Facilitate Knowledge Exchange Research Articles

Time for change: Learning from community forests to enhance the resilience of multi-value forestry in British Columbia, Canada

Forests around the world are experiencing the cumulative effects of rapid social and environmental change. Building resilience in the forestry sector has thus become of major importance in many countries, including Canada. While British Columbia (BC) generates the highest revenue from the forestry sector in Canada, the planning and management of forests in this province face several limitations that hinder the application of resilience thinking in a fully integrated way that accounts not only for ecosystem processes but also the close interconnection between forests and people. Community forestry in BC provides experience gained over 20 years that can form the basis for a more holistic, long-term approach to enhance the resilience of forested landscapes. Based on interviews with managers of 5 case study community forests (CFs), and a survey of all CFs in BC over three consecutive years, we present pilot practices to manage forests for resilience at the stand- and landscape-levels. Findings show that these practices mainly focus on (1) age and species diversification, (2) introduction of more drought-tolerant species, (3) systematic long-term monitoring of productivity and forest health, (4) wildfire risk management, and (5) introduction of enhanced silviculture such as thinning, rehabilitation and fertilization. Between 2016 and 2018, 38 CFs in BC invested more than CAD 4.5 million in enhanced silvicultural practices using their own funds. The area-based tenure of CFs motivated not only long-term planning and investment, but also shifted the mindset among residents towards a more multi-functional and dynamic view of the forest. Building adaptive capacity and social license, CFs foster a future where forest health and community well-being are compatible. These lessons can be scaled to BC and other forested landscapes in Canada and around the world. Scaling mechanisms include: (1) facilitating knowledge exchange; (2) increasing multi-stakeholder collaboration; (3) replication and mainstreaming of effective practices; (4) rethinking the forest tenure system; and (5) systematic research and monitoring to learn from pilot studies that could inform strategic interventions with landscape-scale impact. Multi-functional forests which are increasingly affected by climate change and novel disturbances could particularly benefit from the insights shared in this paper to build social-ecological resilience.

The development of autonomous driving technology: perspectives from patent citation analysis

ABSTRACT Autonomous vehicles have been widely discussed recently due to the rapid advancement of related technologies and high growth potential in many markets around the world. To take a strategic position for coping with their fast development, business strategists have to find out the key players and how these players share technological information in the knowledge network. This research particularly explores the main technologies that have been developed and applied in this field by conducting a systematic and quantitative analysis to answer these questions. We analyse U.S. patents related to autonomous driving technology in a systematic manner through cross-citation analysis (CCA) and main path analysis (MPA). The former reveals knowledge flow among major players, while the latter uncovers the technology development trajectory and the associated players. The results of CCA indicate that several companies (e.g. Google and GM) in the U.S. utilise locational advantage to build an industrial chain and to facilitate knowledge exchange. MPA results reveal a development trajectory and the key players at different development phases. Our analysis infers four trends. First, more solutions in communication systems will be patented in the future as communication is crucial to realise vehicle-to-everything. Second, perception technologies are integrating with artificial intelligence to enhance vehicle autonomy. Third, players with roles as “technology developer”, “technology integrator”, and “technology implementer” in different development phases are together advancing autonomous driving technologies. Fourth, traditional vehicle makers are expected to strengthen their cooperation with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies for the purpose of obtaining communication and data technologies.

A Communal Language for Decision Making in Team Invasion Sports

Invasion team sports coaches are faced with the problem of developing players who, in any given situation, can make decisions that lead to successful outcomes. Research into human decision making has established three widely accepted perspectives, which sports coaching has used to understand player decision making and inform practice:information processing, ecological psychology, andnaturalistic decision making. As a result, coaches are challenged with perspective-specific terminology and having to draw connections between similar findings that are explained in quite different ways. This conceptual paper presents a plainer account of player decision making by proposing a communal language within a conceptual framework for decision making in invasion team sports. It is hoped that the proposed language and framework will, together, facilitate knowledge exchange between researchers and coaches for the betterment of player development.

