Formation Of Knowledge Networks Research Articles

Students as a Nexus of Cultural Diplomacy: Estimating the Outcomes of the International Higher Education Scholarship Program in Taiwan

Internationalization policy in higher education facilitates a nation's economic growth and demonstrates generosity to other nations. This study investigates the impact of the International Higher Education Scholarship Program of the International Cooperation and Development Fund on recipients’ perceptions of and experiences in Taiwan. Based on the management, education, medical science, and engineering programs of four case study universities, it finds attitudinal changes, increased intercultural competence, and signs of institution transfer and knowledge network formation. Socialization has fostered scholarship holders’ cultural affinity and shared identity with Taiwan. As higher education institutions promote knowledge sharing and cultural diffusion, international students are also a nexus of cultural diplomacy, the attractions of which are more conspicuous than knowledge diplomacy's benefits. The empirical evidence of this study helps delineate theoretical frameworks of diplomacy in international higher education. Its longitudinal observation of alumni career trajectories can enrich cross-sectional evaluation.

Dynamic Formation of Knowledge Networks and Innovating Firm

We document a series of new facts about the very first firms and patents that form new edges in the directed citation networks across patent categories. We call them pathfinder firms and patents. First, the typical pathfinder firms are very larger firms. Second, the average pathfinder patents have higher quality than other patents in different quality measures. Third, firms innovate faster, market value, profit and productivity increase in the future, when they invent a large number of pathfinder patents or are cited by pathfinder patents currently. Fourth, new citation links generate positive externalities to peer firms that innovate in nearby technology space. We then build a dynamic formation model of knowledge network, where new citations form through both quality based preferential attachment, exact and mutated copying of parent patent’s citations. The model rationalizes the firm level empirical facts. After calibrated to the patent citation data, the model sheds lights on the causes of productivity show down: rising number of citation per patent, marginal cost of patent quality and research wage have driven up the cost to innovate since 1976. Effective R&D policies need to decrease these cost factors.

The effect of napping and nighttime sleep on memory in infants.

During the first year of life, infants devote the majority of their time to sleep. Research in adults has shown that sleep supports a variety of memory processes. Surprisingly, sleep's function for infant memory has only started to receive attention in research. In this chapter, we will describe age-related changes in sleep and in memory processing over the first years of life, as well as methods to capture both sleep and memory. Then, we will review current findings on the effects of sleep on memory processing in infants. Lastly, we will also point out gaps in current knowledge and describe potential avenues for future research. Overall, the results of recent experimental studies provide evidence that timely, extended napping is involved in how memories are encoded and stored in the long-term and contribute to the formation of knowledge networks in infants.

Impact of proximity on knowledge network formation: the case of the Korean steel industry

ABSTRACT Empirical research shows that the relationship between proximity and knowledge cooperation assumes a linear or an inverted ‘U’ shape. This study of knowledge networks in the South Korean steel industry shows that the relationship may assume other forms. Cognitive, organizational and geographical proximity all play crucial roles in explaining the knowledge network. In the case of cognitive and geographical proximity, the relationship is linear, while in the case of organizational proximity, the relationship is wave-like, reflecting the distinctive characteristics of the country’s steel industry, which is hierarchically led by several large conglomerates.

Impact of capacity building interventions on individual and organizational competency for HPSR in endemic disease control in Nigeria: a qualitative study

