Know-how Exchange Research Articles

MAJOR PLATFORMS OF INTER-BLOC KNOW-HOW EXCHANGE IN THE 1950s AND 1960s IN THE CASE OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Through the case study of Czechoslovakia, this article analyses the main platforms through which projects of economic and scientific-technical cooperation between the two sides of the Iron Curtain were implemented in the 1950s and 1960s. The emphasis is placed on mapping the changes that each platform of East-West cooperation underwent over time and on characterizing the impact that these transformations had on the development of international cooperation. In the first place, the role of conferences and scientific-technical societies is examined. In addition, considerable space is also devoted to the rediscovery of the long-overlooked international fairs and inter-company visits that allowed face-to-face contact between experts in the environment of industrial plants and laboratories. The analysis of the role and development of the various platforms of inter-bloc cooperation draws heavily on the archives of Czechoslovak industrial ministries. In addition, the testimonies of individual scientists and experts who participated in international cooperation projects in the 1950s and 1960s provide important support for the article. Although the emphasis of the analysis is on the case study of the Czechoslovak economy, its connection to other member states of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance requires that the Czechoslovak experience be placed in the broader framework of the pan-socialist milieu.

Creating Actionable and Insightful Knowledge Applying Graph-Centrality Metrics to Measure Project Collaborative Performance

Tools and techniques supported by math and statistics are often used by organizations to measure performance. These usually measure an employees’ traits and states performance. However, the third type of data usually neglected by organizations, known as relational data, can provide unique and actionable insights regarding the root causes of individual and collective performance. Relational data are best captured through the application of graph-based theory due to its ability to be easily understood and quantitatively measured, while mirroring how employees interact between them as they perform work-related tasks or activities. In this work, we propose a set of graph-based centrality metrics to measure relational data in projects by analyzing the five most voted relational dimensions ((1) communication, (2) internal and external collaboration, (3) know-how exchange and informal power, (4) team-set variability, and (5) teamwork performance), in a survey conducted to 700 international project stakeholders in eight business sectors. The aim of this research is to tackle two issues in projects: First, to understand in a quantitative way how the project’s relational data may correlate with project outputs and outcomes, and second, to create unique and actionable knowledge to help mitigate the increasing project failure rates. A case study illustrates the step-by-step application of the developed graph-based metrics as well as its benefits and limitations.

Relationship between Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness and Motivation Opportunity Ability Theory in Online Gamers Know-How Exchange

Business needs to take advantage of Indonesian online gamers who are using online community to communicate and interact, when gamers share their reviews of game, for example, or when they post reviews of their purchases of virtual goods from online games. Using online community, gamers can do the trading with other members. The key is to share their experience with online games throughout the gamer’s journey.Players play an important role in the game market and have unique characteristics that respond differently to technology acceptance. In addition, a comprehensive review of the relevant literature on motivation for using Online Gamers Know-How Exchange shows that players are looking for recommendations from friends about the games they are interested in, through the social networking community and especially from their own communities.This paper analyzed the phenomenon of game-related industry involving motivation, opportunity, abilty and technology acceptance model in which organizations effectively raise the communication and know how above the gamers.Gamers from online community game taken as sample in Bandung City, West Java, Indonesia.Result shown that the two PEOU and PU were positively related to Online Gamers Know-How Exchange.

Discovery of novel biologically active secondary metabolites from Thai mycodiversity with anti-infective potential

