Institutional Knowledge Research Articles

Valorization of research results for knowledge and technology transfer in public higher education institutions

Public higher education institutions (universities) in developing countries are making great strides regarding action geared to the valorization of research results oriented toward transferring knowledge and technologies to society and the market. Such valorization implies huge challenges for research staff in these institutions as well as for the body of directors and the whole administrative team. The current research arose from the lack of specialized knowledge on the topic of this particular area of valorization in developing countries such as Colombia. The article delves into the experience of the University of Cauca, located in the southwest Colombian city of Popayan, concerning the valorization of research results aimed at transferring knowledge and technologies from research groups to the business sector and to public organizations. As of 2018, in its research system the university boasted 160 registered research groups. Selected for the study were those with the highest scientific readiness level, featuring important research results from the execution of science, technology and innovation projects backed by external financing and within the last 10 years. Characterization of the research results was carried out based on international references (such as the Technology Readiness Level, TRL) and on the particularities reported in the various results generated by the research groups selected. The case study concludes in putting forward a route for the valorization and transfer of knowledge and technologies associated with results from higher education institution research within the contexts of developing countries and regions with a low-to-non-existent business presence.

A new evolutional model for institutional field knowledge flow network

Abstract Purpose This paper aims to address the limitations in existing research on the evolution of knowledge flow networks by proposing a meso-level institutional field knowledge flow network evolution model (IKM). The purpose is to simulate the construction process of a knowledge flow network using knowledge organizations as units and to investigate its effectiveness in replicating institutional field knowledge flow networks. Design/Methodology/Approach The IKM model enhances the preferential attachment and growth observed in scale-free BA networks, while incorporating three adjustment parameters to simulate the selection of connection targets and the types of nodes involved in the network evolution process Using the PageRank algorithm to calculate the significance of nodes within the knowledge flow network. To compare its performance, the BA and DMS models are also employed for simulating the network. Pearson coefficient analysis is conducted on the simulated networks generated by the IKM, BA and DMS models, as well as on the actual network. Findings The research findings demonstrate that the IKM model outperforms the BA and DMS models in replicating the institutional field knowledge flow network. It provides comprehensive insights into the evolution mechanism of knowledge flow networks in the scientific research realm. The model also exhibits potential applicability to other knowledge networks that involve knowledge organizations as node units. Research Limitations This study has some limitations. Firstly, it primarily focuses on the evolution of knowledge flow networks within the field of physics, neglecting other fields. Additionally, the analysis is based on a specific set of data, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research could address these limitations by exploring knowledge flow networks in diverse fields and utilizing broader datasets. Practical Implications The proposed IKM model offers practical implications for the construction and analysis of knowledge flow networks within institutions. It provides a valuable tool for understanding and managing knowledge exchange between knowledge organizations. The model can aid in optimizing knowledge flow and enhancing collaboration within organizations. Originality/value This research highlights the significance of meso-level studies in understanding knowledge organization and its impact on knowledge flow networks. The IKM model demonstrates its effectiveness in replicating institutional field knowledge flow networks and offers practical implications for knowledge management in institutions. Moreover, the model has the potential to be applied to other knowledge networks, which are formed by knowledge organizations as node units.

Finding climate smart agriculture in civil-society initiatives

International civil society and non-government organisations (NGOs) play a role in implementing agricultural projects, which contribute to the mitigation, adaptation, and food security dimensions of climate-smart agriculture (CSA). Despite the growth of CSA, it remains unclear how CSA is designed, conceptualised, and embedded into agricultural development projects led and implemented by NGOs, creating a lack of clarity as to the direction of future of agricultural development interventions. This paper examines the extent to which development programmes from the NGO sector actively incorporate CSA principles to benefit smallholder farmers under the major pillars of CSA. Drawing from six projects’ documentation since 2009, we conducted a thematic analysis to reveal the alignment of projects with the pillars of CSA and discuss the extent to which CSA allows for localised adaptability given the diverse agricultural contexts in which civil society and NGOs work. We find that despite a lack of clarity in CSA definition and focus, the agricultural practices in the six projects make heterogenous contributions to the adoption of CSA principles. We illustrate the diversity of ways in which CSA is ‘done’ by a global NGO across six areas: greening and forests, practices and knowledge exchange, markets, policy and institutions, nutrition, carbon and climate, and gender. We discuss the need for balance in contextual adaptability across the three pillars of CSA with explicit consideration of trade-offs to reduce unintended outcomes from CSA initiatives. We conclude with reflections on the role of civil society and NGOs as boundary agents in the agricultural development sector.