BackgroundThe need to build capacity for health policy and systems research (HPSR) in low- and middle-income countries has been underscored as this encompasses the processes of decision-making at all levels of the health system. This implementation research project was undertaken in Southeast Nigeria to evaluate whether the capacity-building intervention improves the capacity to produce and use research evidence for decision making in endemic disease control.MethodsThree training workshops were organized for purposively selected participants comprising “producers of evidence” such as health research scientists in three universities and “users of evidence” such as policy makers, program managers, and implementers in the public health sector. Participants also held step-down workshops in their organizations. The last workshop was used to facilitate the formation of knowledge networks comprising of both producers and users, which is a critical step for getting research into policy and practice (GRIPP). Three months after the workshops, a subset, 40, of workshop participants was selected for in-depth interviews. Information was collected on (i) perceptions of usefulness of capacity-building workshops, (ii) progress with proposed research and research uptake activities, (iii) effects of these activities on evidence-informed decision making, and (iv) constraints and enablers to implementation of proposed activities.ResultsMost participants felt the workshops provided them with new competencies and skills in one or more of research priority setting, evidence generation, communication, and use for the control of endemic diseases. Participants were at different stages of planning and implementing their proposed research and research uptake activities, and were engaging across professional and disciplinary boundaries to ensure relevance and usefulness of outputs for decision making. Key enablers of successful implementation of activities were positive team dynamics, good balance of competencies, effective communication and engagement within teams, team leader’s capacity to innovate, and personal interests such as career progress. Lack of funding, limited decision space, organizational bureaucracies, and poor infrastructure were the key constraints to the implementation of proposed activities. Lack of mentorship and continuous support from trainers delayed progress with implementing proposed activities.ConclusionsThe capacity-building interventions contributed to the development of a critical mass of research scientists, policy makers, and practitioners who have varying levels of competencies in HPSR for endemic disease control and would require further support in carrying out their medium and long-term goals.

Knowledge networks associated with the production of natural resources in Latin America: A comparative analysis

The opportunities for innovation that arise from natural-resource production are associated with the formation of knowledge networks that facilitate learning both within and outside the sectors in question. This article identifies the types of knowledge networks associated with innovation activities in the natural-resource domain using four case studies from the region: the livestock sector in Argentina, the mining sector in Chile, agriculture in Paraguay and forestry in Uruguay. The results show that, in all four cases, natural-resource producers form networks in which scientific knowledge is exchanged. While these have heterogeneous characteristics in terms of the capabilities of the participants, their structure and degree of openness, all display potential to disseminate and create knowledge.

‘We were fighting for our place’: Resisting gender knowledge regimes through feminist knowledge network formation

The transformative potential of feminist knowledge in the disciplines of entrepreneurship, business and management has arguably been hindered by persistent gender knowledge regimes that marginalize feminist scholarship and channel widely applicable gender expertise into niche streams, conferences and publication outlets. Whilst offering valuable spaces for feminist knowledge production, removing gender expertise from mainstream fora reduces its centrality to broader debates, maintaining its marginality and limiting its impact. Taking a collaborative autoethnographic approach, we explore the formation and development of a UK‐based organization for feminist entrepreneurship scholars, the Gender and Enterprise Network, as a means of collective resistance to this perpetuation of enforced marginality. Our network challenges extant gender knowledge regimes and offers transformative opportunities within and outside of our respective organizations, providing insights for others wishing to form similar networks and contributing to ongoing debates on the value and valuing of feminist knowledge.

Determinants of knowledge-sharing networks in primary care.

Around the world, health reforms are increasingly fostering collaboration and integration among primary care physicians with the aim of facilitating knowledge sharing and evidence-informed decision-making. Although extant research on this topic is abundant, the evidence and results regarding social and organizational factors affecting the formation of knowledge-sharing networks in this setting are inconclusive. The aim of this article is to explore multiple theoretical mechanisms explaining the formation of knowledge-sharing networks among primary care physicians across relevant clinical areas. The data are collected from two local health authorities in the Italian National Health Service that are responsible for delivering primary care in two Italian regions. Exponential random graph models are used to test the hypotheses. Our findings indicate that knowledge-sharing networks are highly correlated across clinical areas. In addition, knowledge-sharing networks are highly reciprocal and clustered. We also observe that formal models adopted to foster collaboration have remarkably different effects on the formation of knowledge networks, depending upon the diverse knowledge management approaches adopted in the surveyed local health authorities. Primary care organizations need to develop and implement knowledge management practices in order to help physicians in identifying knowledge domain experts as well as to support connections through formal groupings and incentives.

Descriptive analysis of the knowledge network formation in East Asia

This paper shows descriptively how the knowledge network in East Asia has been formed. In addition, the correlation between the knowledge network and economic growth is also examined. Evidence is provided to show that plugging into the knowledge network of developed economies could be a key for increasing innovativeness in an economy.