Self-evaluation and evaluation of nursing leaders’ Leadership Styles

Objective:to evaluate the concordance between the leadership styles self-evaluated by the Nursing managers and evaluated by their subordinates in a private hospital.Methodology:an observational, cross-sectional, quantitative, and analytical study, with population of 31 managing nurses and 125 subordinates. Herman Bachenheimers instrument of Situational Leadership was employed, adapting it to the subordinates. The concordance between self-evaluation and evaluation by the subordinates was analyzed in the four leadership styles (Directing, Guiding, Participating, Delegating), with the Kappa coefficient statistical test, test statistic (Z) >1.96, 95% confidence interval and PASW Statistics, version 18.Results:the self-evaluation of the Nursing managerial staff has a tendency for the Guiding Style and, according to the evaluation by their subordinates, there is a minimum difference among the four styles. Their concordance is low, but significant, with 19.3%. It was identified that the subordinates perceive that they possess the necessary competences to autonomously perform the tasks assigned, and that there is trust and assertive communication between both groups, which facilitates knowledge exchange.Conclusion:the Nursing managers and their subordinates perceive various leadership styles, and concordance is low. To attain superior leadership styles, the subordinates must develop autonomy and empowerment.

How circular is current design practice? Investigating perspectives across industrial design and architecture in the transition towards a circular economy

The transition to a circular economy (CE) produces a range of new challenges for designers and requires specific knowledge, strategies, and methods. To date, most studies regarding design for a CE have been theoretical and conceptual, hence, limited research has been conducted on the practical implications of designing for a CE. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of how design practitioners interpret and implement the CE concept in practice. To capture the complexity of real-world cases, semi-structured interviews were carried out with design practitioners (N = 12) within the disciplines of architecture and industrial design who have actively worked with circularity in a design agency setting. The results show that the practitioners have diverse perspectives on designing for a CE, relating to (1) the circular design process, (2) the effects of the CE on design agencies, (3) the changing role of the designer, and (4) the external factors affecting circular design in practice. Some differences were identified between the architects and industrial designers, with the industrial designers more strongly focused on circular business models and the architects on the reuse of materials on a building level. In addition, circular strategies and associated (similar) terminologies were understood and applied in fundamentally different ways. As the CE blurs boundaries of scale and disciplines, there is a need for universal design frameworks and language. The CE concept is expanding the scope of the design process and driving the integration of new knowledge fields and skills in the design process. The successful implementation of the CE in practice is based on extensive collaboration with stakeholders and experts throughout all stages of the design process. Design agencies have addressed the CE by establishing dedicated CE research and design teams, facilitating knowledge exchange, developing their own circular strategies and methods, and striving for long-term client relationships that foster the engagement of designers with the lifecycles of designed artefacts rather than perceiving design projects as temporary endeavors. Ultimately, a holistic and integral approach towards design in a CE is needed to ensure that the underlying CE goals of contributing to sustainable development and establishing a systemic shift are ongoingly considered.

A multi-stakeholder participatory study identifies the priorities for the sustainability of the small ruminants farming sector in Europe