CREATING A CULTURE OF AI CONFIDENCE: A BLUEPRINT FOR LEADERS

AbstractThe author, Founder and Managing Director of Mythos Group, discusses artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of how leaders must act regarding the expectations, fears, and anxieties expressed now and in the future by their employees. He claims that AI “is not a replacement for employees,” but rather “a way of augmenting your existing workforce, improving their ability to leverage information and increasing their efficiency.” He further describes AI and machine learning algorithms, and puts these concepts into context for the world of organizations. He discusses various challenges, under headings such as perception, confidence, and garbage in/garbage out. He follows with opportunities, grouped under decision‐making and efficiency, along with tactics and a look into the future. These ideas are bolstered by four sidebars: Key Questions For Leaders To Answer In Addressing Employee Perceptions Of AI, Key Questions To Answer About Data Protection And Use, Practical Approaches To Building A Culture Of AI Understanding, and Pragmatic Approaches To AI Integration. His conclusion states that “organizations will need to draw on expert advice that simultaneously considers the strengths of their teams and finding opportunities for AI to make the best use of their expertise and institutional knowledge.”

"Pills Don't Teach Skills": ADHD Coaching, Identity Work, and the Push toward the Liminal Medicalization of ADHD.

Despite physicians' near monopoly over medicalization historically, various stakeholder groups shape an increasingly complex process today. This study examines a relatively new initiative, "health coaching," within the context of the changing nature of medicalization. Utilizing 51 in-depth interviews with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) coaches, participant observation from seven ADHD symposia, and ADHD coach publications, I examine coaching's emergence as a partial challenge to medicalization. Findings reveal a field comprised mainly of individuals personally affected by ADHD whose dissatisfaction with institutionalized framings and practices underpins a push for liminal medicalization. Members move between medical and nonmedical discourses to frame ADHD as a paradox of pathology and gift. Additionally, they leverage and commodify personal experience alongside institutional and alternative knowledge into an adjunct or substitute to medication and potential challenge to therapy-one aimed at "self-actualization" versus "treatment." Such efforts highlight (de)medicalization's dimensionality, simultaneous medicalization and demedicalization, and a lay-driven enterprise's role in such processes.

Perspectives and awareness of endoscopy healthcare professionals on sustainable practices in gastrointestinal endoscopy: results of the LEAFGREEN survey.

Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy is one of healthcare's main contributors to climate change. We aimed to assess healthcare professionals' attitudes and the perceived barriers to implementation of sustainable GI endoscopy. The LEAFGREEN web-based survey was a cross-sectional study conducted by the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Green Endoscopy Working Group. The questionnaire comprised 39 questions divided into five sections (respondent demographics; climate change and sustainability beliefs; waste and resource management; single-use endoscopes and accessories; education and research). The survey was available via email to all active members of the ESGE and the European Society of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Nurses and Associates (ESGENA) in March 2023. 407 respondents participated in the survey (11% response rate). Most participants (86%) agreed climate change is real and anthropogenic, but one-third did not consider GI endoscopy to be a significant contributor to climate change. Improvement in the appropriateness of endoscopic procedures (41%) and reduction in single-use accessories (34%) were considered the most important strategies to reduce the environmental impact of GI endoscopy. Respondents deemed lack of institutional support and knowledge from staff to be the main barriers to sustainable endoscopy. Strategies to reduce unnecessary GI endoscopic procedures and comparative studies of single-use versus reusable accessories were identified as research priorities. In this survey, ESGE and ESGENA members acknowledge climate change as a major threat to humanity. Further improvement in sustainability beliefs and professional attitudes, reduction in inappropriate GI endoscopy, and rational use of single-use accessories and endoscopes are critically required.

