Successful learning in the global economy? The third dimension of knowledge creation

This article aims to subject some of the hypotheses concerning the potential of knowledge upgrading for firms engaged in various vertical and horizontal networks to a critical examination. The theories are applied to a Thai context and use the case of the auto parts industry to evaluate the process of knowledge upgrading in local firms. The article concludes that neither embeddedness in local networks nor linkages with transnational corporations are sufficient for Thai firms to upgrade their knowledge base to become successful actors in the global economy. Instead it points to the importance of focusing more on the capacity to learn and apply new knowledge to the existing knowledge base and on the barriers to diffusion and further development of knowledge embedded in the pre–existing organisational practices of firms.