• A project funded via the EU-H2020 MSCA-RISE was carried out from 2014 to 2018. • Partners from Germany, the Netherlands and Thailand were involved. • Numerous new fungal species and secondary metabolites were discovered. • Some important studies on Ascomycota phylogeny were also published. • The early stage researchers involved in the staff exchange benefitted very much. This mini-review is dedicated to the summary of results of the EU-funded Project “Golden Mycological Triangle” (acronym GoMyTri), which was carried out in collaboration of three research infrastructures in Germany, the Netherlands and Thailand during the years 2014–2018. The cooperation explored the mycological and microbiological biodiversity of Europe and Southeast Asia with regard to the search for the badly needed new antibiotics and other biologically active secondary metabolites. The project was conducted to foster international collaboration networks, know-how exchange and interdisciplinary training of young scientists. The first two years of the project were mainly dedicated to field work, and several hundreds of fungal cultures have been isolated from material mostly collected in Thailand. These fungal strains were characterized by morphological and molecular phylogenetic methods and several new taxa were discovered. The cultures underwent screening for antimicrobial and nematicidal metabolites and a number of bioactive metabolites have already been found, isolated and characterized. Several large phylogenetic studies have already been published that resulted from the project work. The results were also brought to the attention of the scientific community as well as the general public through various dissemination events. Based on the tremendous success of this project, a follow-up project application including additional partners from Africa and further European countries has recently been filed and approved, and the international, interdisciplinary collaboration will now continue in the new RISE-MSCA-Project (acronym “Mycobiomics” 2 2 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101008129 ).

Chemical Characterisation of Construction and Demolition Waste in Skopje City and Its Surroundings (Republic of Macedonia)

In the Republic of Macedonia, construction and demolition (C&D) waste is often dumped, underestimating the potential recycling and re-use as raw materials for civil engineering works and/or cement/ceramic industries. SAMCODE (Sustainable Approach to Managing Construction and Demolition Waste) is a know-how exchange program, the focus of which is chemical characterisation in terms of major and trace elements in order to evaluate the possible Macedonian C&D waste recycling. Thirty-nine C&D waste samples were collected from different dumps in Skopje and surroundings. X-ray fluorescence analyses, carried out on powdered samples, show i) highly variable concentrations, indicative of the heterogenous nature of C&D waste, and ii) high concentration in Cr, Ni, and Zn with respect to Italian, Chinese, and Dutch tolerance limits, probably due to the presence of these elements in ophiolitic rocks and sulphide-bearing deposits, used as raw material in building activity. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analyses of leachates, performed to assess the mobility of heavy metals, show significant concentrations of Cr, and to a lesser extent, Ni. Results suggest that homogenisation processes of the recycled materials should be implemented and preliminary screening of C&D waste should be performed to eliminate heavy metals-bearing components.

The Influences of Motivation, Opportunity and Ability on Customer to Customer Online Know-How Exchange and Social Identity as a moderator in Indonesian Z Generation

This study examines the influences of motivation, opportunity, and ability on customer to customer online know-how exchange and social identity as a moderator in Indonesian Z generation. This study focuses on the behavior of Indonesian Z generation. The study is designed to be quantitative in nature. The causal relationship between variables will be investigated via an online questionnaire that will be distributed to Indonesian Z generation.

Customer-customer interactions (CCIs) at conferences: An identity approach

The dynamic of modern events reflects an increased focus on staging unique and compelling experiences for event attendees. Considering the centrality of customer-customer interactions (CCIs) in conferences, conference experience is greatly driven by attendees' engagement in CCIs. Anchored in social psychology, organizational behavior, and marketing/branding literature, this study adopts the Self-Concept and Social Identity Theory (SIT) as its theoretical bedrock to investigate the underlying mechanism through which CCIs influence attendees' experiences at association conferences. Data was collected from 821 former association conference attendees. SEM results suggest a mediating model, which illustrates that attendees' experience of know-how exchange and social-emotional support during CCIs significantly influences their group-based self-esteem and transcendent conference experiences, while the social-emotional support plays a more significant role. Such relationships are further found to be partially mediated by one's identification with the conference group. Findings yield both theoretical contributions and managerial implications.

The Effect of Motivation, Opportunity, Ability and Social Identity Towards Customer-to-Customer Online Know-How Exchange

Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) theory and Social Identity (SI) theory have been used separately as theories that predict the customer-to-customer online know-how exchange (C2C) or e-WOM behavior. By integrating both theories in one framework, this study investigates whether motivation, opportunity, ability and social identity (MOASI) act as predictor for customer-to-customer online to know how to exchange (C2C). Analyzed data from an online survey on 355 batik online community members of a BlackBerry Messenger Group using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that only MOA fits very well as a predictor of C2C. In addition, ability is found to be the highest influencer on C2C followed by motivation, opportunity and social identity. The findings imply the importance of MOA as important predictors to a C2C behavior which should not be avoided by the Indonesian batik fashion industry e-retailers when they develop specific marketing strategies and tactics to sell their products through C2C.