Understanding tacit knowledge loss in public enterprises of South Africa

Orientation: South African state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are facing a perpetual struggle of institutional tacit knowledge loss, which poses a risk to these entities and threatens their sustainability. The research project endeavoured to tackle these challenges from knowledge management (KM) and human resource management (HRM) perspectives and proposes a plethora of integrated knowledge-driven HRM processes to mitigate risks associated with loss of tacit knowledge.Research purpose: The study provides an integrated understanding of the issues relating to the causes of enterprise tacit knowledge loss and extent to which there is recognition of company knowledge loss in selected SOEs in South Africa.Motivation for the study: There is limited research that provides an integrated approach to tacit knowledge loss from KM and HRM standpoints.Research approach/design and method: The exploratory sequential mixed-methods research design was used in this study. In the qualitative phase of this research, data were collected from the annual reports of the SOEs and unstructured interviews with 20 purposively selected human resource (HR) managers, which was subsequently analysed thematically using ATLAS.ti software. The quantitative data from 145 out of 585 respondents were analysed statistically using Statistical Analysis Software (SAS).Main findings: The study revealed that organisational tacit knowledge loss is largely caused by voluntary and involuntary employee turnover and a lack of retention strategies. This adversely affects the knowledge base and the knowledge absorptive and protective capacities of the SOEs.Practical implications/managerial implications: The study concludes that the journey for ensuring effective knowledge transfer and retention of valuable enterprise knowledge starts with the appreciation of knowledge as a key firm-specific strategic issue.Contribution/value-add: This study offers an integrated understanding of the causes of tacit knowledge loss for effective management in SOEs researched interdependently from KM and HRM perspectives.

RETRACTED: The factors behind block-chain technology that boost the circular economy: An organizational perspective

All authorities are attracted to the circular economy due to the excessive use of industrial production. In this vein, the importance of digitization has gained huge attention. Digital technology, particularly block-chain technology, enlightens a new face of industry and economy that stimulates corporate social action. In this setting, we trying to probe the connection amid block-chain technology and circular economy with help of organization factors, agility, institutional, strategic, and green knowledge management as the moderators. After a series of tests in the Chinese corporate sector, we unfold the theoretical concept of block-chain technology that assists in enhancing circular economy practices at the corporate level. We further pinpoint the importance of major organizational factors such as organizational agility, institutional factors, strategic factors, and green knowledge management that are actually responsible for improved circular economy practices. We importantly unveil the way to strengthen the connection amid block-chain technology and the circular economy, which is possible through the effective role of organizational agility, institutional factors, strategic factors, and green knowledge management. We offers guidance to policy makers for improving circular economy through the implication of block-chain technology. This study clarifies the function of organizational elements for enhancing circular economy and block-chain technology connection.

Conditioning factors for the scientific productivity of undergraduate students of health sciences at a private Peruvian University: A cross-sectional analytical study

Background The objective of this study was to determine the conditioning factors for scientific research productivity in university students of health sciences. Methods A cross-sectional analytical observational study was conducted. The study population was 4104 students enrolled during the 2021-I semester in the Faculty of Health Sciences of a private Peruvian university. A sample size of 400 students was determined and a stratified probability sampling was used. The variables were measured through surveys. The dependent variable was scientific research productivity, and the independent variables were institutional culture, knowledge management and technological capital. Summary measures are reported according to the type of variable. The chi-square test with a significance level of p<0.05 was applied to assess the association between the variables of interest. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed using the Stepwise method. Prevalence ratios (PR) with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated. Results From the total of 400 students, 74.5% were male, 57.25% were aged between 18 and 27 years, 17% belonged to the school of human medicine and 72% were in their sixth year of studies. Scientific research productivity was associated with management commitment (PR=1.493; 95%CI: 1.077–2.068, p=0.015), sense of personal growth (PR=1.632; 95%CI: 1.041–2.558; p=0.024), recognition by the university (PR=1.385; 95%CI: 1.012–1.896; p=0.043), strategic alliances (PR=1.422; 95%CI: 1.032–1.959; p=0. 03), having research proposals (PR=1.522; 95%CI: 1.114–2.08; p=0.009), dissemination of results obtained (PR=1.542; 95%CI: 1.12–2.122; p=0.01), availability of human resources (PR=1.591; 95%CI: 1.165–2.173; p=0.004), access to equipment and software (PR=1.482; 95%CI: 1.061–2.069; p=0.018) and to laboratories (PR=1.438; 95%CI: 1.047–1.974; p=0.024). Conclusion It is concluded that the research productivity of undergraduate students of health sciences is low. It is necessary to strengthen research promotion measures in universities for the control and monitoring of students’ scientific participation.

