Knowledge Utilization Processes Research Articles

Some Final Comments

One dilemma of educators in training programs is to simultaneously support the student's attention to ethnography in a sustainable manner, so that this important skill can be applied throughout their careers, while at the same time encourage the dissemination of ethnographic knowledge to the agencies and organizations that employ them. The short comments that follow will use the papers in this issue to elicit lessons for the training of applied anthropologists that are attentive, not only to a product, but to the process of knowledge acquisition, transfer, and utilization. Each paper presents a case of the application of ethnography to the solution of human problems in urban settings, and is thus specific to the situation addressed. But, as a collection, the papers also share substantive and methodological similarities in their ethnographic description and analyses.

Completing the Cycle of Scholarship of Practice: A Model for Dissemination and Utilization of Evidence-Based Interventions

SUMMARYThe scholarship of practice stresses that knowledge should arise out of a dialogue and collaboration between scholars and practitioners. Bringing evidence back to practice completes the scholarship of practice cycle. This article describes a strategic approach to the process of knowledge dissemination and utilization and how that approach was used to increase knowledge and utilization of the Matter of Balance fear of falling intervention among occupational therapy practitioners. To illustrate how the approach supported clinicians' efforts to engage in evidence-based practice, the paper features a description of actions taken by a Maine-based health care system to successfully integrate Matter of Balance into its programming. Recommendations to policy makers, researchers and clinicians based on the authors' experiences with approach are presented.

The knowledge-creating theory revisited: knowledge creation as a synthesizing process

This paper is a part of our attempt to build a new knowledge-based theory of the firm and organization to explain the dynamic process of knowledge creation and utilization. For this, we revisit the theory of knowledge creation through the SECI process and ba, and try to advance them further by incorporating the dialectic thinking. In this paper, knowledge creation is conceptualized as a dialectical process, in which various contradictions are synthesized through dynamic interactions among individuals, the organization, and the environment. With the view of a firm as a dialectic being, and strategy and organization should be re-examined as the synthesizing and self-transcending process instead of a logical analysis of structure or action. An organization is not an information-processing machine that is composed of small tasks to carry out a given task, but an organic configuration of ba. Ba, which is conceptualized as a shared context in motion, can transcend time, space, and organization boundaries to create knowledge.

Knowledge utilization among experienced staff nurses.

The purpose of this descriptive exploratory study was to describe the processes staff nurses use to select and transfer new knowledge to practice. Eleven experienced staff nurses shared 29 examples in which gaining new knowledge resulted in changes in thinking or acting in a clinical situation. Findings indicated that knowledge utilization originated with the nurse who was active in selecting and using new knowledge. Nurses used multiple knowledge utilization processes primarily involving factual knowledge and instrumental utilization. Often, the decision to move knowledge to practice was based on comparison by similarity. There were no variations in utilization processes as nurses floated across units. Sources of new knowledge were primarily informal and unit based. Implications for staff development focus on developing unit-based resources and resource personnel, using innovative ways to introduce new knowledge on the unit, and providing time in formal classes for exchange of ideas on using new knowledge in practice.

Global and domestic utilization of industrial relevant science: patent citation analysis of science–technology interactions and knowledge flows

The development of science-based technologies may draw heavily on codified and tacit outputs from both domestic research bases and foreign sources. Having a view of the scientific underpinnings of these technical innovations and related knowledge diffusion and utilization processes, especially those concerning public-financed basic research, is of major importance to policymakers nowadays. Some of those scientific and technical inputs are pivotal to technical inventions and are acknowledged as such by explicit references (“citations”) to related research papers in the reference list on the corresponding patents. This case study deals with citations to Dutch-authored research papers on USPTO patents granted during the period 1987–1996. Results of the citation analysis reveal several important features of contributions made by the Dutch science base to Dutch-invented and/or foreign-invented patents such as (1) a marked overall increase of patent citations to Dutch research papers, and (2) significant differences between domestic and foreign citation patterns where (3) domestic citation links are dominated by author–inventor self-citations and patents originating from the large R&D-intensive multinational firms such as Philips. These findings provide new empirical evidence that patent citation analysis produces systemic quantitative data providing strategic background information regarding nation-specific and sector-specific factors in domestic and cross-border science–technology linkages and knowledge flows.

