Dynamics Of Knowledge Transfer Research Articles

Communication in Inter-firm Network: Guest Engineers and Knowledge Transfer in the Japanese Automobile Industry after the Second World War

Abstract This study examines communication in a system of inter-firm networks and the dynamics of knowledge transfer within such networks. The guest engineer system that was widely adopted in the Japanese automotive industry following the Second World War is the focus of this study. Significant positive effects of common knowledge shared by the firms involved, a constructive role of individuals as conveyors of information, and increased productivity and human capital gains are found to result from inter-firm network communication in the context of the Japanese automotive industry.

Dynamic Knowledge Transfer and Knowledge Development for Product and Process Design Teams

We consider a manager who invests in knowledge development of a product and a process design team as well as knowledge transfer between teams throughout a new product development (NPD) project. Knowledge development at a particular time (e.g., prototyping and experimentation) increases a team’s level of knowledge at that time. In contrast, the recipient’s benefits from knowledge transfer may be lagged because of the difficulties in articulating and documenting knowledge as well as the challenges regarding its interpretation and application. Over time, as each team embeds knowledge in the NPD project, the levels of product and process performance increase, thereby increasing the net revenue earned at the product launch time. In a key contribution to the literature, analytic conditions are given that characterize the dynamic rates at which knowledge development and knowledge transfer occur throughout the project. We show that the investment in knowledge development for each team and knowledge transfer between teams may be constant, front-loaded, back-loaded, U-shaped, or the peak rate may be delayed over time. As such, we show how concurrent engineering is optimally pursued throughout the NPD project.

Evaluation of a health systems knowledge translation network for Africa (KTNET): a study protocol.

BackgroundDespite the increasing investment in health-related research in Sub-Saharan Africa, a large gulf remains between what is known and what is practiced in health systems. Knowledge translation programs aim to ensure that a wide range of stakeholders are aware of and use research evidence to inform their health and health-care decision-making. The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the impacts on capacity building for knowledge translation and knowledge translation activities by a coalition of eight research groups in Africa.Methods/designWe will use a mixed methods approach. Key informant interviews and document reviews will be employed to evaluate changes in knowledge translation capacity and to evaluate the effects of knowledge translation on potential users of research. Quarterly teleconferences will be done to evaluate the impacts of knowledge translation activities on users of research. Using website tracking, we will be able to explore the influence of knowledge translation networking and dynamics of the knowledge translation network.DiscussionWe have adopted the dynamic knowledge transfer model and the Landry framework to come up with a framework for this study so as to explore the capacity of producers and users of research to generate, disseminate, and use research findings, while highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. This information will be useful for guiding implementers that seek to build capacity on knowledge translation so as to promote the utilization of research findings for informing programs, practice, and policy.

Pedagogical Progeniture or Tactical Translation? George Fordyce's Additions and Modifications to William Cullen's Philosophical Chemistry — Part I

This article contributes to a growing body of research on the dissemination, dispersion or diffusion of scientific knowledge via pedagogical networks. By examining students’ handwritten lecture notes, I compare the eighteenth-century chemistry lectures given by William Cullen (1710–1790) at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities with those of his one-time student George Fordyce (1736–1802), in London, at first privately and then as part of the medical education of physicians at St. Thomas's Hospital. Part I examines the broad structure of Cullen's and Fordyce's courses, comparing both course content and pedagogical approaches to ask how far knowledge flowed directly ‘downstream,’ and the extent to which it was transformed, translated or transmuted in the process of transmission. Part II (forthcoming) will approach the affinity theories of Cullen and Fordyce in greater depth, revealing the dynamics of knowledge transfer. The results shed light on the transmission of knowledge and skills between master and student, and reflect on whether Fordyce can be better described as Cullen's pedagogical progeny, or less straightforwardly as a tactical translator.