Doorknocks and dog bandanas: a new conception of field campaigning activities

ABSTRACT Despite pundit claims that field campaigns contributed to the Australian Greens Party and independent candidates’ successes in the 2022 federal election, little is known about the activities conducted. The use and development of novel activities has been established, but what happens on the ground remains largely invisible. Comparing the results of semistructured interviews with participants from across the Australian Greens Party and the ‘teal’ independents (N = 73), this article develops a new understanding of the activities of field campaigning and illuminates the differences between independent and party campaigns. The Greens are shown to focus more on traditional voter contact activities, while the independent campaigns prioritise visibility and volunteer participation. From these results, this study establishes a new definition of field campaigning and clarifies the way in which institutional knowledge, or the lack thereof, shapes the conception and development of campaign activities.

Results and learnings from Europe's largest cargo bike testing program for companies and public institutions

To enhance the empirical knowledge of commercial cargo bike utilization, 755 companies and public institutions throughout Germany tested cargo bikes in operational use for a duration of three months. This article provides a characterization of the users, their experiences and evaluation of the vehicle type and addresses its use and environmental impact. Three waves of online surveys were conducted over three years, and around 30,000 vehicle trips were recorded. The organizations showed considerable heterogeneity in terms of size, economic sector, and location. The study identified environmental protection and taking a pioneering role as the main motivations for participation. Cargo bikes were used more frequently for services than for deliveries, with an average of 2.8 days per week and 12 km per day of use. The general suitability of cargo bikes was positively assessed, but potential product improvement was seen, e.g., with regard to the handling of the cargo box. About one third of the participants decided to buy their own cargo bike after the test phase. The study suggests that policy measures such as purchase incentives during the market ramp-up period and improvements to bicycle infrastructure, should be taken, while the industry should improve the reliability of vehicle components and offer better maintenance services to customers.

An Analytic Account of The Phenomenon of Modernity with Specific Reference To The Way in Which The Acknowledgement of Multiple or Alternative Modernities Impacts The Comprehension of The Phenomenon

The term modernity refers generally to an amalgamation of historically unprecedented practices and institutional forms, organizational and knowledge advances, breaking away from one’s obsolescent predecessors, simultaneously. The European traditions such as Renaissance and Enlightenment are referred to specifically as this breaking point. Some basic features of modernity can be described as- a general stress on the application of rational scientific approach to problems and the pursuit of material and economic well being. Accompanied by the values like, instrumental rationality, objectivity, liberty and equality. The theories of modernity have generally been classified into two broad categories, cultural and acultural. Among these two views of modernity, the acultural view is dominant. This acultural theory and its dominance is the point of contention here, as it views modernity to be a culture neutral phenomenon, which has the same trajectory everywhere. This, the essay shows, is a distorted understanding of the phenomenon of modernity and has quite problematic implications, as the belief that modernity comes from one single universally applicable operation served as the basis and justification for the western colonizers’ practices of domination and cultural homogenization. This essay argues that a) modernity is not something that only the west has been blessed with, rather there are multiple modernities. b) It highlights how an exclusive reliance on the acultural theory deprives us of and unfits for understanding and identifying alternative modernities that are different from and that challenge the dominant western conception of modernity.

A Survey on Self-Perception of Institutional Research Skills and Knowledge by Focusing on the Gap with the Participants Needs of Training Courses

A Survey on Self-Perception of Institutional Research Skills and Knowledge by Focusing on the Gap with the Participants Needs of Training Courses

A Multi-Level Model of Institutional Innovation and Knowledge Creation Capabilities: Insights From the Development of Taiwan's Nation Health Insurance.

This study proposes a multi-level model of institutional innovation in the healthcare sector-in other words, field-level institutional change pressures that start as network-level institutional innovation by hospitals and government for their organizational performance, with an emphasis on the effect of organizational-level construct-knowledge creation capabilities. A case study using in-depth interviews and a historical inquiry approach has been used to qualitatively analyze our cases during the development of Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI). Our results propose a multi-level explanation of institutional innovation by showing how field-level institutional change pressures can stimulate the government's institutional innovation at the network level. Moreover, knowledge creation capabilities may positively influence the government hospitals' ongoing institutional change pressures induced institutional innovation activity for their performance at the organizational level in an institutional setting. This study contributes to health organization management researchers and administrators by developing explanations of institutional innovation and creating a much-needed multi-level insight into hospital behavior in the highly institutionalized healthcare sector.

Adherence to Governance Patterns: How Do Institutional Work and Knowledge Dissemination Influence the Institutionalization of Brazilian Industrial Clusters?

