Knowledge Development Process Research Articles

Rethinking the theory-practice divide: How academia-industry collaboration contributes to theorising

While the literature on academia-industry collaboration highlights the challenges linked to the theory-practice divide, it only partially addresses the heterogeneous nature of the knowledge produced and the scope of the theorising process. Based on an exemplary case, this paper suggests that academia-industry collaboration is a useful but insufficient platform for academic and managerial theorising. Its key contributions include: 1) a model depicting a total knowledge development process enlarging the scope of collective theorising beyond the dyad and the co-production of knowledge resources; 2) envisioning this collaboration as a relationship with evolving roles and interaction patterns; and 3) shedding new light on the theory-practice divide and the idea of knowledge relevance.

Making sustainability transitions research policy-relevant: Challenges at the science-policy interface

In this Policy brief, we provide an overview of a recently published report by the European Environment Agency: ‘Sustainability transitions: policy and practice’, which we co-authored. We discuss the report’s context and rationale, namely as part of a knowledge brokering process initiated at the EEA since 2015 and intended to explore the practical implications of transitions research for policy. We outline the report’s 10 key messages, which concern core processes, stages and change mechanisms, key cross-cutting themes, and governance-related challenges for steering transition processes. We also reflect on the report’s findings and the broader knowledge development process, identifying a number of topics the transitions community could further investigate, and highlighting challenges and opportunities for science-policy interactions.

Constructive and negative aspects of social capital in work-related learning networks

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss empirical findings from a study that investigated the work practices within an education network, with the aim of understanding the processes of knowledge development and learning process.Design/methodology/approachThe research is interpretatively positioned through a qualitative case study methodology. This enabled a holistic portrait of the network activity using three different methods of data collection. These were a preliminary focus group, followed by documentary analysis of a significant number of artefacts/documents produced by the network which were triangulated with data from interviews using a cross-case analytical framework.FindingsEmpirical insights are provided into the practice of the network through a lens of social capital. It suggests that having a strong bonding social capital is an informal learning factor which develops the individual participants “skills and knowledge” within the framework of Boyers scholarly practice. The findings also indicate a “dark side” to this informal learning factor which impeded collective learning through exclusivity and a maintenance of the status quo within the network.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.Practical implicationsThe paper considers social capital within a network and the implication that this has on learning and development.Originality/valueThis paper provides insight into informal learning factors employed within work-related learning and the duality of social capital. It also offers a novel approach in understanding how nurse academics frame work-related learning through scholarly practice.

Building knowledge economies in Africa: an introduction

ABSTRACTKnowledge has emerged as a fundamental driver of economic growth and development by inter alia improving the effectiveness and efficiency of economic projects and boosting the process of finding new avenues of addressing developmental policy syndromes. Recent evidence suggests that Africa is on the threshold of significant and sustainable economic growth if its human and material resources can be effectively mobilised to support the process (Asongu & Tchamyou, 2019; Kuada & Mensah, 2018). Consequently, the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Framework aims to explore and support the extent to which current policies in African countries affect the knowledge development process (and thereby competitiveness) on the continent. A knowledge economy is an economy in which economic prosperity largely depends on the accessibility, quality and quantity of information available, instead of the means of production (Asongu, 2017a, 2017b). This themed issue of Contemporary Social Science-‘Building Knowledge Economies in Africa’ – consists of papers that focus on, but are not limited to, the four dimensions of the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index. These are: information and communication technology, education, economic incentives and institutional regime, and innovation (Tchamyou, 2017). The themed issue engages with high quality contributions which, taken together, address the drivers towards knowledge-based economies. This introduction provides a context for understanding the importance of building knowledge economies in Africa and summarises the main contributions to the themed issue. The paper ends by advising scholars and policy makers regarding the risks associated with a colonial view of knowledge- notably the importance of proposing knowledge-based policies while avoiding hegemonic paradigms and hierarchical constructs. In summary, the issue consists of a set of theoretically informed, empirically robust, policy-relevant and accessible articles for both specialists and non-specialists.

