The importance of proximity for the start-ups knowledge acquisition and exploitation

Our work intends to verify the impact of geographical proximity on the processes of knowledge acquisition and exploitation by high-tech start-ups, considering at the same time the role of both the social and cognitive dimensions of proximity. Our basic assumption is that proximity means a lot more than just geography.

The findings from this research broaden our understanding of how start-ups located inside an industrial cluster acquire knowledge from their customers and exploit it in an innovative way, underscoring the need to reconsider assumptions regarding the importance of geographical proximity between business partners during knowledge management.

About Cristina Boari

Cristina Boari is full professor of Business Strategy at the University of Bologna. In the period 2000-2006  she was the Dean of the Department of Management. She was coordinator of the PhD program in Business strategy and Organization of the University of Bologna (1999-2000). In the past she was associate professor in Business Strategy at the University of Florence (1987- 1991) and at the University of Bologna (1992-1994). She was Research fellow in Management at the University of Bologna (1983-1987). She was NATO Fellow at the Institute of Business Research of the Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo and CNR Junior Research Fellow at the Graduate school of Business of the University of Wisconsin.