The European small ruminants (i.e. sheep and goats) farming sector (ESRS) provides economic, social and environmental benefits to society, but is also one of the most vulnerable livestock sectors in Europe. This sector has diverse livestock species, breeds, production systems and products, which makes difficult to have a clear vision of its challenges through using conventional analyses. A multi-stakeholder and multi-step approach, including 90 surveys, was used to identify and assess the main challenges for the sustainability of the ESRS to prioritize actions. These challenges and actions were identified by ESRS experts including farmers, cooperatives, breeding associations, advisers and researchers of six EU countries and Turkey. From the 30 identified challenges, the most relevant were economy-related challenges such as ‘uncertainty of meat and milk prices’, ‘volatility of commodity prices’, ‘low farm income’, ‘high subsidy dependency’ and ‘uncertainty in future changes in subsidies’ resulting in ‘a sector not attractive to young farmers’. Most of these challenges were beyond the farmer’s control and perceived as difficult to address. Challenges were prioritized using an index, calculated by multiplying the relevance and the feasibility to address measures. The identified challenges had a similar priority index across the whole sector with small differences across livestock species (sheep vs goats), type of products (meat vs dairy) and intensification levels (intensive vs semi-intensive vs extensive). The priorities were different, however, between socio-geographical regions (Southern vs Central Europe). Some of the top prioritized challenges were linked to aspects related to the production systems (‘low promotion of local breeds’ and ‘slow adaptability of high producing breeds’) and market practices (‘unfair trade/lack of traceability’). The majority of the priority challenges, however, were associated with a deficient knowledge or training at farm level (‘poor business management training’, ‘lack of professionalization’, ‘slow adoption of innovations’), academia (‘researchers do not address real problems’) and society as a whole (‘low consumer education in local products’, ‘low social knowledge about farming’, ‘poor recognition of farming public services’). Thus, improved collaboration among the different stakeholders across the food chain with special implication of farmers, associations of producers, academia and governments is needed to facilitate knowledge exchange and capacity building. These actions can contribute to make ESRS economically more sustainable and to adapt the production systems and policy to the current and future societal needs in a more region-contextualized framework.

Leading the spread and adoption of innovation at scale: an Academic Health Science Network’s perspective

BackgroundThere is virtually no limit to the number of innovations being developed, tested and piloted at any one time to improve the quality and safety of care. The perennial problem...

Webliography of Water Technology and Policy Framework in India and the World

For a long time, knowledge asymmetry has been attributed to uneven growth and development across countries. Today, when issues of access to safe and affordable drinking water are not only a national concern and cooperation across the world are pushing towards sustainable goals, web portals, publication of reports by institutions involved in international and national water technology and policy activities are facilitating knowledge exchange. These platforms have developed indicators to assess the water-related concerns and share best management practices, sustainable approaches and data, making knowledge accessible for all. Also, recently bibliometric and scientometric studies have developed tools to assess research in the area of the water sector. This webliography is an effort to produce a comprehensive list of activities undertaken by institutions participating in the knowledge creation and knowledge dissemination process in the area of water internationally as well as in India.

Knowledge Co-Production with Agricultural Trade Associations

Scientists and agricultural trade associations may further conservation outcomes by engaging with one another to uncover opportunities and engage in social learning via knowledge co-production. We observed, documented, and critically reviewed knowledge exchanges among scientists and agricultural stakeholders working on a multidecadal water conflict in Wisconsin. Differences in knowledge exchange and production were related to meeting spaces, organization, time management, and formality of interactions. We found that repetitive, semiformal meetings organized and led by growers facilitated knowledge exchange, co-production, and social learning. However, scientists often appeared uncomfortable in grower-controlled spaces. We suggest that this discomfort results from the widespread adoption of the deficit model of scientific literacy and objectivity as default paradigms, despite decades of research suggesting that scientists cannot view themselves as objective disseminators of knowledge. For example, we found that both scientists and growers produced knowledge for political advocacy but observed less transparency from scientists, who often claimed objectivity in politicized settings. We offer practical methods and recommendations for designing social learning processes as well as highlight the need to better prepare environmental and extension scientists for engaging in agribusiness spaces.