A method of measuring the efficiency of the knowledge utilization process

This paper presents a model to assess the efficiency of knowledge transfer within an organization. First, a literature review of knowledge transfer management with a practical contribution to the shop-floor activities is presented. Second, a model of the knowledge transfer process with five distinctive phases is suggested. Third, an efficiency index is proposed to provide an objective numerical measure of the process. The numerical index is defined as a function of three attributes: process delay; effort; and width. Its properties and limitations are discussed. Several pilot studies have been launched to test the validity of the model. One pilot is introduced in this paper.

Measuring knowledge utilization: Processes and outcomes

Studies of knowledge utilization in public policy-making have important practical and theoretical implications. Accordingly, a voluminous work has been done on understanding and explaining the process of knowledge utilization (see Rich and Oh, 1993). However, we can easily find that there is the conspicuous absence of a greatly expanded understanding of the use of knowledge from those studies (Mandell and Sauter, 1984). Taken as a whole, empirical studies in the area of knowledge utilization have suffered from several critical problems (see Rich, 1991; Oh, 1996a). More importantly, there appears to be serious conceptual and methodological gaps which need to be filled. This article focuses on one of the most significant methodological problems: measuring “knowledge utilization” from an evaluation perspective and offers some suggestions for future studies.

ADOPTION OF A RESEARCH-BASED PRACTICE FOR TREATMENT OF PRESSURE ULCERS

Evaluation of a skin care protocol for the treatment of pressure ulcers in this institution showed that practitioners did adopt research-based practice. This change in practice was associated with a corresponding decrease in costs for treatment. More pressure ulcers received treatment after implementation of the protocol. Furthermore, the majority of pressure ulcers were being treated with wound care modalities identified by research as supportive of healing. Use of antiseptic agents harmful to the healing process declined as did use of topical agents with little research base to support their efficacy. The shift to practice patterns that were more consistent with research findings was associated with a corresponding decrease in costs for pressure ulcer treatment. Factors in this situation that lead to the positive outcome of knowledge utilization were an organizational model that promoted accountability of individual practitioners, staff participation in decision making, agency regard for research, and consultation with a nurse expert. Informal individual utilization of knowledge related to the treatment of pressure ulcers reinforced use of the research-based practice and expedited formal implementation of a policy/procedure related to their treatment. The process of knowledge utilization that occurred in this institution provides a prototype of how research can be translated into practice. Although limited to one specific clinical problem, the results of this process can be applied to any clinical condition where there are sufficient research findings to support development of recommendations for practice.

A Model of Marketing Knowledge Use within Firms

The process of knowledge utilization within firms has come to be viewed as an increasingly important area for research in light of its implications for organizational effectiveness. However, our cu...

A Model of Marketing Knowledge use within Firms

The process of knowledge utilization within firms has come to be viewed as an increasingly important area for research in light of its implications for organizational effectiveness. However, our current understanding of this phenomenon is limited because the process of knowledge use in organizations is complex and difficult to conceptualize and measure. Building on prior research in public policy, sociology, marketing, and other administrative disciplines, the authors first explicate the nature of knowledge utilization and propose a framework for circumscribing the concept of knowledge utilization. Next, using an emerging theoretical perspective on knowledge utilization, the “organizational” view, the authors present a conceptual model and research propositions that provide insights into informational and organizational factors that affect marketing knowledge utilization in firms.

