured by the so called Kogut and Singh index – is a poor predictor of distance perceptions. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6583 Files in this item: 1
wp3-2008.pdf (189.2Kb) -
Håkanson, Lars (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: All knowledge is context dependent. The relevant context is the social community where it resides, i.e. the ‘epistemic community’ formed as groups of people define and legitimize the knowledge they possess. In the mutual engagement in a common enterprise, epistemic communities develop, maintain and nurture the codes, tools and theories that provide the basis of their practice. Commonalities of code, tools and theory facilitate both voluntary transfer and involuntary imitation of knowledge within communities, also ones spanning organizational boundaries. Conversely, knowledge transfer between different epistemic communities, whether desired or unintended, is often cumbersome and fraught with difficulties. In order to achieve effective integration and cooperation between its various professional communities and subcultures, firms must therefore undertake investments in boundary-spanning mechanisms. Since these investments are specific to the context in which they take place and to the transactions that they enable, they cannot easily be organized through arm’s length contracts. Firms exist because they have a relative advantage over markets in the integration of diverse knowledge. However, the associated capabilities need not translate into a relative advantage also in the transfer of knowledge, i.e. knowledge exchanged between members of the same epistemic community. Within communities, knowledge disseminates with relative ease both intentionally and through emulation. Knowledge thus acquired can generally be applied also outside the context of the exchange and the effort or investment expended in its acquisition is not transaction specific. The governance mode applied in such exchanges is therefore determined by strategic and contextual factors, including those of traditional transaction cost logic. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6581 Files in this item: 1
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URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6545 Files in this item: 1
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On the role of knowledge in industrial districtsHåkanson, Lars (København, 2003)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper questions the prevailing notions that firms within industrial clusters have privi-leged access to ‘tacit knowledge’ that is unavailable – or available only at high cost – to firms located elsewhere, and that such access provides competitive advantages that help to explain the growth and development of both firms and regions. It outlines a model of cluster dynam-ics emphasizing two mutually interdependent processes: the concentration of specialized and complementary epistemic communities, on the one hand, and entrepreneurship and a high rate of new firm formation on the other. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6627 Files in this item: 1
working paper 2003-10.pdf (320.9Kb) -
Håkanson, Lars (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Based on a social-constructivist conceptualization of knowledge as residing in groups of practitioners, epistemic communities, this paper proposes a new perspective on the knowledge based view of the firm and sketches the outline of a new research agenda. It argues that the cost of governing knowledge processes depends as much on the cognitive background of the exchange partners as on the tacitness of the knowledge. Firms exist because they may form epistemic communities in their own right with enabling and motivational properties superior to those of markets in the governance of knowledge processes across epistemic boundaries. Establishing a firm as an epistemic community requires transaction specific investments that are difficult to realize under market forms of governance. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6534 Files in this item: 1
wp4-2008.pdf (121.6Kb) -
Håkanson, Lars (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: All knowledge is context dependent. The relevant context is the social community where it resides, i.e. the ‘epistemic community’ formed as groups of people define and legitimize the knowledge they possess. In the mutual engagement in a common enterprise, epistemic communities develop, maintain and nurture the codes, tools and theories that provide the basis of their practice. Commonalities of code, tools and theory facilitate both voluntary transfer and involuntary imitation of knowledge within communities, also ones spanning organizational boundaries. Conversely, knowledge transfer between different epistemic communities, whether desired or unintended, is often cumbersome and fraught with difficulties. In order to achieve effective integration and cooperation between its various professional communities and subcultures, firms must therefore undertake investments in boundary-spanning mechanisms. Since these investments are specific to the context in which they take place and to the transactions that they enable, they cannot easily be organized through arm’s length contracts. Firms exist because they have a relative advantage over markets in the integration of diverse knowledge. However, the associated capabilities need not translate into a relative advantage also in the transfer of knowledge, i.e. knowledge exchanged between members of the same epistemic community. Within communities, knowledge disseminates with relative ease both intentionally and through emulation. Knowledge thus acquired can generally be applied also outside the context of the exchange and the effort or investment expended in its acquisition is not transaction specific. The governance mode applied in such exchanges is therefore determined by strategic and contextual factors, including those of traditional transaction cost logic. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6594 Files in this item: 1
governance and knowledge exchange 2.pdf (168.6Kb) -
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URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6538 Files in this item: 1
Now showing items 1-7 of 7