Knowledge/technology transfer and adoption

Abstract

Knowledge management is comprised of knowledge generation, transfer, accumulation, adoption, and diffusion. Contemporary technology transfer (TT) focuses on the adoption of knowledge. Technology is essentially knowledge. Transfer is the movement of knowledge/technology via some type of channel (analog or digital): person-to-person, group-to-group, and organization-to-organization.Knowledge/Technology Transfer (KTT) centers on the communication of information that is intended to accomplish a task. KTT is a particularly difficult type of communication; often it is ineffective. KTT is becoming a major management focus and involves a range of organizational, informational, and behavioral challenges to getting knowledge (ideas and products) from research to process and market applications in a cost effective, timely manner.Increasingly communities, nations, and geographic regions are linking their standard of living, job creation, and overall competitiveness to effective knowledge creation and use. As advanced technologies become increasingly complex; as outsourcing RD as technologies proliferate while product development cycles shrink; as world-class talent and other resources become increasingly scarce; and as the global market place becomes increasingly competitive, the importance of effective, efficient, and timely knowledge transfer and adoption becomes increasingly apparent. It is important for the birth, survival, and growth of small firms and the diversification and competitiveness of mid-sized and large firms in all industry sectors. In addition, it is increasingly important in the public sector. This is the reason why knowledge management and technology transfer/commercialization is being extensively covered in academic, government, and business conferences nationally and globally.In this the eighth year of the Knowledge/Technology Transfer and Adoption Mini-track, we focus such topics as: (1) barriers and facilitators to effective and efficient knowledge/Technology transfer and application from both theoretical and practical perspectives; (2) K/TT across industry, government, and academic organizations; (3) the management of knowledge in new organizational forms such as research consortia; (4) the global implications of knowledge management and transfer in the digital age; and (5) key differences between codified (structural capital) and tacit (human capital) knowledge.We have eight papers from around the world: three papers from U.S.A, three papers from Europe and two papers from Asia. The first paper by Georg Disterer addresses individual and social barriers to knowledge transfer, which recently emerges as one of the major research topic in Europe. ?Economic Development through Knowledge Creation ? The Case of Korea? Sang Kyu Lee approaches from macroscopic perspective and suggests government level policy and strategy to facilitate economic prosperity through knowledge creation. The third paper by Pedro Conceicao and Manuel Heitor notes the importance of university in learning economy and discusses the roles of university in this new digital era. ?Knowledge Management Support Systems: A Comparison of Use in Law Firms and Consulting Forms? by Petter Gottschalk addresses the implications of knowledge management in knowledge organizations and suggests the ways to improve the management of knowledge in organizations.The fifth paper ?Study on Characteristics of Technology Transfer in Venture Business? by Tae Kyung Sung, Byung-Su Kang, and Sang Kyu Lee explores the characteristics of venture business and concludes that entrepreneurs have accurate evaluations and realistic expectations about their resources and capacities as well as functions and features of science parks and technology business incubators. Franscisco Veloso and Richard Roth explore new technologies in emerging markers and address policy constraints to the adoption of advanced automotive technologies. The seventh paper by Pedro Oliveira and Aleda Roth look at mergers and acquisitions as a tool for knowledge/technology transfer. Final paper by Glenn Dietrich discusses innovation and the use of virtual teams in knowledge society.