Innovative Tools Used by Business Networks and Clusters in Communication

Industrial networks and clusters have proven to be driving forces for fueling businesses with innovations, advanced research and for accelerating the entry of products and services into the market. The most important successful factors for their development are intensive collaboration, spread at global level and sustainable innovation. In this context, technology will play the most important role in enhancing these aspects. Consequently, the communications tools will transform the way of managing and organizing the entire activities inside groups of companies/institutions. The main goal of this paper is to explore how the communication process in networks and clusters can be improved and innovated based on an analysis of different examples of tools developed and implemented in the case of a cluster initiative in life sciences. This case study reveals different approaches of social media tools used for networking propose which can be adopted by other networks and clusters interested in innovation and know-how exchange.

The role of social motivations, ability, and opportunity in online know-how exchanges: evidence from the airline services industry

The purpose of this paper is to identify individual and social drivers of electronic consumer-to-consumer (eC2C) know-how exchanges and their impact on consumer purchase intentions and electronic word of mouth (eWOM). We integrate the influence of information processing, analyzed through motivation opportunity and ability, and social motivations toward interaction with other consumers in social networking sites. We analyze a sample of 507 Spanish e-shoppers of airline travel services that are active users of social networking travel sites. Findings show that social motivations—altruism, extroversion, and community identification—directly influence overall motivation to eC2C know-how exchange. Overall motivation and ability exert a positive influence on eC2C know-how exchanges and, indirectly, on purchase intentions and eWOM. Finally, eC2C know-how exchanges improve consumer purchase intentions and eWOM.

Trust categories and their impacts on information exchange processes in vertical collaborative networked organisations

Whereas small and medium enterprises can answer the different business challenges through cooperation within collaborative networked organisations (CNOs), human aspects constitute a fundamental issue in these networks since it is neither organisations nor information systems but people that cooperate. This paper addresses the major human aspect considered in vertical CNOs, namely trust that can significantly impact knowledge and know-how exchange as well as information sharing. A case study on Swiss Microtech, a vertical collaborative network from the industry of machining operations, is presented and discussed with respect to these issues. With the help of an analytic hierarchy process technique designed and developed, different trust types are identified, their corresponding weights are evaluated and their relationships with information sharing and exchange are discussed. The results show that the institutional perceptions of trust and its attributes in the enterprises studied are very close to each other. Furthermore, out of the five identified types, only competence, relational and contractual trust categories have a significant impact on strengthening the relationships between enterprises belonging to a vertical CNO.

Trust Categories and Their Impacts on Information Exchange Processes in Vertical Collaborative Networked Organisations

Whereas small and medium enterprises can answer the different business challenges through cooperation within collaborative networked organisations (CNOs), human aspects constitute a fundamental issue in these networks since it is neither organisations nor information systems but people that cooperate. This paper addresses the major human aspect considered in vertical CNOs, namely trust that can significantly impact knowledge and know-how exchange as well as information sharing. A case study on Swiss Microtech, a vertical collaborative network from the industry of machining operations, is presented and discussed with respect to these issues. With the help of an analytic hierarchy process technique designed and developed, different trust types are identified, their corresponding weights are evaluated and their relationships with information sharing and exchange are discussed. The results show that the institutional perceptions of trust and its attributes in the enterprises studied are very close to each other. Furthermore, out of the five identified types, only competence, relational and contractual trust categories have a significant impact on strengthening the relationships between enterprises belonging to a vertical CNO.

