Growing companies and innovation: the influence of managing knowledge (enhancement, acquisition and infrastructure) on innovativeness

The study is designed to explore in depth the impact of knowledge on different innovation typologies. This study starts with an overview of literature on innovation and knowledge. Three hypotheses tested using data from 200 innovative companies in a high tech cluster. Factor analysis has been used to construct variables which reflect knowledge infrastructure, enhancement and acquisition. Further, the study provides new insights on the use of knowledge in start‐up and mature companies in diverse sectors. An interesting research result is that start‐up companies utilise the knowledge infrastructure while mature companies aim to enhance knowledge to become innovative.