The frequent outsourcing activities have changed the knowledge network of a firm and its relations to the region. The study aimed to examine the relationships between firms’ knowledge network, the region’s resources, and the global production network. We wish to understand the formation of knowledge network of firms in the different position of the production network. Two global leaders were selected to represent the flagships. Patent data and Pajek were used to analyze the transformation over two window periods. The study found that the knowledge network of a brand leader and that of a contract manufacturer is different and suggests that such difference is caused by the different business activity in which the firm is engaged in. The visualized knowledge network generated by Pajek showed that while inventors in a brand leader company tend to collaborate with different inventors each time, inventors in a contract manufacturer firm tend to cluster around a few inventors. Furthermore, the region showed differences in providing the firms with the necessary supporting resources.

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