Organizational culture on the Facebook page of an emergency management agency: a thematic analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify organizational cultural factors and overarching themes on emergency management evident across the Facebook page of an emergency management organization. This study also aims to understand the dimensions of social capital that influence the reputation of emergency management organization using the lens of organizational culture.Design/methodology/approachThe organizational cultural factors defined in the literature were used to classify content posted by the organization during a six-month period. The posts were read and analyzed thematically to determine the overarching themes evident across the collected posts. The dimensions of social capital defined in the literature were used to determine its influence on the reputation of an emergency management organization.FindingsThe organizational cultural factors that emerged from the analysis are openness and future orientation without any evidence on risk-taking and flexibility. An analysis of cultural factors indicates that organizational culture facilitates knowledge exchange and knowledge combination. The key themes embedded in the organization's posts are emergency preparedness, communication devices for emergency management, coordination and admiration. The dimensions of social capital that influenced the reputation of emergency management organization were group characteristics, volunteerism, generalized norms and togetherness. Though previous studies have found the influence of culture on social capital, this study extends those findings by identifying the dimensions of culture (i.e. openness and future orientation) that reflects the social capital dimensions (i.e. generalized norms and group characteristics) in an organizational setting.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to theory on the identification of cultural factors from content posted by emergency management organizations on a public social networking site (SNS). The organization benefited in terms of its reputation through the dimensions of social capital which are group characteristics, volunteerism, generalized norms and togetherness. One of the organizational reputation dimensions that was evident in this study was moral reputation which is a contribution of this study.Practical implicationsAmong the guiding principles of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, three guiding principles were evident in the posts of the emergency management organization. These principles which represent the practical implications of this study are disaster risk reduction through cooperation, inclusiveness of minority community members and implementing cost-effective and sustainable development policies for future through investment.Originality/valuePrevious studies have examined organizational culture in general, but to date there has been very little research into determining cultural factors that facilitate knowledge exchange and knowledge combination. This is also a unique study which identified the dimensions of social capital and organizational reputation in emergency management.

Multidisciplinary perspectives and practices of wheelchair prescription for children with neuromuscular conditions

Purpose Clinical practice guidelines for paediatric neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) recommend timely provision of wheelchair equipment. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand healthcare professionals’ clinical perspectives and practices when recommending wheelchair equipment for the first time, as well as perceived barriers and enablers to timely wheelchair provision. Methods Twenty-one healthcare professionals (HCPs) from Australia and the United States participated in an interview (response rate: 88%, 16/21 women). Participants were from diverse disciplines, based in hospital or community health settings, and had at least one year of experience working in paediatric neuromuscular care. Results Child fatigue, falls and engagement in age-appropriate activity were common reasons for HCP’s wheelchair recommendation. HCPs were acutely aware of parents’ experiences of grief and loss throughout the wheelchair prescription process, and over half acknowledged the lack of psychological care available to families affected by NMDs. Multi-disciplinary collaboration, psychologically-informed care, and shared decision-making with stakeholders were perceived enablers of wheelchair transition. Barriers included limited access to equipment, lengthy funding processes and lack of funding for home and vehicle modifications. Conclusions Integrated psychosocial care is needed to support families throughout their child’s disease progression, including wheelchair transition. Implementation of readiness for change tools, and development of tailored informational resources is recommended. Improved access to equipment options and trials, and more efficient funding processes are highly likely to improve parental engagement throughout the wheelchair prescription process. Implications for rehabilitation Healthcare professionals express a strong demand for integrated psychosocial care within paediatric neuromuscular clinics to support families throughout transitions, including wheelchair introduction. Identifying parents’ readiness for change can inform their information and support needs, strengthen their decision-making capacity and facilitate timely wheelchair introduction. Stronger collaboration between hospital- and community-based health professionals working in paediatric neuromuscular care is recommended to facilitate knowledge exchange and support families’ transition to wheelchair use. Access to equipment options for extended loan or trial in the community can support timely wheelchair introduction.

Animal welfare and biosecurity assessment: a comparison between Italian and Irish beef cattle rearing systems