Knowledge, culture, and power: Some theoretical issues related to the agricultural knowledge and information system framework

The objective of this paper is to examine some theoretical issues impinging on questions of culture and power as they relate to the concept of Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS). The AKIS is, in my judgment, one of the most significant and productive attempts at theorizing the complex, multifaceted and multivalent process of knowledge generation, exchange and utilization. There are a number of merits to this conceptualization, which is both theoretically sophisticated and praxiologically oriented. Indeed, the best theories are those that have the greatest practical value. The AKIS framework adopts a systemic perspective that seeks to place emphasis on the mutual interactionism of the diverse elements and the synergy thereby generated. The research activities and the supporting institutions, extension services, policymakers, administrators, companies associated with the business sectors, the users and their environment are all seen as vital elements of a complex and interacting system. As Niels R61ing has said

The Dilemmas of Change

In a post hoc analysrs of a school improvement effort that provided individually tailored reports to 93 Kentucky schools, the authors describe the research project from which these reports were derived, their purpose and format, and the dilemmas encountered in encouraging schools to use their results. Established patterns of school organization and practitioners' attitudes toward educational research influenced the effects of these reports. The implications of the analysis are also considered in the context of the educational knowledge utilization process in general.

Information technology from a knowledge system perspective: Concepts and issues

Studying knowledge utilization and related processes calls for a conceptual framework. We look at the actors that engage in these processes in a specific field of human activity, and the interfaces and linkages between them, as a Knowledge and Information System (KIS). Although this KIS perspective originates from agriculture it also can be applied to other knowledge domains. Evidence gathered shows that for a KIS to be effective the actors (e.g., researchers, extensionalists, and clients) must act synergically. This inspired us to look for basic KIS principles that indicate opportunities for intervention. This article provides a brief state-of-the-art overview, presents some insights gained to date; and states the main issues for the use of information technology in knowledge management.

Ecological Knowledge: Acquisition and Use in Problem Solving and in Decision Making

The acquisition of ecological knowledge is one of the central goals of environmental education. The cognitive skills underlying knowledge acquisition and the process of knowledge utilization are also interesting from a psychological view. Ecological knowledge refers to very complex, often dynamic and nontransparent phenomena [7, 8]. Moreover it is interrelated with emotions and values and of course with intentions and actions [11, 13, 25]. But, up to now, the process of knowledge acquisition and the manner in which this knowledge is represented in memory and how it is utilized in decision making have not been analyzed in enough detail.

An Empirical Evaluation of a Model of Knowledge Utilization

Long time lags between development and use of scientific innovations have resulted in much theorizing about the process of knowledge utilization. However. there is little empirical evidence for the validity of these theories. The present research is a retrospective investigation of the relationships between eight theoretical factors of knowledge utiliza tion (Davis, 1971) and whether or not treatment innovations had been implemented in mental health agencies following consultation. Significant relatioships are found for four factors. Agencies adopting the procedures report values and philosophies that are more similar to the values and philosophies embodied in the innovation; they report more accurate information and knowledge about the new procedures and how to implement them; they report a stronger need for change; and they report that they had anticipated more benefit prior to adopting the procedures than did nonusers.

Perceived quality and citation rates of education journals

Citation rates have been shown to be positively related to the scholarly stature of individuals, academic departments, and scientific journals in a number of academic disciplines. The results of this study show a much weaker relationship between the citation rates and perceived quality of education journals than reported in studies of other disciplines. However, this overall finding masks wide variation in the relationship for specific education specialty areas and between “core” and “allied” education journals. The implications of these findings for subsequent research on the complex process of knowledge diffusion and utilization are discussed.

Transferring Management Theory to Practice.

The perceptions of researchers and managers are examined with regard to various aspects of the knowledge utilization process, adding an empirical dimension to earlier descriptive efforts. Substanti...

Transferring Management Theory to Practice

The perceptions of researchers and managers are examined with regard to various aspects of the knowledge utilization process, adding an empirical dimension to earlier descriptive efforts. Substanti...

The Knowledge Utilization Process in Management and Organization

This article deals with the knowledge utilization process in management and organization and relates the concepts of knowledge flow to management education and development. Primary attention is giv...

The Knowledge Utilization Process in Management and Organization.

This article deals with the knowledge utilization process in management and organization and relates the concepts of knowledge flow to management education and development. Primary attention is giv...