Innovation in Environment-Oriented Networks: Influence Factors from Case Study and Survey Research

The purpose of this paper is to outline and analyze the influence of environment-oriented cooperation on innovations as the important factor for sustainable development. The research question is how could environment-oriented cooperation contribute to innovations in enterprises? The paper explains the contribution of environment-oriented cooperation to realize innovations by identification of the innovation-relevant cooperation factors such as: heterogeneous constellation of the cooperation partners; specialist know-how exchange; coordination; and importance of industry orientation. These factors are also necessary for the implementation of sustainability-oriented innovation practices in a wider (economical, ecological and social) understanding. The paper shows that an environment-oriented cooperation with different actors – which is coordinated by experts and concentrated on industry specific as well as oriented on the interests of all actors – can definitely help to realize potentials of innovation.

Annual Insight into Blade Mechanics in the Foothills of the Swiss Alps

This article presents an overview of the Blade Mechanics Seminar hosted annually in Winterthur by Zurich University of Applied Sciences. This seminar is co-organized by the Swiss Section of the ASME and focuses on the common need for knowledge base analyses. It offers a platform for know-how and experience exchange between engineers from various turbomachinery companies. The Blade Mechanics Seminar aims to answer the participants' needs that arise in their daily work regarding axial and radial bladed discs of aero-engines and industrial turbines. A one-hour keynote speech given by an expert from the industry opens the one-day seminar that also includes a few presentations followed by comprehensive discussions on the understanding of the presented problems and their solutions. As a discussion forum, this seminar highlights many dimensions of the state of the technology and methodology applied to blade analysis. In 2010, non-destructive testing of component properties was demonstrated at Alstom's booth, providing practical experience for finite element analysts.

Escritura, Comunicación Científica y Acceso Abierto: un Proyecto Internacional y Multidisciplinario-NECOBELAC

A collaboration network involving 6 countries in Europe, Latin-America and the Caribbean has embarked on a project (Network of Collaboration Between Europe and Latin American Caribbean Countries-NECOBELAC; www.necobelac.eu) aimed at improving scientific writing open access and scholarly communication to spread know-how regarding current and future issues and information related to health. The NECOBELAC project is sponsored by the European Community (7th Framework Programme) and will last for 3 years. The project recognises the challenge arising from socio-cultural differences between the participating countries and will deal with generating networks involving institutions working in close collaboration for carrying out training and know-how exchange programmes aimed at producing open access information and spreading it (including technical and ethical aspects). The NECOBELAC project currently involves the Istituto Superiore di Sanità - ISS from Italy (coordinating the project), the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) from Spain, the University of Nottingham (SHERPA) from the United Kingdom, BIREME from Brazil, the Instituto de Salud Pública (ISP) from Colombia and the Universidade de Minho from Portugal.

A paradigm of an integrated transboundary environmental education, training, and technology transfer project

The Rodopi mountain range is located between Greece and Bulgaria and constitutes a natural and political boundary whose crest delimits the frontier between the two countries. However, these two neighboring countries have significant differences: Greece is one of the oldest members of the European Union (EU) while Bulgaria has just recently entered the European family. As a result, the existing financial and political differences between the two nations are also reflected in issues concerning the environmental know-how, education, and training, since Greece seems to have a small lead in these fields. On the other hand, given that Bulgaria possesses exceptional scientific personnel, it has made significant progress in all aspects of environmental policy during the last decade by absorbing up-to-date knowledge and putting it into practice; thus, catching up with the other EU countries in environmental issues is just a matter of time. Taking these factors into account, the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management of the Technological Educational Institute of Kavala (Greece) and the Department of Geography-Ecology and Natural History (Bulgaria) prepared a joint proposal which was approved and financed by the European Union Initiative ΙNTERREG IIIΑ/PHARE CBC GREECE-BULGARIA. The proposal concerns the Rodopi mountains and focuses on integrated environmental education, technology exchange, and transfer between the two institutions. The Rodopi complex constitutes a very important ecosystem of particular ecological and biological interest for both countries. This paper reveals the cooperation possibilities on environmental education and know-how exchange with regard to the shared natural resources of these contiguous countries.