Context European beef production is facing fresh challenges on various fronts: increasing public concern on animal welfare; declining EU meat consumption; and, conversely, expected growth in global demand for meat. The Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (CReNBA) has developed an assessment protocol for collecting information about beef cattle welfare and biosecurity conditions, with the intention of better understanding animal needs and disseminating best practices. Aims The protocol was applied on Italian and Irish farms, and the results were used as a starting point for a specific statistical analysis for comparing animal welfare and biosecurity levels in the two countries. Methods The protocol consists of animal-based measures and non-animal-based measures (management-based and resource-based indicators) and has been designed to determine the major hazards and benefits that can influence cattle health and welfare, including the presence of biosecurity issues. The outcomes of welfare and biosecurity assessments conducted during November 2016–July 2017 of 40 Irish beef herds reared indoors were compared with those of 85 Italian beef units assessed over the same period. Differences obtained within each beef-unit distribution were calculated by the VARNC index (diversity index), and a distance estimate of the beef-unit distribution from a hypothetical ideal condition was calculated by using the distance from ideal (dfi) index. Key results The dfi index revealed that Irish farms were closer to the ideal condition for the measures ‘experience and training of stockpersons’, ‘water provision’, ‘handling facilities’, ‘restraint facilities’, and ‘temperature, humidity and ventilations conditions’. Italian farms were closer to the ideal condition for ‘diet calculation and feed quality’, ‘feeding management’, ‘feeding place dimension’, ‘cleanliness of water points’, ‘cleanliness of floors’, ‘type of floors’, ‘cleanliness of animals’, and ‘integument alterations’. In contrast to the Italian farms, there was particular awareness of the importance of biosecurity on Irish farms. Conclusions The results revealed intrinsic management and housing differences between the two rearing systems, although only few dissimilarities were found in the animal outcomes: in fact, the assessment of the animal-based measures gave very similar results for the two countries, except for ‘cleanliness of the animals’ and ‘integument alterations’. Implications In the face of global challenges affecting the pursuit of farming sustainability, farmers should be encouraged to improve safeguards for animal welfare and reduce the spread of animal diseases. This can be achieved by facilitating knowledge exchange internationally.

Prioritising health information needs in Europe: a Policy Delphi survey

Abstract Background Health information (HI) includes data on population health, health determinants, health care systems, and health-relevant policy developments. Duly prioritised HI is essential to inform decision-makers, researchers and the public. Little can be found in the literature on HI prioritisation methods and procedures in Europe. Our study aims to close this gap. Methods We designed a two-round online Policy Delphi and addressed 119 contacts, mainly public health and health information experts, in 33 InfAct partner countries. The first round included structured and full-text questions; in the ongoing second round, participants rank prioritisation approaches according to 'desirability', 'feasibility', 'importance' and 'confidence'. Results In the first round, 19 questionnaires were fully completed; the presented results also include replies from interrupted surveys and drop-outs. 58% of the participants reported the existence of structured national HI prioritisation processes; 65% indicated stakeholder involvement, and 54% the application of defined criteria. National health targets or strategies played a major role in HI prioritisation. 17 respondents from 13 countries agreed to participate in the second round. Based on analysis of the first round, participants rank approaches to HI prioritisation, preferences for stakeholder involvement and coordination, partners and methods for criteria development, the role of national and international frameworks and options for good-practices in HI development. The expected outcome of our study is not one single recommendation for HI prioritisation, but a list of good practice-approaches. Conclusions Health systems in Europe are heterogeneous, and so are health information systems. Mapping, sharing and ranking HI prioritisation approaches will facilitate knowledge exchange in the context of building a sustainable EU HI-system and may inform relevant EU processes.

