Final published version
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - A practice perspective on knowledge, learning and innovation – insights from an EU network of small food producers
AU - Rigg, Clare
AU - Coughlan, Paul
AU - O'Leary, Denise
AU - Coghlan, David
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - Drawing on insider research with a three-year EU network created to support innovation in geographically marginalized traditional food companies, this paper makes three contributions to discussions of innovation in small and micro-firms. First, we shift focus away from conceiving of knowledge as a discrete entity, and of knowledge sharing, transfer and exchange as the passing of objects. Applying a practice perspective that conceptualizes innovation as situated in the everyday activities of organizing, learning and working, we extend open innovation ideas and identify three distinct sets of knowledge-creating practices that small and micro-firm actors in this network context engage in as they interact: seek-and-take, peer exploration and critical reflection. Second, we integrate these practices into a model that suggests how different kinds of knowledge boundary (entitative, epistemic, pragmatic and existential) are differently traversed by these practices, with more complex boundaries benefitting from a practice approach. Third, we refine a practical approach for policy interventions designed to stimulate small and micro-firm innovation. The relevance of our contribution lies in the significance of small firms within peripheral economies, and the particular challenges they face in accessing new knowledge for innovation.
AB - Drawing on insider research with a three-year EU network created to support innovation in geographically marginalized traditional food companies, this paper makes three contributions to discussions of innovation in small and micro-firms. First, we shift focus away from conceiving of knowledge as a discrete entity, and of knowledge sharing, transfer and exchange as the passing of objects. Applying a practice perspective that conceptualizes innovation as situated in the everyday activities of organizing, learning and working, we extend open innovation ideas and identify three distinct sets of knowledge-creating practices that small and micro-firm actors in this network context engage in as they interact: seek-and-take, peer exploration and critical reflection. Second, we integrate these practices into a model that suggests how different kinds of knowledge boundary (entitative, epistemic, pragmatic and existential) are differently traversed by these practices, with more complex boundaries benefitting from a practice approach. Third, we refine a practical approach for policy interventions designed to stimulate small and micro-firm innovation. The relevance of our contribution lies in the significance of small firms within peripheral economies, and the particular challenges they face in accessing new knowledge for innovation.
KW - SME
KW - micro-firm
KW - learning
KW - knowledge creation
KW - practice
KW - innovation
KW - food producer
U2 - 10.1080/08985626.2021.1877832
DO - 10.1080/08985626.2021.1877832
M3 - Journal article
VL - 33
SP - 621
EP - 640
JO - Entrepreneurship and Regional Development
JF - Entrepreneurship and Regional Development
SN - 0898-5626
IS - 7-8
ER -