Integration of quality tools and multi-criteria methods: a bibliometric and systemic analysis

Abstract: This study aims to identify the integration between quality tools and multi-criteria methods, using a bibliometric and systemic analysis. In order to meet this research objective, the methodology used to select the bibliographic portfolio, perform the bibliometric and systemic analysis was the ProKnow-C (Knowledge Development Process – Constructivist). As result were selected 17 articles that represented the bibliographic portfolio and 351 articles as reference for the bibliographic portfolio. The results highlight the journals: Expert Systems with Applications e Applied Soft Computing Journal. The most aligned articles with the theme were, “Supplier selection paradigm: An integrated hierarchical QFD methodology under multiple-criteria environment”, and “Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process”. In the systemic analysis were considered six lenses, according to the theoretical affiliation MCDA-C, and was concluded that the articles were not totally aligned with this specific affiliation. The AHP and TOPSIS methods stood out as the most used methods in this portfolio. It was verified that the quality tools when used integrated with multi-criteria methods allow the creation of decision making evaluation models for scenarios present in the papers found in this research.

Профессионально ориентированное обучение иностранному языку студентов-стоматологов на билингвальной основе с использованием теледискуссии

Competency-based approach prevailing in higher schools requires the use of linguodidactic techniques that allow integrating the study of a foreign language into the process of professional knowledge and skills development. We consider the bilingual aspect of professionally oriented foreign language teaching of future physicians, which is the foothold of language education for non-linguistic training programmes. The aim of the study is to combine these two factors into one methodic strategy that takes into account the peculiarities of teaching students 31.05.03 “Dentistry” programme. We substantiate the passage of duplicate, additive and parity stages of artificial bilingualism of future specialists with the simultaneous development of knowledge in Russian and English and focusing on the components of language competencies necessary for students in this programme. We propose the use of television discussion in its two forms: asynchronous written in the form of a blog and synchronous oral in the form of tandem. Each of them is analyzed, broken down into organizational stages and adjusted to the conditions of teaching dentist students. The stages of training future physician using television discussion are described.

Model of Self-organizing Knowledge Representation and Organizational Knowledge Transformation

The purpose of the paper is development of a conceptual model for the representation of knowledge as an active intellectual substance and, on this basis, study of metaphysics of knowledge transformation process being produced both individually and collectively in the practice of organizations. The first principle of knowledge engineering, as Edward Albert Feigenbaum noted, says that the power in solving problems that an intellectual subject (person or machine) manifests in the process of activity depends primarily on its knowledge base, and only secondly on the methods of inference used. Strength is hidden in knowledge. The process of producing knowledge is permanent and does not depend on whether an individual is going to use this knowledge or not. Knowledge constantly produces new knowledge regardless of the owner's desire. Besides that, knowledge can’t arise from nothing, but always – from some knowledge obtained earlier. As well as the intelligence, knowledge is an emergent instance arising from the collective interaction of a lot of intellectual atomic elements of knowledge (knowledge quanta). Idiosyncrasy of this interaction is expressed precisely in the creation of new knowledge. Due to postulating the knowledge self-organizing, the hierarchical knowledge structures in memory and the process of thinking as a kind of syntax for the procedure of new knowledge generation are described. This is an effort towards understanding the memory mechanisms, the process of thinking, the sources of heuristic knowledge just through the inner nature of knowledge. Also, based on the knowledge self-organization principle, an archetype of the appropriate knowledge-based system architecture is presented too. As an implementation of the concept, the perceptual act model is described, and on its base, a possible scenario for the behavior of a robot meeting an obstacle in its path is considered. As the mutual transformation of tacit and explicit knowledge makes new knowledge, the impact of the self-organization of knowledge on the transformation process as well as conditions of self-organization of both individual knowledge and organizational knowledge are analyzed in detail. Finally, modification of the known model of knowledge dimensions by Nonaka and Takeuchi is proposed. Because of the native activity of knowledge, it is impossible to build a knowledge management system without considering the internal structure of knowledge and its emergent ability to self-organize. Ensuring the natural process of knowledge development at all ontological levels in an organization is an essential prerequisite for the evolution of values in this organization.

Building Knowledge Economies in Africa: An Introduction

Knowledge has emerged as a fundamental driver of economic growth and development by inter alia improving the effectiveness and efficiency of economic projects and boosting the process of finding new avenues of addressing developmental policy syndromes. Recent evidence suggests that Africa is on the threshold of significant and sustainable economic growth if its human and material resources can be effectively mobilised to support the process (Kuada & Mensah, 2017; Asongu & Tchamyou, 2019). Consequently, the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Framework aims to explore and support the extent to which current policies in African countries affect the knowledge development process (and thereby competitiveness) on the continent. A knowledge economy is an economy in which economic prosperity largely depends on the accessibility, quality and quantity of information available, instead of the means of production (Asongu, 2017a, 2017b). This themed issue of Contemporary Social Science-‘Building Knowledge Economies in Africa’ - consists of papers that focus on, but are not limited to, the four dimensions of the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index. These are: information and communication technology, education, economic incentives and institutional regime, and innovation (Tchamyou, 2017). The themed issue engages with high quality contributions which, taken together, address the drivers towards knowledge-based economies. This introduction provides a context for understanding the importance of building knowledge economies in Africa and summarises the main contributions to the themed issue. The paper ends by advising scholars and policy makers regarding the risks associated with a colonial view of knowledge- notably the importance of proposing knowledge-based policies while avoiding hegemonic paradigms and hierarchical constructs. In summary, the issue consists of a set of theoretically informed, empirically robust, policy-relevant and accessible articles for both specialists and non-specialists.

