Dissertation for M.A. Degree
Trend: Transformation
Abstract:
In view of the rapid changes, organizations have realized that the effective use of funds and numerous and extensive knowledge resources gives them the ability to innovate and respond to the expectations and needs of new consumers as well as the developments that occur in competitive and technological conditions, knowledge management confirms and ensures higher quality decision making. The values ??and contribution of mental assets are efficient enough and cause exploitation. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between knowledge management and product innovation, as well as the impact of knowledge management components on product innovation in industrial companies in Gilan province. In this research, the questionnaire tool, and the number (278) of the sample used in this research, from the descriptive method, parametric tests, and Pearson regression correlation coefficient, and from the results of the available random sampling, show that there is a positive and direct relationship between knowledge management and product innovation. In other words, as knowledge management improves in the organization, product innovation will also increase, and there is a positive and direct relationship between the components of knowledge management and product innovation, respectively, knowledge discovery, external knowledge acquisition, and internal knowledge sharing have the greatest impact on product innovation. Organizations can have product innovation by using information sharing, new technological knowledge, and learning from models.
Key words: knowledge management, innovation, product innovation
Introduction
In most companies, the development of new products and services is considered a random and unplanned process. Instead of creating regular structures for extracting new ideas and simultaneously developing and selecting from them, this process is often ad hoc and unplanned. Only a handful of sectors have a structured approach to new service development. Companies that have done their innovation process in a more structured way and prevented it from being unplanned, can better recognize innovation opportunities and organize the new product/service development process more effectively and efficiently. Therefore, successful innovation in products/services must be a controllable event. (Salimi and Nasiri, 2016). Effective use of knowledge management increases competitive advantage and promotes organizational success. Today, knowledge management is considered more and more important because organizations have realized that the effective use of funds and numerous and extensive knowledge resources gives them the ability to innovate and respond to new consumer expectations and needs that are rapidly changing (Sandavalia and Dalcher[1], 2010). Determining the determinants of technological innovation in companies is an interesting topic in empirical research in the field of innovation. These cases have been investigated from the point of view of industrial economy and economic management. Studies in the field of industrial economy have started from the hypothesis that the level of innovation in a company can be explained in the form of structural characteristics of an industry. And these cases are also possible to consider the possibility of the general pattern of technological changes related to specific industries or to leave these cases in general. These include examining the impact of the characteristics of an industry, such as opportunities in the market, suitability of conditions, and so on. (Vega [2] et al., 2008).
Knowledge management as a mechanism of applying processes at the individual, group and organizational level to create conditions where knowledge and information can be available to people at the right time has been the focus of many researchers in scientific and organizational circles. The main part of this research is about infrastructures, processes, mechanisms, tools and in limited cases its effect on some factors such as productivity, profitability or Factors that create competitive advantage such as innovation have been studied. Research and study about knowledge management from a content point of view, although it can guide managers and other organizational actors in many cases to know and be aware of what knowledge management is, but it is not enough on its own. In the current situation, managers, as the main actors of the organization, look at organizational issues from a functional and executive perspective and evaluate the importance and necessity of implementing a mechanism by evaluating its effects and functions.Also, most of the researches conducted on knowledge management from a functional point of view have focused on evaluating the effect of knowledge management on one factor such as innovation or customer relationship management and have neglected to take a comprehensive look at this issue (Ansari Renani, Ghasemi Namghi, 2018). Policymakers and analysts have come to a consensus that the power of ideas in developed Western economies is increasingly dependent on the knowledge-based economy. In the first decades of the revolution (the 1970s and 1980s), ICT information and communication technology had the main effect of stimulating entrepreneurship, but in the wave of ICT development and its expansion in less developed economies, entrepreneurs themselves, especially those in geographical areas with high production costs, tend to go to areas with lower production costs, so these tendencies create high-quality knowledge management, which is itself a competitive factor of large and small companies [3] 2007). Innovative product development leads to technological advancements in products, processes and services, which in turn involves the definite participation of customers and other components of business organizations. Product innovation is a new creative solution for the current conditions and desires and it meets the hidden and obvious needs and demands of customers and shareholders. (Qaseminejad and Shahiri, 2013). Given that the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between knowledge management and product innovation in industrial companies in Gilan province. Therefore, in this chapter, firstly, the statement of the problem, and then the importance and necessity of the research, the goals and costs, and the theoretical framework, finally, the proposed research model and the theoretical and operational definition of the variables are stated.
Statement of the problem
Innovation and change in the products and services of industrial societies has gained such momentum that it has taken away the power to choose and buy many products and services from the customers, so that the novelty of many goods does not last for more than a few months. The speed of change in services and goods and the globalization of the economy has shown its impact in all economic enterprises in such a way that the behavior and culture of all people have been affected by these changes. Societies and organizations that have not aligned themselves with these changes feel backward and economic enterprises in such societies are on the verge of destruction. Competition in leading economic organizations and enterprises has such a speed and momentum that it seems impossible to reach them most of the time (Emadi, 1390). During the last three decades, countries have come to believe that research and development (R&D) will have a positive effect on economic growth, and have allocated adequate resources to their national research and development sector. In recent years, the theories proposed in the field of economic growth have proven the hypothetical relationship between investment in science and technology (S & T) and economic growth (Comison [4] (2008). Discovery and innovation form the bottom and fundamental layers of a business cycle. This is a process that improves living standards in the long term. If you can picture such a process, you can see that the economic growth in it is in the form of a curve that has an upward trend in the long term and the business cycle is fluctuating around this curve. What determines the rate of our ascent and progress in the long term is the slope of this curve, not the fluctuations around it. Therefore, an important advantage for the success of organizations is innovation. The sources of knowledge outside the organization are often vital for the innovation process in the organization. The researches conducted in understanding the roots of innovation have shown the prominent role of the use of environmental knowledge in the innovation process. An organization that has a high capacity to absorb knowledge creates connections with external knowledge sources that act as channels for transferring new ideas into the organization. Therefore, the capacity to absorb knowledge through the identification of knowledge outside the organization can play an effective role in the first stage of innovation. Develop their capabilities to accept changes, while the acquired capabilities become current ways of doing work (routines), the organization applies the necessary changes at a lower cost and in a shorter time. Knowledge management is defined as the process of identifying, creating and simulating knowledge and applying knowledge in order to discover a new opportunity and increase the organization's performance, Dong Yang [5] (2011).