The development of a knowledge framework through innovation between an SME and a multinational corporation

Abstract

Companies must continue to innovate if they are to remain resilient to changing markets and customer conditions. This is more prescriptive for mature companies where products and innovations may have peaked. World-class companies are constantly seeking new ways to innovate and change to remain relevant and competitive. This case study looks at two technology companies, a multinational and an SME, coming from different technology poles, one hardware micro-technology and one software process technology, sharing skillsand knowledge to remain resilient to ever-changing challenges. The key attributes demonstrated by the companies during this project could be summarized as follows: • Be customer centric • Be agile • Be knowledgeintensive • Be responsible to worker needs • Be networked • Be productive • Be involved • Be continually learning • Be proactively diverse Readers of this paper may identify these attributes as building blocks for resilience as they may provide insights into what a knowledge enterprise should value to remain resilient and resourceful. © 2006 International Federation for Information Processing.