Leveraged knowledge creation: the role of technical services as external sources of knowledge

Summary form only given. Companies have to face the fact that research and development is becoming increasingly complex and product cycles shorter. This forces firms and other research institutions to reorganize their innovation and learning process, for example, some car manufacturers purchase the whole new product from external R&D providers. They buy in not only the product development-also at a very early stage in the development process-but also the appropriate organization of the production process. This new mode of knowledge creation involves both opportunities and dangers. This paper analyzes different roles of specialized technical services in the innovation process of manufacturing companies and their contribution to the performance of their customers as well as the limits of this form of external knowledge creation.