The KIBS and its role on innovation of manufacturing corporations in Japan

Abstract

Dealing with knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) has become an important strategy for many firms. Services that heavily rely on professional knowledge are needed by Japanese manufacturing corporations (JMCs) for solving different problems. This article explores the impact of the utilisation of KIBS on the innovation of JMCs in Japan. The goal of the paper is threefold: first, we focus on the different divisions of JMCs that have dealt with KIBS and analyse the impact of KIBS on their innovation respectively; secondly, we separate the types of innovation into radical innovation and incremental innovation and then analyse what and how the service delivery method contributes to each type of innovation; finally we discuss in more depth the details of an efficient service delivery method. The results show that firstly, KIBS contribute more to the radical innovation of a client rather than incremental innovation; and secondly, face–to–face is the most efficient method of service delivery from KIBS to the JMCs.