A case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry

The standardisation of interfaces in product architectures helps complementary products develop when network externalities are present. However, standardisation may also weaken a technology developer's competitive position when the product knowledge embedded in standardised interfaces becomes a...

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Main Authors: Galvin, Peter, Rice, J.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21927
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author Galvin, Peter
Rice, J.
author_facet Galvin, Peter
Rice, J.
author_sort Galvin, Peter
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The standardisation of interfaces in product architectures helps complementary products develop when network externalities are present. However, standardisation may also weaken a technology developer's competitive position when the product knowledge embedded in standardised interfaces becomes accessible, thereby reducing the barriers to entry. Hence, there is a need to simultaneously protect the knowledge that underpins a firm's competitiveness, but also to define the standards that are open to encourage the development of complementary products. In this paper, we analyse different types and levels of knowledge that underpin a product. We apply this analysis to understanding how Nokia and Ericsson maintained their competitive positions during the Global System for Mobile (GSM)-dominated phase of the industry, even though they were instrumental in developing GSM as an entirely open standard.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2008
publisher Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-219272017-09-13T13:53:06Z A case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry Galvin, Peter Rice, J. Knowledge management Information structures Innovation GSM Standards Mobile phones Standardisation Knowledge protection Cell phones Modularity The standardisation of interfaces in product architectures helps complementary products develop when network externalities are present. However, standardisation may also weaken a technology developer's competitive position when the product knowledge embedded in standardised interfaces becomes accessible, thereby reducing the barriers to entry. Hence, there is a need to simultaneously protect the knowledge that underpins a firm's competitiveness, but also to define the standards that are open to encourage the development of complementary products. In this paper, we analyse different types and levels of knowledge that underpin a product. We apply this analysis to understanding how Nokia and Ericsson maintained their competitive positions during the Global System for Mobile (GSM)-dominated phase of the industry, even though they were instrumental in developing GSM as an entirely open standard. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21927 10.1504/IJTM.2008.019384 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. restricted
spellingShingle Knowledge management
Information structures
Innovation
GSM
Standards
Mobile phones
Standardisation
Knowledge protection
Cell phones
Modularity
Galvin, Peter
Rice, J.
A case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry
title A case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry
title_full A case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry
title_fullStr A case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry
title_full_unstemmed A case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry
title_short A case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry
title_sort case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry
topic Knowledge management
Information structures
Innovation
GSM
Standards
Mobile phones
Standardisation
Knowledge protection
Cell phones
Modularity
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21927