Trends and drivers of change in the European knowledge-intensive business services sector: Mapping report

KIBS (knowledge-intensive business services) supply information and knowledge products or use knowledge to support their clients’ own knowledge generation and information processing activities. KIBS providers are defined as ‘organisations who rely heavily on professional knowledge ... to supply intermediate products and services that are knowledge based’ (Den Hertog, 2000). They fuse general codified (recorded) information with experience and tacit knowledge. It is this ability that ‘adds value’ for the client, offering a basis for competitive advantage. KIBS are a highly diverse sector: there are practically as many branches of knowledge-intensive business services as there are areas of knowledge, ranging from market research to legal activities and research and development (R&D). There is, therefore, considerable diversity in their evolution, structure and management.