知識密集型服務業的創新保護-以資訊服務業為例

Innovation Protection in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: The Case Study of IT Services

本研究旨在探討知識密集型服務業的創新保護模式，透過延伸Howells et al. (2003)知識統理架構，增加知識種類的觀點提出三種專業知識：產品知識、管理知識與顧客知識；並將創新保護機制區分成正式化與非正式化機制，用以建構知識密集型服務業的創新保護模式。本研究以三家資訊服務業為實證對象：精誠資訊、訊連科技與趨勢科技，採用質性紮根的比較個案研究法進行文本編碼與質性型態配飾分析。研究結果指出三家資訊服務個案公司有相似的創新保護型態，管理知識與顧客知識創新保護的累積有助於產品知識保護的形成；此外個案公司多會採用混合創新保護機制，結合正式化與非正式化機制混合使用。本研究歸納出五項理論性命題，提供具體混合創新保護作法，其結果可提供知識密集型服務業創新保護理論貢獻與實務參考。

This study examined how innovations in knowledge-intensive business services can be protected. On the basis of the extension of the knowledge regime framework proposed by Howells et al. (2003), a qualitative research was conducted to construct appropriability modes for IT service firms by emphasizing three types of knowledge (product, management, and customer) and two forms of appropriability (formal and informal). We purposefully selected three cases by using the grounded comparative approach and conducted text analysis by utilizing a pattern-matching technique. The results revealed that these three IT service firms have homogeneous patterns that form appropriability modes of product knowledge, and that they conduct mixed appropriability strategies to protect their innovations through a combination of formal and informal methods. We propose five theoretical propositions that offer insightful implications regarding the mixed usage of appropriability modes and outline some of the theoretical and managerial contributions of this study.