4.E. Workshop: Health literacy in Policies: European and National Perspectives

Abstract Health literacy is a key dimension of public and global health policy. In the wake of Health in all Polices (HiAP), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and health equity discussions, health literacy plays an important role in empowering citizens by increasing their capacities to deal with health information and make informed decision. In recent years, digitalization and digital transformation of societies and everyday environments have contributed to the increasing awareness of the role of health literacy for navigation of these new and often complex environments. Together, these developments have facilitated the establishment of health literacy as a critical policy item on agendas across the world. In Europe, a lively policy discussion has emerged within the last decade with countries developing their own national and local strategies addressing health literacy in public health and healthcare policies, directives on health promotion and prevention and even in educational policies to include health literacy to school practices. The WHO EURO Region with 53 Member States has been particularly active, launching the WHO “Solid Facts” report on health literacy and two “Action Networks on Health Literacy” - one on measurement and one NCD interventions. Politically, these initiatives were followed up strategically by the Health Literacy Roadmap and by a resolution to develop a European health literacy action plan. While the policy movement is steadily increasing, research on health literacy policies and policy making is still a developing field. This is concerned with policies both on children`s as well as on adult`s health literacy. In this context, the aim of this workshop is to: present research findings from recent health literacy policy initiatives, such as the WHO European health literacy roadmap and action plan and European national policies and initiate a critical discussion regarding future health literacy policy development in the European region and beyond. The 1st presentation will provide an overview on health literacy policy initiatives at WHO Europe with a focus on the development of a new European Action Plan. The 2nd presentation will focus on the WHO health literacy policy initiative focusing on school-aged children. The 3rd presentation will share policy recommendation by experts for promoting health literacy in children and adolescents. The 4th presentation offers a national policy and field application focusing on health literacy and cultural appropriateness. The 5th presentation provides an example of a national position paper on health literacy from a structural perspective presenting a possible path to equity in health. This workshop offers a forum for researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and public stakeholders interested in public health policy-making with a specific focus on health literacy, and will promote discussion of results, facilitate knowledge exchange, and support further synergies. Key messages Health literacy policy is an important cornerstone of the WHO European Region Public Health and Policy strategy and the UN Sustainable Developmental Goals. This workshop will address health literacy policy development on national, European and global levels in different populations.

Farmers and Social Innovations in Rural Development: Collaborative Arrangements in Eastern Brazilian Amazon

Brazilian small-scale farmers are seeking new types of collaborations and economic opportunities amid a changing world. Market opportunities, however, have incurred demanding environmental, financial and labor requirements, and created trade-offs between expanding cash crops and maintaining livelihood security. We analyze the Tomé-Açu region in the Brazilian Amazon, where different collaborative models between small-scale farmers and other social agents (industries, government, non-governmental organizations) have emerged. Local farmers are engaging in collective actions and pursuing different types of partnerships, which facilitate knowledge exchange and access to market niches, also helping them overcome the infrastructural and logistical deficiencies that have historically limited rural development in the region. In particular, we discuss the diffusion and adoption of agroforestry and oil palm production systems among small-scale farmers. We examine the challenges and opportunities these partnerships and social innovations have created for local farmers, who are part of heterogeneous groups with distinct roles, assets and contexts. The state-led oil palm program posed challenges to small-scale farmers who experienced asymmetrical relationships within their partnership with private companies. On the other hand, the farmer-led agroforestry model opened new opportunities for farmers who had more flexibility in deciding their production arrangements, developing new agroforestry techniques, and pursuing commercialization pathways. Despite their limited power, small-scale farmers have been able to overcome some structural barriers through innovations, entrepreneurship, and renegotiation of oil palm contract farming. Thus, their ability to engage in both farmer-led agroforestry and state-led oil palm programs provides concrete examples of the potential of local governance based on collaborative arrangements to support sustainable farming production systems.

Toward a more Efficient Knowledge Network in Innovation Ecosystems: A Simulated Study on Knowledge Management

Knowledge management has become increasingly important in the era of knowledge economy. This study explores what is an optimal knowledge network for more efficient knowledge diffusion among strategic partners in order to provide insights on sustainable enterprises and a more knowledge-efficient innovation ecosystem. Based on simulated analyses of the efficiency of knowledge network models, including regular network, random network, and small world network, this study shows that a random knowledge network is more efficient for knowledge diffusion when a mixture knowledge trade rule is used. This study thus helps identify which knowledge networks facilitate knowledge exchange among collaborative partners for sustainable knowledge management. Management practitioners and policymakers can use the findings to design more appropriate knowledge exchange networks to improve the efficiency of knowledge diffusion in an innovation ecosystem.