Analysis The Effect of Total Quality Management, Technology, and Knowledge Management on Product Quality in Indonesia Construction Industry

The construction industry is being faced with rapid development with a high level of competition. In the current global competition, construction companies must be able to compete in order to meet customer demand and satisfaction. In response to the competition, construction companies must efforts to develop products and services. In the development process knowledge management has a role in improving quality. In addition, the use of technology and the implementation of total quality management through knowledge management can improve quality. Quality is the main factor in order to develop products and services to encourage sustainable achievement. This research aims to analyze the factors that influence technology, implementation of total quality management, and knowledge management on the product construction quality in Indonesia. The data used in this research are primary data. The factor identification process is carried out by distributing questionnaires to contractors which involved in the construction industry in Indonesia as respondents. Furthermore, the data obtained were analyzed using the relative importance index ( RII) to obtain a sequence of factors that influence. Then the influencing factors analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM) with SPSS statistical software. This research expected to resulting models of factors that influence technology, implementation of total quality management, and knowledge management on product construction quality in Indonesia

Challenges Associated with the Implementation of Knowledge Management in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

This study examined the challenges associated with knowledge management implementation and academic staff retention in selected tertiary institutions in South East, Nigeria. The research design adopted was a cross-sectional survey design. The main instrument used for data collection was questionnaire. The population consisted of 7,423 academic staff of the 10 randomly selected institutions in the South East Nigeria. A total sample size of 555 was drawn from the population. The instrument was checked for reliability using Cronbach method and the reliability co-efficient result of 0.915 showed that the instrument had high degree of item reliability. The hypothesis formulated was tested using Friedman chi-square statistics. The findings indicate that there is positive significant challenge in knowledge management implementation and academic staff retention in selected tertiary institution. The study concluded that lack of Knowledge Management implementation has posed a great challenge in academic staff retention in tertiary institutions. It was advised that tertiary institutions in Nigeria should adequately manage the process of knowledge acquisition, sharing and development so as to enjoy a Stella performance

Fostering Effective Asthma Self-Management Transfer in High-Risk Children: Gaps and Opportunities for Family Engagement.

The process of self-management knowledge, behavior, and skill development in children with asthma from families with low income is understudied. Fifteen mothers of children with uncontrolled asthma participated in semistructured interviews exploring the transfer of asthma self-management responsibilities from parent to child. Team members performed thematic analysis of written transcripts. All participants were all the biological mothers and were impoverished, with most (73%) reporting an annual family income of less than $30,000. Their children ranged from 5 to 15 years old, were African American (100%), and had uncontrolled asthma based on national guidelines. Themes showed that child asthma self-management is difficult to achieve, that the transfer of asthma responsibility from mother to child is variable, and that mothers overestimate their child's developmental capacities for independent asthma self-management and have poor understanding of what well-controlled asthma means. Ongoing assessment and tailored guidance from health care providers are critical to support the pivotal role of mothers in their child's self-management development process.

Requirements Engineering in the New Product Development Process: A Structured Literature Review

The New Product Development Process (NDP) is noticed as a critical factor to maintain the competitiveness in organizations. New products allow us to focus on taking a competitive position. Also, the first and most important reason for any new product development is to provide new value to the customer. In this sense, the Requirements Engineering (RE) approach plays a vital role within the New Product Development Process (NDP) lifecycle, once the product performance and its acceptability on the market depend on how RE is integrated into the product development. In this way, this paper aims to identify the proposed solutions and trends regarding RE, through a literature review based on studies produced in the last five years. Hence, the existing gaps in the literature about this theme are presented and analyzed. In order to achieve these objectives, the present study was based on ProKnow-C process (Knowledge Development Process — Constructivist).

