Knowledge Flow

The accumulated science base in public research centres (PRCs), current learning processes in firms and emergent knowledge flows among actors are creating knowledge spaces at the regional level in Mexico. These conditions represent an advantage upon ...

This paper focuses on the specific role of mid-range universities in knowledge transfer and explores the knowledge flows from these mid-range universities which face a number of additional constraints in transitional Central Eastern European (CEE) regions. The first part focuses on the theoretical framework of knowledge transfers and on the types of university–industry linkages involving knowledge transfer in the case of mid-range universities. The next section examines the development path and specific trajectories of universities in post-communist countries. The following sections draw on the findings of the ERAWATCH research and focus on cases from the non-metropolitan regions of Hungary and the Czech Republic in order to examine the specific barriers to knowledge transfer and explain the reasons behind the traditionally weaker role of mid-range universities. The paper argues that ambitious university-based developmental models have to be revised in CEE regions and the future development role of universities has to be reconsidered from a more realistic perspective.

Knowledge management (KM) represents a topic of considerable current interest. However, the majority of extant KM research treats knowledge as a static object that can be acquired, stored and retrieved through information technology. Two fundamental problems emerge from this current majority view: (1) many scholars view knowledge as distinct from information, and (2) very little attention is paid to the

The economic literature on technical change has increasingly relied upon patent citation data to measure inter-personal knowledge flows. Many doubts exist about whether patent citations really reflect the designated inventors’ knowledge of both their technical fields, and of the other inventors and experts therein: citations, in fact, come mainly from the patent examiners, and possibly the patent applicant’s lawyers, rather than from inventors themselves. Unfortunately, most of the papers dedicated to discussing these interpretation issues deal with USPTO data, whose citation rules are quite exceptional if compared to those of other patent offices. In addition some confusion exists between the two issues of awareness (whether citing inventors actually knew of the cited patents) and existence of a knowledge flow (whether some information on the contents of the cited patents has however reached the, possibly unaware, citing inventor). Questionnaires addressed to inventors are severely affected by this confusion, and can hardly dispel the existing doubts. We then propose to apply social network analysis to derive maps of social relationships between inventors, and measures of social proximity between cited and citing patents. Logit regressions demonstrate that the probability of observing a citation is positively influenced by such proximity. In order to perform such regressions, however, a specific sampling scheme has to used, which we also illustrate and discuss.

As the basis of value creation increasingly depends on the leverage of the intangible assets of firms, knowledge management systems (KMS) are emerging as powerful sources of competitive advantage. However, the general recognition of the importance of such systems seems to be accompanied by a technology-induced drive to implement systems with inadequate consideration of the fundamental knowledge problems that the KMS are likely to solve. This paper contributes to the stream of research on ...

It is widely considered that the physical layout of workplace environments has an influence on social interaction and therefore the social structure of an organisation. However, there is little accordance among scholars from different disciplines on exactly how the relationship between space and organisation is constituted. Empirical studies often come to different conclusions: for example, on the influence of an open-plan office on communication patterns among staff, as many studies report increases as report decreases or unchanged ...

The role of knowledge in organizations has been conceptualized in ways that range from viewing it as a primary input to the production process, to offering a knowledge-based view of the whole organization. While divergent in their approaches, the differing views increasingly emphasize the role of inter-functional and inter-organizational knowledge linkages in determining the performance of a firm (Grant and Baden-Fuller in J Manag Stud 41(1):61–84, 2004). This paper offers a conceptualization of these linkages in what is termed a knowledge dependency. Adopting the view of knowledge as the primary organizational resource (Grant in Strateg Manag J 17(Winter Special Issue):109–122, 1996), we use ideas and concepts from the resource dependency theory (Pfeffer and Salancik in The external control of organizations: a resource dependence perspective, 1978) and knowledge transformation cycle (Carlile and Rebentisch in Manag Sci 49(9):1180–1195, 2003) to identify relevant constructs and relationships needed to model these knowledge dependencies. Building on a number of already established modeling techniques, we propose a new modeling grammar that explicitly captures the appropriation of knowledge in activities needed to realize the identified goals, and the knowledge flows between the different actors in an application domain. The resulting script (strategic knowledge-based dependency diagram) is a conceptual model that aids in the analysis stage preceding the design of an information system that supports knowledge-based processes across organizations.

The share of knowledge-intensive services and products in total output and demand and in the production of advanced, but also less advanced or emerging economies, has steadily increased over time and especially so for the knowledge-intensive services. This 'quaternization'of the economies not only points towards the rising shares of services but also stresses the role of knowledge-intensive services and their growing importance as sources of innovation and technology and as inputs into the manufacturing process. First ...