EWOM: The impact of customer-to-customer online know-how exchange on customer value and loyalty

This paper investigates the effects of a specific form of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication, customer-to-customer know-how exchange, on customer perceptions of value and customer loyalty intentions. In addition, the paper explores the antecedents of customer-to-customer know-how exchange overlooked in prior research: motivation, opportunity, and ability. The survey results from 616 participants of an online forum suggest that customer know-how exchange impacts customer perceptions of product value and likelihood to recommend the product, but does not influence customer repurchase intentions. Interestingly, opportunity did not impact know-how exchange, whereas motivation and ability did have a significant effect. Implications for managers and future research directions are discussed.

How e-communities extend the concept of exchange in marketing: An application of the motivation, opportunity, ability (MOA) theory

Customer-to-customer (C2C) know-how exchanges occur in a variety of contexts, including virtual environments of Internet mediated communities. Exchange of know-how that takes place among the customers of an organization's offering has the potential to create customer value and result in positive outcomes for organizations. This study proposes a model that examines key factors that drive C2C exchanges as well as the outcomes of these exchanges. The model shows how C2C exchanges create value for the marketing organization – that is, value over and above the value that the customer receives directly through exchanges with the organization. C2C exchanges are also proposed to enhance loyalty intentions. Viewing C2C know-how exchange as an information source to the customer, the model adapts and applies the motivation, opportunity, and ability (MOA) theory to explain levels of C2C know-how exchange.

The baltic environmental information dissemination system: using environmental informatics as a tool for sustainable development in the Baltic Sea region

The on-going economic development of EU-countries as well of the countries in the C&E European region has been leading to a significant use of a great deal of natural resources as well as to noticeable environmental problems. The lack of a wide-spread environmental awareness from the side of those acting in various sectors (industry, public administration, users) sometimes inhibit the implementation of legislation already available as well as the introduction of new technologies deriving, from example, from marine research. An example of this state of affairs is seen in respect of the implementation of the recommendations deriving from Baltic 21 and VASAB 2010, which illustrate the advantages from a cross-sectorial, open mechanism for the dissemination of environmental information in the region. There are various organisations today which act as suppliers of environmental information in the Baltic Sea Region. However, few, if any, are providers concerned with the various ways in which information on matters related to sustainable development is being used by various groups and audiences. This state of affairs makes it necessary to enhance the current mechanisms and approaches in place, so as to enable the wide-range of environmental information available today from areas such as marine research, to be more widely used. It is equally important that the didactic or educational potential of such information be exploited, so as to not only inform, but also to educate various groups and the general public on matters concerned with the environment in European closed seas and give information to planners and politicians to prepare decisions. In order to address such needs, the project "Baltic Environmental Information Dissemination System (BEIDS)" was set in motion. BEIDS has been taking advantage of the most modern information technologies and has been acting as a focal point for the circulation of intelligent information on aspects of the marine environment, but also emphasising related areas such as transport and sustainable development issues, among a sample of six BSR countries: Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden (EU) and Lithuania and Poland (non-EU), contributing to networking and know-how exchange, complementing efforts towards transregional cooperation in sustainable spatial planning on the basis of Baltic 21. The results reached to date include: increased awareness of matters related to sustainable development in the six participant countries; enhanced communication exchange and networking among the sample nations; improved information flow and increased participation in events, activities and programmes across the Baltic Sea Region. BEIDS is a prime example of the feasibility of using environmental informatics as a tool for sustainable development.

Informal networking and industrial life cycles

Modern industrial development processes of new technologies are characterized by an increasing complexity and interdependence of different actors combining different knowledge assets. Thus the necessity of horizontal and vertical knowledge transfer between the actors of innovation processes is enhanced drastically. In this context, where single actors and even single firms are unable to keep pace with technological progress, the access to external knowledge sources via informal know-how exchange networks increasingly gains in importance. In this paper a synergetic modelling framework of the evolution of informal networks is combined with time patterns of the industrial evolution sketched by the theory of industry life cycles. The results show structural developments at least qualitatively according to the predictions of life cycle theory. Most unexpectedly — from a traditional point of view — large informal networks as a potential source of technological spillovers can be observed in a state of the industry life cycle where R&D endeavours of firms are assumed to be already concentrated on exploiting scale economies and process technologies and where intuitively a strategy of keeping new know-how secret would be expected.