Can knowledge be more accessible in a virtual network?: Collective dynamics of knowledge transfer in a virtual knowledge organization network

Virtual knowledge organizations (VKOs) produce and embrace priceless, and often, unique knowledge assets within the boundary of each virtual community. An important question is how do we maximize the benefits from these valuable assets at the entire VKO network level? Relying on the graph theory, this study is to investigate how the structure of virtual knowledge networks formed by knowledge agents and knowledge profile of each VKO influence the dynamics of knowledge transfer in a virtual knowledge organization network (VKON). We develop a network model through which knowledge will be efficiently disseminated when knowledge agents are uniformly distributed across the network. Using this model's intrinsic capability to assess global effects of local transformations in a network, we found that VKON complexity, a measure for efficiency of knowledge transfer, is optimized when a new knowledge agent is placed between two communities with the minimum knowledge transfer capacity. The results of this study will help understand the inter-community knowledge transfer dynamics in virtual knowledge community networks.

The ‘Right’ Knowledge and Spin-off Processes: an Empirical Analysis on Knowledge Transfer

Recent advances on cognitive theory shift from a trade-off between individual and collective knowledge to attempt a closer look at the re-conceptualization of knowledge production and exploitation activities. Findings from the study of human cognition indicate that people have limited information-processing capacities and consequently adopt organizational rules in overcoming individual cognitive limitations. Researchers therefore rely on mental scripts and heuristics to make sense of the knowledge use in organizations. This study extends the previous line of research by seeking to uncover the specific ways in which individuals process information and share knowledge to link organizational learning and entrepreneurial action. Specifically, our focus has been maintained on the most problematic issue about knowledge transfer dynamics: spin-off is viewed as exploiting knowledge their founders learned in prior employment and moved outward to new business initiatives. The spirit that motivated this research was twofold: firstly, previous literature recognition provided critical insights for the development of the model. Secondly, on-field verification sought to confirm the hypotheses on the suitability of spin-offs to serve as a vector for the transfer of the cognitive map developed in parent firms.

A systematic review on the transfer of information during nurse transitions in care

To examine the qualitative evidence on dynamics of knowledge transfer during transitions in care in acute care hospitals. The most common transition between nurse care providers is the intershift handoff. As these handoffs tend to be time-consuming and costly, it is important to understand the dynamics of the transfer of information at this time and, by extension, improve quality and safety. Systematic Review. Qualitative studies conducted between 1988 and 2012 were sought. A comprehensive four-stage search strategy identified 125 qualitative studies that met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 50 were retrieved for appraisal. Retrieved papers were assessed by two independent reviewers for methodological quality prior to inclusion in the review using a standardised critical appraisal instrument. The final sample consisted of 29 qualitative studies. This represented more than 800 nursing handoffs and 300 nurse interviews. Sixteen categories were identified, which were then subjected to a meta-synthesis to produce a single comprehensive set of synthesised findings. The evidence shows the handoff to be a complex, social interaction highly sensitive to context and cultural norms, an activity essential to multiple functions that extend beyond quality and safety. They are subject to wide variability in both the methods used and the kind of information that is handed off. Notably, the elucidation of the different ways in which individual nurses act as gatekeepers and influence patient care is a major finding of this review. The results of this systemic review provide evidence that a consistent guideline may provide an optimal shift report given the findings of this review that information transferred may be random and variable, inconsistent and incongruent, inaccurate or absent.

Embedding Work Culture in Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Enhancing Collaboration in Global Projects

Building Information Modelling is further globalising Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) professional partnerships. However, little is known on the effect of cultural and human factors on BIM enabled visualisation applications. This desktop study examined the extant literature on factors relating to application of BIM enabled visualisation technologies as a process that can improve, leverage and conduct visual communication for coordination during implementation of global projects. It identifies BIM enabled visualisation having the capability in facilitating knowledge flows in complex discontinuous working environment of a property development’s life cycle, and supports designers’ understanding in its early working phases. This paper presents the development of a theoretical proposition for embedding local work culture etiquette in BIM enabled visualisation application for augmenting dynamic knowledge transfer among discontinuous members in a building project. The result is expected to benefit rapidly developing countries, e.g. Malaysia, in enabling successful partnerships with counterparts from developed countries.