Machine Learning and Process Mining applied to Process Optimization: Bibliometric and Systemic Analysis

The highly competitive business environment has been increasing with the advent of Industry 4.0, since the fast-changing market requirements need rapid decision-making to improve productivity. Hence, the smart factory has been highlighted as a digitized and connected production facility, which can use and combine data analytics and artificial intelligence algorithms and techniques to manage and eliminate failures in advance by accurate prediction. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify the unfilled gaps and the opportunities regarding machine learning and process mining applied to process optimization, through a literature review based on the last five years of study. In order to accomplish these goals, the current study was based on the Knowledge Development Process – Constructivist (ProKnow-C) methodology. Firstly, a bibliographic portfolio was created through Articles Selection and Filters Application. This found that, from 3562 published articles across five databases between 2014 and 2018, only 32 articles relating to the topic were relevant. Secondly, the bibliometric analysis allowed the interpretation and the evaluation of the bibliographic portfolio regarding its impact factor, the scientific recognition of the articles, the publishing year and the highlighted authors. Thirdly, the systemic analysis carried out thorough reading of all selected articles to identify the main researched problems, the proposed goals and resources, the unfilled gaps and the opportunities.

Developing knowledge on Digital Manufacturing to Digital Twin: a bibliometric and systemic analysis

Always looking for innovation and prominence in the labor market, companies from different areas are always aiming to improve issues of development and monitoring of production. Virtualization of existing resources is being widely discussed and solicited by companies as a whole, involving both design and manufacturing sectors. The choice to emphasize the application of Digital Twin is due to the fact that it is a digital replica, a virtual version of a system, helping companies to develop, improve and evaluate their products, optimizing the process, improving production, reducing costs and helping the improvement of the final product. This article presents a bibliometric analysis of the subjects related to Digital Manufacturing, focusing on the application of Digital Twin and also researches involving systems monitoring with the transfer of information in real time. For the construction of knowledge, the realization of this research was chosen using the ProKnow-C method (Knowledge Development Process) assisting the author in the theoretical basis of the subject in question. The development of this method consists of the first moment in the selection of the articles to form a bibliographic portfolio, searching for publications by keywords relevant to the research; later the bibliographic analysis of these articles found in databases respected, quantitatively evaluating those of greater relevance, as well as recurrent authors and periodicals, focused on the subject; in a third moment the practice of a systematic analysis of this portfolio is important, raising more recurring problems, possible proposed solutions and existing gaps in this area so that; in the end it is possible to define the research question as well as the general and specific objectives forming the knowledge base on the topic addressed. This article presents a survey on the subject in question, demonstrating research involving real-time monitoring with the use of sensors and actuators, as well as emphasizing in Industry 4.0 with Internet of Things (IoT) mechanism and cyber-physical systems. Works seeking the improvement of these systems, as well as the use of data analytics to improve the virtual model generated by Digital Twin, show a great tendency for future research.

Relationship Development: A Micro-Foundation for the Internationalization Process of the Multinational Business Enterprise

The interplay between knowledge development and commitments is the driving force in the Uppsala internationalization process model. We perform a qualitative thematic analysis of longitudinal data, exploring how relationship knowledge development in supplier-customer relationships leads to commitments through opportunity identification. The results validate our claim that relationship knowledge development as a dynamic capability can influence the focal organization’s ability to over time, under changing needs and contexts, harness operational capabilities that lead to at least satisfactory performance. Judging from results, the relationship knowledge development process produces a change in commitments, thereby constituting a critical micro-foundation for the internationalization and evolution process as explained in the Uppsala model.

Bibliometric and Systemic Analysis on Material Flow Mapping and Industrial Ecosystems

Global instability can be seen as a reflection of the increasing demand for natural resources and the reduction of personnel expenditures. Yet, this is often associated with industrial systems, whose main objectives are to increase productive capacity and reduce costs. This scenario identifies the need for changes in strategy establishment in the organization’s operation mode focusing on sustainable development. Industrial ecosystems, through the symbiotic relationship of industries, aim to achieve sustainability goals. Material flow mapping is essential for the construction of these industrial ecosystems. Hence, the present paper carries out a structured literature review process in order to identify the state of the art and the research opportunities on material flow mapping and industrial ecosystems. For the accomplishment of this research, the methodological procedure called Knowledge Development Process — Constructivist (ProKnow-C) was adopted. The bibliographic portfolio is represented by 35 articles of the research theme. Throughout the bibliometric analysis, a statistical analysis of the articles that compose the portfolio is presented. In the systemic analysis, the main research problems, the means of solving them and the detected opportunities about this research theme are identified. Finally, conclusions and recommendations for future research are presented.