Adherence to Governance Patterns: How Do Institutional Work and Knowledge Dissemination Influence the Institutionalization of Brazilian Industrial Clusters?

Indigenous Knowledge and Community Institutions' Role in Pashtun Pastoral Community Resilience to Climate Change

Indigenous Knowledge and Community Institutions' Role in Pashtun Pastoral Community Resilience to Climate Change

¿Etnógrafos amateurs? Itinerarios, obras y subjetividades en contacto con la antropología en la Argentina (c. 1920 –1960)

This article problematizes the notion of amateur ethnographers (and ethnography) accordant with the new interest in exploring the margins of institutions of knowledge and the networks between established professionals and other actors linked to Anthropology, especially in Argentina. We compare the trajectories of the Swede Mauricio Jesperson and the German Luis Ruez between 1920 and 1960 and their respective productions on the Pilagá of the Chaco, and about the Rankülche in La Pampa and the Mbyá-guaraní in Misiones. We focus on the multiple meshworks of contact which entwine their practices, works, and subjectivities. Likewise, we analyze the interethnic situation, the circulation and formats of their works, its content and textual style and, last but not least, their relations with institutions, especially with the anthropological academia of the time. We seek to highlight in a historical key how the figure of amateur ethnographers varies, needs to be contextually understood, and brings about new practices and products.

Din spațiul muzeal pe terenul etnologic și înapoi: sensurile și finalitățile cercetării Articole RTR

The article argues the importance of ethnological field research for contemporary ethnographic museums, stating the premise that the specificity of ethnological heritage consists in its epistemic value and in its intrinsic human (‘living’) dimension. As a central institution of knowledge, any modern ethnographic museum should be connected to the present, studying heritage communities and bearers in order to preserve and safeguard the systemic character of folk cultures, their unique know-how and forms of expression and their creative and affective components. By reassessing the results of the research project „Contemporary Villages in Romania – Openings Towards Europe” which was initiated by the Museum of Ethnography in Brașov in 2005 and implemented in 2006-2007, the knowledge and expertise acquired during ethnological field researches are explored. The project was coordinated by Ligia Fulga Ph. D and aimed to perform an emergency ethnological research in two communes in Brașov county that were to be crossed by the A3 Highway Brașov-Borș, under construction. Teams of Brașov museum researchers and teams of University professors and students from the Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest worked together to identify the representative heritage of communes Mândra and Șercaia. As coordinator of two research teams working in Mândra in 2006 and 2007, the author of the article analyses the collected material focusing upon “traditions of representation” and the marginal status of two exceptional heritage bearers, a Rroma woman – poet and singer and a Romanian woman with exceptional memory and communication skills. Also, the exhibition dedicated to the village Mândra after the end of the project is regarded as a kind of validation of the quality of the research, since villagers who were invited to the Brașov Museum of Ethnography to see and discuss the exhibition actually mirrored themselves in its exhibits. Finally, two more arguments for the necessity of field research as current museum activity are formulated: the constant need for collecting the present because ‘traditional’ culture is meaningful “only when seen in relationship with any other observable aspects of culture” (Christian Feest) and the characteristic ‘interweaving’ of ethnological scholarship (and ethnologues, as a matter of fact) in present heritage regimes and in the making of cultural heritage.

Assessing and Improving Water Supply Resiliency in New Braunfels, Texas

Key TakeawaysA holistic resiliency study provides a long‐term perspective on the strengths and vulnerabilities of water supplies and encourages proactive planning.A workshop‐driven approach can tap into the institutional knowledge of staff at all levels.With this approach, utilities can assess their resiliency, understand present and future water supplies, estimate likelihood and consequences of failure, and anticipate demand changes.Decision makers can use a cost–benefit analysis to prioritize solutions and develop implementation timelines based on supply and demand projections.

Success and Harm When Researching the Far Right: Researcher Safety as Epistemic Exclusion

Harm experienced while researching the far right can be encountered through, or sparked by, core academic activities which reduce the distance between the researcher and potentially hostile actors. Currently, advice to manage such risks is directed towards the individual, made responsible by a neoliberal industry and lack of institutional knowledge. However, the ability of researchers to implement such advice is stymied by success metrics that reward visibility and productivity, producing a contradiction between success and safety—satisfying one risks jeopardizing the other. The contradiction is not evenly experienced, with those at the sharp end of the far right disproportionately vulnerable to such harm and thus subject to such “choices.”