1st Edition

Knowledge-Based Services, Internationalization and Regional Development

Edited By James W. Harrington, Peter Daniels Copyright 2006
    336 Pages
    by Routledge

    336 Pages
    by Routledge

    The acquisition and management of information is central to the operation and marketing of many service-providing firms and other organizations. Their varied knowledge requirements influence approaches to organizational structure, relationships to other organizations, the location of operations, and entry into new markets. In this book, an international and interdisciplinary team of leading scholars examines the attributes of knowledge acquisition and diffusion within and across service-providing organizations. Using a variety of case examples, they pay particular attention to the processes of internationalization and the ways in which service-providing organizations affect regional economic development.

    Contents: Preface; International and regional dynamics of knowledge-based services, James W. Harrington and Peter W. Daniels. Part 1 Conceptualizing Knowledge-Based Services: Service worlds and the dynamics of economic spaces, Sam Ock Park; Knowledge intensive services and R&D diffusion: an input-output approach, José Camacho and Mercedes Rodriguez; Innovation and technological change in tourism: a global-local nexus, Christian Longhi. Part 2 Internationalisation of Service Firms: Spatial divisions of expertise and transnational 'service' firms: aerospace and management consultancy, John R. Bryson and Grete Rusten; Internationalisation of management consultancy services: conceptual issues concerning the cross-border delivery of knowledge intensive services, Joanne Roberts; The internationalisation of Europe's contemporary transnational executive search industry, Jonathan V. Beaverstock, Sarah J.E. Hall and James R. Faulconbridge; Internationalisation of Japanese professional business service firms: dynamics of competitiveness through urban localization in southeast Asia, Patrik Ström. Part 3 Knowledge-Based Services and Regional Development: Towards post-industrial transition and services society? Evidence from Turin, Paolo Giaccaria and Vincenzo Demetrio; Post-secondary education: education, training, and technology services, Hyungjoo Kim and James W. Harrington; Danish regional growth strategy in the marginal areas: regional partnership and initiative, Sang-Chul Park; Urban revival and knowledge-intensive services: the case of the English 'core cities', Peter Wood; Innovation activities of KIBS companies and spatial proximity: some empirical findings from Finnish new media and software companies, Jari Kolehmainen; Far away, so close? Regional clustering of mail order firms and related business services in the Lille Metropolitan area, Christian Schulz, H. Peter Dörrenbächer, Christine Liefooghe. Index.

    Biography

    James W. Harrington is Professor at the University of Washington, USA. Peter W. Daniels is Professor of Geography and Dean of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the University of Birmingham, UK.

    'Globalisation, the shift towards specialised service industries and labour, and the emergence of the knowledge-based economy each represent salient dynamics of development among both advanced and transitional societies. Bringing together highly original, instructive case studies, this book effectively interrogates and synthesises these key processes of multiscalar restructuring in a lively, stimulating and incisive volume of research.' Thomas Hutton, University of British Columbia, Canada '...a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate within the geography of services.' Economic Geography Research Group 'What makes this book interesting and valuable is not only the range of services it covers (including sectors that have received comparatively little attention to date...)but also the variety of theoretical and conceptual approaches that are used to investigate the (spatial organization and knowledge creation processes within and between firms. In sum, the editors and authors of this volume have produced a comprehensive and timely addition to the academic knowledge of the service economy, its organization, and spatial configuration.' Environment & Planning B: Planning & Design '...I found quite a few nuggets in this Brueghel-like scene of many authors and sites that stimulated me to think in new ways.' Journal of Regional Science