Knowledge management in university R&D in Thailand

Abstract

In the developing countries, universities are the main organizations to conduct research and explore new knowledge that lead to innovation. However, the nature of university research has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that researchers can conduct research projects of their own interest independently, while the disadvantages are inadequate funding, lack of basic knowledge, and missing response to the market needs. Therefore, most results from university research units are sitting on the shelf of labs rather than becoming commercial products. As such, knowledge management (KM), the ability to create, store, transfer, and use knowledge, is likely to play a significant role in improving and sustaining university research activities. Therefore, some university research units have applied KM into research strategies and processes in order to overcome resource problem and better achieve their goals. Initial findings in ten universities in Thailand indicate that (1) Knowledge identification and knowledge integration are key processes that help achieving research goals; (2) Knowledge acquisition through collaboration helps fill in-house knowledge gaps, but in-house knowledge development is still the most important process for building research competence; (3) On-the-job training is the most popular practice for tacit knowledge transfer across research projects. (4) Individual research knowledge with people and shared knowledge pools are essential for creating better research plans and reducing the repetition of previous mistakes. The paper concludes with recommendations to university research units how to improve their research strategies through a systematic knowledge management