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System Thinking Shaping Innovation Ecosystems Open Eng. 2016; 6:418–425 ICEUBI 2015* Open Access António Abreu and Paula Urze System thinking shaping innovation ecosystems DOI 10.1515/eng-2016-0065 However, for some authors the most efficient way to Received Apr 05, 2016; accepted Sep 06, 2016 improve the level of competitiveness and to ensure high levels of productivity lies in speeding up the innovation Abstract: Over the last few decades, there has been a trend capacity [2]. to build innovation platforms as enablers for groups of Companies need to provide new services and/or prod- companies to jointly develop new products and services. ucts to customers in a short period of time. Consequently, As a result, the notion of co-innovation is getting wider in order to respond to market requirements, enterprises acceptance. However, a critical issue that is still open, de- need to have a significant number of competencies that spite some efforts in this area, is the lack of tools andmod- they do not usually control [3, 4]. els that explain the synergies created in a co-innovation Therefore, companies can develop their competences process. either resorting to their own resources, which involves In this context, the present paper aims at discussing the making high investments when needed, or based on advantages of applying a system thinking approach to un- an open-innovation environment where the competences derstand the mechanisms associated with co-innovation may be accessed through other members of the net- processes. Finally, based on experimental results from a work [5]. Portuguese co-innovation network, a discussion on the For some SMEs managers there is the perception that benefits, challenges and difficulties found are presented majority of innovations presented to the market are de- and discussed. veloped within a co-innovation network. However, due Keywords: System Thinking; Innovation; Knowledge to the lack of a reference model, it has been difficult to Transfer; Collaborative Networks; Innovation ecosystems; demonstrate the advantages of being a member of a co- Case Study innovation network. In fact, there is an imperative need to build tools and models that explain the complexity of co- innovation processes and to launch a comprehensive the- oretical basis for the area [6]. Starting with a real Portuguese co-innovation net- 1 Introduction work, the aim of this work is not to “re-invent the wheel” but rather to analyse the advantages of applying the sys- tem thinking methodology to understand the mechanisms The continuous changes that have been occurring in the associated with co-innovation processes. business market, such as globalization and economic crises, have undoubtedly been the principal motivations for small and medium enterprises (SME) managers to adopt strategies that ensure higher levels of competitive- 2 Innovation through knowledge ness and efficiency [1]. production and transference Nowadays, and increasingly so, a company’s competitive António Abreu: ISEL/IPL - Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Rua advantage depends on its capacity to generate and use Conselheiro Emídio Navarro, 1959-007 Lisboa, Portugal; CTS - Cen- knowledge. On the assumption that knowledge is a main tre of Technology and Systems, Monte da Caparica, Portugal; Email: driver, there is a need to change how innovation is under- [email protected]. stood at the technological, product, strategic or the main Paula Urze: FCT/UNL, Faculty of Science and Technology, New organisational levels [7]. In fact, there is a strong link be- University of Lisbon, Portugal and CIUHTC - Interuniversity Cen- ter for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT); Email: tween innovation and knowledge. Novel components or [email protected] novel arrangements of existing pieces of knowledge can * International Conference on Engineering 2015 – 2–4 Dec 2015 – Uni- lead to the creation of new knowledge during the inno- versity of Beira Interior – Covilhã, Portugal © 2016 A. Abreu and P. Urze, published by De Gruyter Open. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. System thinking shaping innovation ecosystems Ë 419 vation process. Furthermore, innovation becomes critical son [9] asserted the concept of technological system. This for the generation of organisational knowledge, when a perspective of technology system as proposed by Carls- problem-solving culture based on knowledge is adopted. son and Stankiewicz [10] is mainly focused on technolo- Knowledge creation by a company is an accumulation of gies and training, dissemination and use of these tech- its own generated knowledge, and the transference and nologies. The authors defined a technological innovation use [8] over functional groups, geographical locations and system as a network of elements that interact and are in- time periods. These are key elements for the knowledge tegrated in an industrial area within several infrastruc- transference process. The knowledge transference process tures that are involved in the creation, transference and among organizations is mainly done based on alliances use of technologies. The concept of regional innovation and networks. By considering knowledge as a strategic systems has grown since the 90s and more recently they asset, companies incorporate and manage their different are known for developing the model of the sectoral inno- sorts of knowledge for the purpose of producing goods and vation system [11]. The essential ideas underpinning the services. An essential role is played by the tacit knowl- innovation system concept are discussed in Etzkowitz and edge in knowledge creation; codified or explicit knowledge Leydesdorff [12] as the Triple Helix (TH) theory, where gov- enables knowledge transference; “common knowledge” ernment, universities and companies are leading players. (common language, shared values, overlapping knowl- This model is centred on three interconnected domains - edge) guides knowledge use. research, business and government - and no longer needs Throughout their life cycle, companies integrate a the national or regional background for its integration [13]. suite of knowledge and skills generated from their learn- The latest advance in the TH theory has been the concept ing and practice. The company’s core capital includes hu- of TH Innovation System. This phase of the innovation pro- man, structural and relational capital (held within its em- cess integrates the model in a systemic framework compil- ployees, routines, and relationships with customers, and ing the main structures of TH interactions - a set of ele- partners) and is continuously being enriched through new ments, relationships and functions [14]. knowledge at different stages: the individual, the organi- In the light of this novel shape of TH system, a new zation and the network of organizations in which the com- division has been made between: (a) R&D and non-R&D pany is integrated. agents; (b) “single-sphere” and “multi-sphere” organisa- Such relationships based on networked companies tions; (c) personal and institutional innovators. and interconnected industries, where technologies and The relationships among components have been com- markets are evolving, can gain advantages from sharing pressed into five main sorts of processes: (a) technology knowledge for the purpose of (a) developing synergies transference, (b) collaboration and conflict negotiation, among products and services, (b) promotion of common (c) combined leadership, (d) substitution, and (f) network- platforms based on generally adopted designs and stan- ing. This improvement offers an explicit background for dards, and (c) scale of critical groups of customers and systemic collaboration among TH actors, promoting ele- users. The industries that deal with externalities, where ments that were lacking until now and a more fine-grained the value and usefulness of a good or service depends view of knowledge flows and resources, thereby enabling on the installed base of connected users, are expected the identification of bottlenecks or gaps. Hence, new com- to share knowledge with customers, competitors and em- binations of knowledge, resources and relationships will ployees [8]. The fight for a leadership position and further- in turn foster theoretical and empirical innovations. Addi- ing a pioneer market position is strongly linked to knowl- tionally, in the TH system, the concept of entrepreneurial edge acquisition and sharing. university is an essential element. The dynamics from links with universities promote situations where crossing and producing knowledge would be natural. At the same 3 Systems as frameworks for time, universities have improved their research and sci- entific outcomes by collaborating with other innovators. innovation Moreover, “entrepreneurial universities” are stimulating organisations’ knowledge production and also individuals Over the past few decades, significant research has fo- and play a crucial role as technology producers and dis- cused on the study of a systemic view of innovation, seminators, moving from a traditional position focused on companies’ competitive advantages and socio-economic teaching and researching to a new one, a leadership mis- growth in general. In the 80s, the National Innovation Sys- sion in supporting new companies and sharing knowledge tem (NIS) theory took a central role and in the 90s Carls- that flows from different social actors. 420 Ë A. Abreu and P. Urze Figure 1: Cluster Dynamic Model. 4 The approach to understanding is strongly related
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