Interactive approaches to innovation and knowledge management

The aim of the present thematic issue of Innovations - Journal of Innovation Economics and Management is to explore the nature and logics of knowledge management processes supporting the development of innovation, particularly when innovation is the outcome of inter- and intra-organizational interactions and collaboration. Several articles presented in this thematic issue have been selected from a workshop organized by the authors in June 2014 during the 7th Conference on Knowledge Management within Society and Organizations (GeCSO). Building on core concepts of the knowledge management literature, these articles extend our understanding of the relationships between phases (or stages) of the innovation process and knowledge management processes. They also explore how interactive and collaborative, innovation models shape organizations' knowledge management practices and capabilities. Therein, authors insist on the critical role played of knowledge types and processes during the various phases of the innovation process, the later being encapsulated in specific institutional and organizational contexts. It is therefore important to understand which knowledge types and processes are implemented by the actors during the invention and commercialization phases of the innovation process, and how these phases are linked together with specific knowledge-intensive activities. In addition, interactions and collaboration among public and private organizations and communities do not proceed in a vacuum. The characteristics of the localized context in which innovating organizations operate also shape how knowledge is processed, i.e., generated, applied and appropriated.