Proximity, knowledge base and the innovation process: The case of Unilever’s Becel diet margarine

Mila Davids and Koen Frenken

No 1504, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: The proximity concept refers to types of inter-organizational relationships that are expected to facilitate interactive learning and collaborative innovation. Different forms of proximity include geographical, cognitive, social, institutional and organizational proximity. Following an extensive case study of a new diet margarine developed by Unilever, we extent the proximity framework by theorizing how the relative importance of each proximity dimension depends on the type of knowledge being produced, where we distinguish between analytical, synthetic and symbolic knowledge. We argue that our theoretical framework in principle applies to product innovations in all science-based industries.

Date: 2015-02, Revised 2015-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino, nep-knm and nep-ure
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Working Paper: Proximity, knowledge base and the innovation process The case of Unilever’s Becel diet margarine (2015)
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