Management of Knowledge Acquisition from Human Sources in Innovation Transfer

Abstract

The term ‘Knowledge Management’ (KM) appeared several years ago and at first it was applied only to information systems. It was obvious soon that its meaning was broader and connected with business processes reengineering and management of quality. Knowledge management concentrates on recognition of all intellectual assets within an organization as well as on managing them. The main purpose of KM was obvious: better achievement of business goals. In knowledge based economy the role and importance of information and knowledge is still growing. Knowledge is becoming one of the most valuable assets in any organizations. Fast progress at the field of scientific research – especially in medicine, new information and communication technologies, etc. enforce not only the necessity of innovation transfers but also the necessity of developing and creating knowledge. Knowledge management can be seen as a result of evolutionary human development. In the last quarter of the 20th century this development was observed in continuously growing application of information and knowledge in societies and in organizations. Today information and knowledge are crucial and especially valuable due to the rapid developed and continuous progress in every sector of our life. Fast exchange of medical knowledge, new medicals, creation and propagation of new knowledge etc. are possible due to the achievements of ‘informational revolution’. For our further investigation we have taken into account medicine as a domain/discipline. Why medicine? For some quite obvious facts: our health is of great importance not only to us (people) but also for our countries. And on the other hand, medical clinics have a high intellectual potential for product innovation, process and service development. There are many reasons why this potential of innovation is not sufficiently transferred to the results, such as product development by companies and better health care. The barriers concern, among others, different interests. Clinics are mainly focused on the efficient management and welfare of patients. Whereas the objective of the industrial units is all about economy and economic importance. Today big business companies and corporations dominate as suppliers of ready innovative products. So far, the changes initiated by the employees of clinics and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have no chance to transfer knowledge and ideas. But this is the flexibility of SMEs in developing lab types, prototypes