Determinants of knowledge transfer in inter‐firm new product development projects

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the factors which determine the degree of knowledge transfer in inter‐firm new product development (NPD) projects. The authors test a theoretical model exploring how inter‐firm knowledge transfer is enabled or hindered by a buyer's learning intent, the degree of supplier protectiveness, inter‐firm knowledge ambiguity, and absorptive capacity.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 153 R&D intensive manufacturing firms in the UK automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical, electrical, chemical, and general manufacturing industries was used to test the framework. To analyse the data, two‐step structural equation modeling in AMOS 7.0 was used.FindingsThe results indicate that a buyer's learning intent increases inter‐firm knowledge transfer, but also acts as an incentive for suppliers to protect their knowledge. Such defensive measures increase the degree of inter‐firm knowledge ambiguity, encouraging buyer firms to invest in absorptive capacity as a means to interpret supplier knowledge, but also increase the degree of knowledge transfer.Practical implicationsThe paper illustrates the effects of focusing on acquisition, rather than accessing supplier technological knowledge. The paper shows that an overt learning strategy can be detrimental to knowledge transfer between buyer‐supplier, as suppliers react by restricting the flow of information. Organisations are encouraged to consider this dynamic when engaging in multi‐organisational, NPD projects.Originality/valueThe paper examines the dynamics of knowledge transfer within inter‐firm NPD projects, showing how transfer is influenced by the buyer firm's learning intention, supplier's response, characteristics of the relationship and knowledge to be transferred.

Understanding knowledge transfer in an ergonomics intervention at a poultry processing plant

This case study reviews the knowledge transfer (KT) process of implementing a knife sharpening and steeling program into a poultry processing plant via a participatory ergonomics intervention. This ergonomics intervention required stakeholder participation at the company level to move a 'train-the-trainer' program, developed in Québec, Canada, into action on the plant's deboning line. Communications and exchanges with key stakeholders, as well as changes in steeling and production behaviours were recorded. The intervention was assumed to be at least partially successful because positive changes in work operations occurred. Ergonomic-related changes such as those documented have been cited in the academic literature as beneficial to worker health. However, several components cited in literature that are associated with a successful participatory ergonomics intervention were not attained during the project. A Dynamic Knowledge Transfer Model was used to identify KT issues that impacted on the success of train-the-trainer program. A debriefing analysis reveals that a failure to consider key participatory ergonomics factors necessary for success were related to capacity deficits in the knowledge dissemination strategy.

The Dynamics of Knowledge Transfer within Multigenerational Work Environments: Building a Strategic Framework for Engagement and Exchange

The Dynamics of Knowledge Transfer within Multigenerational Work Environments: Building a Strategic Framework for Engagement and Exchange

Herausforderung Wissenstransfer in Clustern - Neues Wissen vom Biotechnologiestandort Martinsried

Taking Martinsried as a particular successful example of a biotech region, the paper explores the mechanisms of knowledge transfer in local industry clusters. The results of the empirical investigation, designed in a case study approach based on qualitative interviews as well as an online-survey, point to the prospects and limits of knowledge mediation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge diffusion as key means of interorganizational knowledge transfer. The research contributes to capturing the varying dynamics of knowledge transfer in conceptual terms and provides applied implications regarding the intermediation of knowledge in the biotechnology cluster Martinsried.

Knowledge transfer between two geographically distant action research teams

Purpose – The objective of this study is to observe and document the transfer of a train the trainers program in knife sharpening and steeling. This knowledge transfer involved two groups of researchers: the experts and the learners. These groups are from geographically dispersed regions and evolve in distinct contexts by their language and culture.Design/methodology/approach – The paper favors the learning history (LH) technique, a methodology that enabled the different participants to share their experience through reiterate interviews.Findings – Based on the dynamic knowledge transfer capacity model, the absorptive capacity of the train the trainers process appears to have been mobilized. Although there were a number of hitches, people are confident that the project will be successful and that they will put what they have learned to good use in upcoming phases to transfer this program to other organizations.Research limitations/implications – The conclusions apply solely to a context of interprovincial...

