Project Organization, Diverse Knowledge, and Innovation Systems in the Korean Game Software Industry

• Main Author: Oh, Eunjoo
• Published: Georgia Institute of Technology 2007
• Subjects: Project organization; Communities of practice; Regional cluster; Externalization; Knowledge conversion; Diversity; New products; Communication in organizations; Knowledge management
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1853/14516

This research was initiated in the belief that new product development requires the integration of diverse knowledge located in different units or organizations. In recent decades, evolutionary scholars have emphasized the importance of coherent systems and regional scientists have highlighted the importance of geographical proximity for easier transfer of tacit knowledge. Despite the strength of these explanations, they do not adequately address the balance between tacit and explicit knowledge, ignoring different types of knowledge conversion process (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). My research aims to bring a greater understanding of the integration of diverse knowledge for innovation achievements among different actors. Specifically, this thesis deals with project organization for new product development, exploring three main research areas: (1) company utilization of external companies and freelancers for project formation in relation to resource mobilization of companies; (2) types of knowledge conversion among employees within and between departments; and (3) the impacts of several meditating factors on clustering orientations of companies. These meditating factors include knowledge codification, IT technology for communication, and trust mechanisms that help to mobilize external knowledge and reduce friction among team members. In this study, data are collected from questionnaire survey (104 firms) and interviews with 34 persons in the Korean game industry. Probit model, tobit model, and OLS regression model were used. The main findings are as follows. First, codified knowledge concept reports, prototypes, and manuals is produced through externalization as a game development project is in progress. Second, among several indicators of internal capability of companies, the type of initial industry whether game companies started their business in the game industry and expenditures on the purchase of intellectual property rights from other cultural industries have significant and positive impacts on the utilization of external partners. Third, information communication technology has a significant, negative impact on clustering orientation of companies while reliance on communities of practice and built-in trust have significant, positive impacts on that.