Sustaining Software Preservation Efforts Through Use and Communities of Practice

The brief history of software preservation efforts illustrates one phenomenon repeatedly: not unlike spinning a plate on a broomstick, it is easy to get things going, but difficult to keep them stable and moving. Within the context of video games and other forms of cultural heritage (where most software preservation efforts have lately been focused), this challenge has several characteristic expressions, some technical (e.g., the difficulty of capturing and emulating protected binary files and proprietary hardware), and some legal (e.g., providing archive users with access to preserved games in the face of variously threatening end user licence agreements). In other contexts, such as the preservation of research-oriented software, there can be additional challenges, including insufficient awareness and training on unusual (or even unique) software and hardware systems, as well as a general lack of incentive for preserving “old data.” We believe that in both contexts, there is a relatively accessible solution: the fostering of communities of practice. Such groups are designed to bring together like-minded individuals to discuss, share, teach, implement, and sustain special interest groups—in this case, groups engaged in software preservation.
 In this paper, we present two approaches to sustaining software preservation efforts via community. The first is emphasizing within the community of practice the importance of “preservation through use,” that is, preserving software heritage by staying familiar with how it feels, looks, and works. The second approach for sustaining software preservation efforts is to convene direct and adjacent expertise to facilitate knowledge exchange across domain barriers to help address local needs; a sufficiently diverse community will be able (and eager) to provide these types of expertise on an as-needed basis. We outline here these sustainability mechanisms, then show how the networking of various domain-specific preservation efforts can be converted into a cohesive, transdisciplinary, and highly collaborative software preservation team.
 [This paper is a conference pre-print presented at IDCC 2020 after lightweight peer review.]

A Portfolio Approach to Understanding Performance Implications of Repeated Alliance Ties

Prior studies have been largely split on the link between repeated alliance ties with the same partner and subsequent firm performance. Some studies suggest that repeated ties merely result in redundant learning and knowledge convergence, while others focus on the establishment of inter-firm routines that facilitate knowledge exchange. To reconcile these perspectives, we focus on the relative characteristics of a partner vis-à-vis other partners within the firm’s alliance portfolio. We argue that repeated ties with a relatively unique and capable partner can provide non-redundant learning and motivate the focal firm to allocate more resources to build effective knowledge-sharing routines. Conversely, repeated ties with a relatively less unique and less capable partner can have the opposite effect, thereby dampening subsequent firm performance. Using data on repeated technology alliance ties formed between U.S. firms from 1990-2000, we find support for our arguments that the link between repeated ties and the firm’s post-alliance innovative performance hinges on the relative technological uniqueness and capability of the partner. This study has implications for research on repeated ties and alliance portfolios.

Better the devil you know: Inter-organizational information technology and network social capital in coopetition networks

By enabling more efficient information and knowledge sharing and reinforcing the shared goals for participating members, inter-organizational information technology (IT) becomes instrumental to both accomplishing coopetitive outcomes and avoiding the pitfalls of partner opportunism. We posit that as network social capital is accumulated in technology-enabled coopetition networks, collaboration will enhance the strategic value of outcomes and positively affect goal convergence among network users. Our findings illustrate that the role of technology in coopetition extends beyond facilitating knowledge exchange and may play a vital role in the strategic development of firms pursuing coopetitive options.

A Design Communication Framework Based on Structured Knowledge Representation

The global manufacturing industry is entering an era of considerable growth and innovation due to radical developments in advanced technologies. Knowledge remains crucial in improving product design, decision making, productivity, and increasing the speed of innovation. Communication is at the heart of knowledge exchange between stakeholders, especially those with different technical and social backgrounds. However, significant barriers exist when sharing product design knowledge due to the lack of available formalized tools and methods. In this article, to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration among stakeholders during product design, a method to systematically improve the understanding of target objects, including the composition of the object, nature of the object, and tools to support its related communication, is proposed. Further, a knowledge representation framework is described which enables parties to clearly understand the characteristics of the object and greatly improve communication efficiency. A case study is presented to validate how the proposed framework provides valuable insights into the improvement of design communication and contributes to global manufacturing development.