Learning and Knowledge Management in the Firm: From Knowledge Accumulation to Strategic Capabilities Book

	List of Figures	viii
	List of Boxes	ix
	List of Tables	x
	List of Abbreviations	xii
	Acknowledgements	xiii
1.	Introduction	1
Part 1	Theoretical and Contextual Background
2.	Building Technological Capabilities in Different Theoretical Traditions	9
2.1	Introduction	9
2.2	Technological capability building in developing countries literature	10
2.3	Re-building core capabilities in the strategic management literature	17
2.4	Towards a framework for the analysis of technological capabilities	27
3.	The Role of Knowledge Management in Re-building Strategic Capabilities	35
3.1	Introduction	35
3.2	Learning at the individual and organizational levels	36
3.3	Coordination of learning and integration of knowledge	46
3.4	Towards a framework for the analysis of knowledge management issues	51
3.5	Conceptual design of this book	55
4.	Methodology	57
4.1	Introduction	57
4.2	Broad research strategy	58
4.3	Sources of data	59
4.4	Collecting information through interviews	59
4.5	Analyzing case study evidence	64
4.6	Writing the case study	64
5.	Overview of the Technology, the Industry and the Firm	67
5.1	Introduction	67
5.2	The technology	68
5.3	The industry	74
5.4	The Mexican and the US glass container industry	76
5.5	The case study firm: Vitro-Glass Containers	93
Part 2	The Process of Building Up Technological Capabilities From the Earliest Days on
	Introductory Note	105
6.	The Process of Building up the Minimum Essential Knowledge Base: 1909-70	107
6.1	Introduction	107
6.2	The capability building process: Developing internal innovative technological capabilities	109
6.3	The capability building process: Use of external knowledge sources	118
6.4	Efforts to manage the use of existing knowledge	124
6.5	An assessment of the depth of the knowledge base	127
7.	Starting a Transition Process Towards Building up Strategic Capabilities, 1970-90	131
7.1	Introduction	131
7.2	The capability building process: Fast follower and external knowledge sources	133
7.3	The capability building process: Strengthening internal innovative capabilities	138
7.4	The directions of the knowledge accumulation and the emergence of embryonic strategic capabilities	147
7.5	An assessment of the depth of the knowledge base	171
8.	The Fragility of the Transition Process in the 1990s	175
8.1	Introduction	175
8.2	The capability building process: Strengthening the fast follower strategy and the focus on day-to-day activities	179
8.3	The changing directions of knowledge accumulation	188
8.4	Towards a more explicit knowledge management	200
8.5	An assessment of the transition process during the 1990s	205
8.6	1909-96: a long and devious way of building embryonic strategic capabilities but not strategic capabilities	208
Part 3	Knowledge Management Problems Underlying the Truncated Transition Process
	Introductory Note	213
9.	Features of Knowledge Management Contributing to the Truncated Transition Process	215
9.1	Introduction	215
9.2	The truncated transition process	215
9.3	Limited conversion of individual into organizational learning	228
9.4	Different learning strategies and limited coordination of learning	242
9.5	Limited knowledge integration	246
9.6	Instability in the knowledge creation process	250
9.7	Conclusions	254
10.	Factors Influencing the Knowledge Management Features	259
10.1	Introduction	259
10.2	The non-perception of knowledge as a system	260
10.3	The instability of the dual technology strategy	274
10.4	Conclusions	294
11.	Conclusions	297
11.1	Key issues of knowledge management in different stages of technological capability building	298
11.2	Knowledge management and the truncated Transition Process	300
11.3	Factors influencing the knowledge management	303
11.4	Suggestions for future research	306
	Bibliography	309
	Index	321