The father’s role in supporting the son’s business knowledge development process in Vietnamese family businesses

PurposeMany family businesses do not survive into the second generation. A common reason put forward for this is poor succession planning for the second generation. This paper is designed with the aim to explore the role of the father in supporting the son’s business knowledge and development in Vietnamese family businesses.Design/methodology/approachThis research adopted an inductive qualitative approach using multiple face-to-face semi-structured interviews with five father–son succession pairs. The interview participants were a cross section of Vietnamese family businesses, where the father–son pair was involved in the process of business knowledge transfer and the succession process was at an advanced stage.FindingsThe results suggest that the father plays different roles at different stages of the son’s business knowledge development process. In particular, the father acts as an example during the son’s childhood; a supporter to encourage the son to gain more business knowledge from both formal education and working experience outside the family business; a mentor and trouble-shooter after the son joins the family business as a full-time employee; and as an advisor after the son becomes the leader of the firm.Originality/valueMost Vietnamese family businesses are still operating under the control of the first generation, and as a result, research into the succession process in Vietnam can help to provide valuable insights. Furthermore, existing research into the role of the predecessor in the whole process from the successor’s childhood until the end of the succession process is ambiguous and requires further research to clarify this research gap.

Service Dominant Logic, Open Innovation Intermediaries and Innovative Capacities: Towards a Theoretical Framework

This work stresses the centrality of the Service-Dominant Logic (S-D logic) point of view and the relationships between firm and Open Innovation Intermediary in the knowledge development process providing a conceptual framework. From an in-depth literature review on S-D logic, Open Innovation Intermediaries and firm dynamic capabilities, a development of a conceptual framework based on these research areas is provided. The framework is intended to highlight the role of customers (firms) into professional relationships with intermediaries of innovation becomes progressively significant in the innovation activities because these professional relationships increasingly become co-creators of value. Within their advanced platforms, intermediaries or brokers, encourage, promote and sustain interactions and partnerships aligned to value co-creation enterprises. This is achieved by providing a heterogeneous set of services to augment dynamic cooperation, to advance concepts or solutions for solving interdisciplinary problems and, consequently, to address an organization’s requirements for new market opportunities. Therefore, these partnerships represent a possible way to define and to improve the value cocreation actions by firms that intend to engage and to cooperate with adjunctive and integrative resources and expertise. In addition, the framework has been designed to highlight a particular domain centered on the role of each S-D Logic axioms within the innovation capabilities; and the relationship and orientation between organisation and innovation intermediary. The main findings highlight that both firms and Open Innovation Intermediaries need to develop innovative capabilities through direct and indirect relationships within the S-D logic perspective. This study is an effort towards building a conceptual framework by connecting the concepts of Open Innovation Intermediaries, dynamic capabilities and S-D logic.

Perspectivas de Pesquisa sobre Avaliação de Desempenho e Gerenciamento de Projetos

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de identificar oportunidades de pesquisa sobre as temáticas de avaliação de desempenho e gerenciamento de projetos. Para isso, foi utilizada a metodologia descrita no processo ProKnow-C (Knowledge Development Process – Constructivist), que permitiu formar um portfólio bibliográfico de 17 artigos relevantes sobre os assuntos escolhidos, demonstrar quantitativamente quais são os de maior destaque, bem como seus autores e periódicos, além de realizar análise sistêmica nesse material para identificar lacunas sobre os temas no meio científico e, assim, instigar a realização de novos trabalhos. O processo de revisão sistêmica foi realizado a partir de lentes (critérios) derivadas da visão de mundo construtivista adotada pelos pesquisadores. Os principais resultados orientam pesquisadores em oportunidades de pesquisa em que a singularidade do contexto e a racionalidade limitada seja levada em conta quando da avaliação de projetos, em contraponto com critérios universais de sucesso em gestão de projetos.

Capitalismo consciente e governança corporativa: construção de conhecimento com base na literatura

The objective of this article is to analyze the basic and advanced characteristics of the international publications related to the cutting of the theme Conscious Capitalism and Corporate Governance, through the tool Knowledge Development Process - Constructivist (ProKnow-C). The basic variables of the Bibliographic Portfolio related to the characterization of the most prolific authors, articles with greater recognition and scientific relevance, and periodicals that disseminate such publications more widely, and the advanced variables that evidence the principles of conscious capitalism based on the author Mackey and Sisodia (2014). It was found that the prominent author was Today Joe as featured journal of Journal of Business Ethics. Through the analysis of the advanced variables, it was observed that none of the articles in the bibliographic portfolio deals specifically with the theory of Conscious Capitalism, however most articles in the portfolio have convergence with theory.