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The French defence industry in the knowledge management era: A historical overview and evidence from empirical data

Author

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  • Sarah Guillou

    (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Nathalie Lazaric

    (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Christian Longhi

    (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Sylvie Rochhia

    (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

In the defence industry the recent development of ‘market for technology', the creation of new European high-technology companies as well as transformations in government agencies have conducted firms to reposition their technological and organisational skills. Our objective is to show that the transformations that have occurred in the past ten years have not only redefined skills and the organisation of production but have also given a more strategic place to knowledge management practices. Thus, we provide a contextual and historical overview with qualitative interviews in order to better understand the relation between KM and innovative behaviour in this industry. We have also built an original industrial and technological database with various samples that provides quantitative information concerning KM and innovative practices. The results of the statistical analysis reveal the specificity of firms in the defence industry. Taking into account the size of the firms and their technological intensity, we show that the behaviour of firms in the defence industry in terms of KM practices is different to that of other firms. The technological performances, the innovation intensity and the patent intensity also show the specificity of this industry. This structural tendency is explained as an innovative behaviour of the French NIS rather than as a mere "trend"

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Guillou & Nathalie Lazaric & Christian Longhi & Sylvie Rochhia, 2009. "The French defence industry in the knowledge management era: A historical overview and evidence from empirical data," Post-Print hal-00457550, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00457550
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00457550
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    Cited by:

    1. Rukhsana Kalim & Muhammad Shahid Hassan, 2014. "Public Defense Spending and Poverty in Pakistan," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 211(4), pages 93-115, December.
    2. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & Rosario Marin, 2011. "Potential Dual-Use Of Military Technology: Does Citing Patents Shed Light On This Process?," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 335-349.
    3. Sarah Guillou & Basheer Kalash & Lionel Nesta & Michele Pezzoni & Evens Salies & Marc-Antoine Faure, 2023. "Impact de la nature du financement de la recherche sur ses résultats," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-04026916, HAL.
    4. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & Rosario Marín & Pedro Prats, 2013. "Factors affecting the diffusion of patented military technology in the field of weapons and ammunition," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(1), pages 1-22, January.
    5. Jean Belin & Marianne Guille & Nathalie Lazaric & Valérie Mérindol, 2019. "Defense Firms Adapting to Major Changes in the French R&D Funding System," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 142-158, February.
    6. Cécile Ayerbe & Nathalie Lazaric & Michel Callois & Liliana Mitkova, 2014. "The new challenges of organizing intellectual property in complex industries," Post-Print halshs-00974973, HAL.
    7. Jurčić Marina & Lovrenčić Sandra & Kurnoga Nataša, 2020. "Croatian Defense Industry Competitiveness Cluster: Knowledge Management and Innovation Perspective," Business Systems Research, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 59-72, March.

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