A systems‐based dynamic knowledge transfer capacity model

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: to understand how recent developments in systems thinking and social construction can influence understanding of knowledge transfer (KT); and to propose a new systems‐based knowledge transfer model.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is a review of the literature on knowledge transfer, systems thinking and social construction leads to the proposal of a new KT paradigm.FindingsThe Dynamic Knowledge Transfer Capacity model (DKTC) found in this paper identifies the components required for social systems to generate, disseminate and use new knowledge to meet their needs. The model includes pre‐existing conditions, (need and prior knowledge) and four categories of capacities (generative, disseminative, absorptive and adaptive/responsive) that social systems must possess for KT to take place.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper shows that the DKTC model is particularly well suited to analyzing complex systems with multiple stakeholders as opposed to small‐scale knowledge transfer systems. Empirical analysis in complex systems environments will help verify, enrich and generalize the model.Practical implicationsThe paper sees that in an increasingly knowledge‐based economy, the ability to base decisions on the latest knowledge is vital for the success of organizations. The capacity for effective and sustained exchange between a system's stakeholders (researchers, government, practitioners, etc.); exchanges characterized by significant interactions reflected within the DKTC model, results in the appropriate use of the most recent discoveries in the decision making process.Originality/valueThe paper proposes a new knowledge transfer paradigm that views knowledge as a systemic, socially constructed, context‐specific representation of reality. The proposed knowledge transfer model is in sharp contrast to past attempts, focusing attention on the capacities that must be present in organizations and social systems as a precondition for knowledge transfer to occur.

From ideas to market applications: dynamics of knowledge transfer and the role of champions

Technology transfer is a significant effort of the federal government and the intent of this effort is to transfer technologies developed in federal laboratories to the private sector for commercial use. The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer is a clearing-house for technologies developed through federal research laboratories. In addition, universities and other institutions use various mechanisms for transferring the technologies or knowledge to the private sector for civilian use. In this paper, the transfer of experimental and conceptual knowledge from research environment to civilian sector, covering aspects of engineering and social science is emphasized. The engineering examples deal with alleviating the nitrate pollution of rural domestic wells (a conceptual knowledge) and phytoremediation of hazardous wastes (an experimental knowledge). The social science examples deal with a culture assimilator for improving race relations (a conceptual knowledge) and a multimedia assimilator for global managers (an experimental knowledge). In each case, mechanisms and shortcomings involved in transfer-ring the knowledge for civilian use are demonstrated. We present a framework for knowledge transfer, and discuss the role of champions in knowledge transfer. We take the position that, though the attributes of the technology itself are important, knowledge transfer does require champions.

Local scholars in a global work: Andalusi biographical dictionaries in Ḥajjī Khalīfa’s "Kashf al-ẓunūn"

Este artículo se centra en el análisis del género literario de las ṭabaqāt como parte de un proyecto que pretende analizar por qué, cómo y cuándo las obras compuestas en el Occidente islámico (al-Andalus y el Magreb, entendido aquí como la región geográfica situada al oeste de Egipto) encontraron un espacio fuera del lugar donde fueron redactadas, creciendo su interés por ellas en otras regiones el mundo islámico. La difusión de obras de este género fuera del área geográfica para la cual habían sido escritas implica la existencia de un interés dentro el mundo académico que las componía. En este artículo analizaré qué diccionarios biográficos andalusíes fueron incluidos en uno de los repertorios bibliográficos más famosos del mundo islámico, Kašf al-ẓunūn, escrito por Kātib Çelebī (m. 1067/1657), con el fin de arrojar luz no solo al caso particular del Occidente islámico, sino también de forma más general a la discusión acerca de las dinámicas locales/globales de transferencia de conocimiento de la época pre-moderna en el mundo islámico.