Research on Knowledge Coordination Model in Engineering Project Cooperation under the Network Environment

In the era of knowledge economy, under the network environment project collaborative knowledge construction has been paid more and more attention. Project team knowledge transfer between form a knowledge network, in line with the basic core in complex network theory goal-directed (edge network structure), has its uniqueness. In this paper, this paper discusses the knowledge network formation, network evolution stage, according to the knowledge sharing, knowledge transfer, knowledge learning and knowledge creation of four phases of the micro mechanism of knowledge collaboration, and points out that the body of knowledge of the cooperative intention, attitude and sense of trust, the body of knowledge of the network structure, location and neighborhood structure, the overall network effect and the types of knowledge, is an important factor affecting the knowledge synergy. Discusses the co-evolution of knowledge network project in cooperation, use the interpretative structural model to construct collaborative knowledge construction process of analogy model.

The Impact of Long-term Scientific Mobility on the Creation of Persistent Knowledge Networks

This paper investigates the impact of long-term international scientific mobility – associated with advanced training or research positions – on knowledge network formation and network persistence In particular, it investigates whether and in which conditions relationships established during extended periods of co-location in one organisation play a relevant role in the subsequent knowledge exchange activities of the mobile scientists. Empirical research on the case of Portuguese scientists in three different fields provides evidence on the relevance and persistence of the networks established in those conditions and identifies some factors that increase the likelihood of these effects taking place.

A moléstia da cana-de-açúcar na década de 1860: a lavoura em busca das ciências

The Imperial Instituto Fluminense de Cultura (Fluminense Imperial Institute of Agriculture) encouraged debate with a view to eradicating the blight that devastated sugar cane plantations in the State of Bahia. Rural landowners, government officials and men of science participated in the discussions. The article presents the context of the sciences applied to agriculture, especially agricultural chemistry and the repercussions of the 'discoveries' of Justus Liebig in Brazil. The debate at the Imperial Instituto about the sugar cane blight was analyzed, together with the ideas espoused there and the characters involved in the issue. The procedures and solutions presented are studied, as well as the formation of knowledge networks around the agricultural sciences, which was in the process of institutionalization at the time.

Knowledge networks for global public health

The challenges posed by a globalised world have made it imperative for society to search for solutions to emerging issues and to develop new ways of looking at old problems. Current discussions about global public health demand a shift in paradigms and the strategic positioning of public health within broader policy discussions that will enable it to influence political and action agendas. Critical to responding to these challenges is the generation, transmission and dissemination of new knowledge to create value. Recognising the cutting-edge role of knowledge, as a new form of capital that drives innovation and transforms society, the formation of knowledge networks is viewed as a strategy for developing a shared intellectual, conceptual and ethical infrastructure for the field of global public health. These knowledge networks are envisioned as a vehicle for sharing diverse perspectives, encouraging debate and sustaining alternative ways of thinking about and responding to the challenges that confront global public health today and in the future.

Assessment of ontology-based knowledge network formation by Vector-Space Model

This study proposes an empirical way for determining probability of network tie formation between network actors. In social network analysis, it is a usual problem that information for determining whether or not a network tie should be formed is missing for some network actors, and thus network can only be partially constructed due to unavailability of information. This methodology proposed in this study is based on network actors' similarities calculations by Vector-Space Model to calculate how possible network ties can be formed. Also, a threshold value of similarity for deciding whether or not a network tie should be generated is suggested in this study. Four ontology-based knowledge networks, with journal paper or research project as network actors, constructed previously are selected as the targets of this empirical study: (1) Technology Foresight Paper Network: 181 papers and 547 keywords, (2) Regional Innovation System Paper Network: 431 papers and 1165 keywords, (3) Global Sci-Tech Policy Paper Network: 548 papers and 1705 keywords, (4) Taiwan's Sci-Tech Policy Project Network: 143 research projects and 213 keywords. The four empirical investigations allow a cut-off threshold value calculated by Vector-Space Model to be suggested for deciding the formation of network ties when network linkage information is unavailable.