A framework of industrial knowledge spillovers in big-science centers

We employed the grounded theory method to construct a framework describing the distinctive mechanisms through which big-science centers generate industrial knowledge spillovers in the economy. Our focus is on large-scale big-science installations typically associated with experimental physics. We draw on social network, social capital, and inter-organizational learning theories to examine knowledge spillovers accruing to industrial partner companies in big-science-industry dyads. The context for the study is provided by CERN’s new particle accelerator project, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In addition to building a grounded theory framework for the study of industrial knowledge spillovers, our study demonstrates the distinctive potential that big-science centers offer as a source of knowledge spillovers in national innovation systems.     

How knowledge assets lead to a sustainable competitive advantage: are organizational capabilities a missing link?

Even though knowledge assets have been widely recognized as the principal drivers of firm's competitive advantage, few are the frameworks that have explained how these strategic assets are transformed into value and how the value creation process occurs. Also there is a confusing terminology in the literature surrounding many concepts explaining the dynamics of value creation. By conducting a Systematic Review – an evidence-based methodology for theory building – this paper seeks to define a ‘common language’ of the concepts used to explain this phenomenon, and build the assumptions of a theoretical model that explains how knowledge assets, through learning mechanisms, are linked, renewed, and leveraged into socio-technical processes or organizational routines, that in turn form the basis of organizational capabilities. As they are socially constructed, these organizational capabilities, when leveraged into products and services, generate value and provide firms with a sustainable competitive advantage and long-term superior performance. The model should therefore serve as a theoretical contribution to the literature and it has a further potential benefit to begin an inquiry, for both theory building and management, about the nature of firm's knowledge assets and organizational capabilities, and the sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Some of these avenues are outlined in this paper.     

The enterprise knowledge dictionary

One of the difficulties in knowledge management is that knowledge sources are widely distributed and exist in many forms. Earl's taxonomy (2001) of knowledge management systems, particularly, the Technocratic school – Systems, Cartographic, and Engineering, is described to provide a context for discussing the different types of knowledge management systems. To support these different types of knowledge sources, we describe an Enterprise Knowledge Dictionary (EKD) and the supporting n-tier architecture that allows access too many types of knowledge though a common interface. The EKD provides a knowledge portal that allows the knowledge seeker to locate and access the various types of knowledge for a domain of interest from a single source. In addition to facilitating knowledge reuse, the EKD is used for evaluation and planning of knowledge management activities within the firm. An n-tier architecture that both optimizes knowledge management implementations and minimizes the load on transaction processing systems is outlined.     

Absorptive capacity and knowledge management in small and medium enterprises

Studies on knowledge management have generated an awareness that it is fundamentally important for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be able to exploit sources of knowledge outside the firm by means of external relationships, but this understanding has not been followed up by an adequate theoretical and empirical research effort to analyse the role of relationships in an SME’s knowledge management processes. The present contribution first sketches this gap on the grounds of the available literature reviews. Then it proposes a framework – focusing the concept of absorptive capacity – with a view to filling this theoretical gap. Finally, based on the proposed framework, two specific topics of considerable importance to SMEs are discussed: (i) how capabilities are developed in the start-up phase of a new venture; and (ii) knowledge processes in geographical clusters.     

The geography of breakthrough invention in the United States over the 20th century

The geography of breakthrough invention in the U.S. – defined as the spatial distribution of the production of patents that are both novel and impactful – underwent three broad changes during the 20th century. At the start of the century, breakthrough invention was concentrated in populous metropolitan areas with high levels of local knowledge variety. By the 1930s, breakthroughs were created less frequently across the entire country and so their invention had a less distinct geography. The substantial creation of breakthroughs resumed in the 1960s, and while their invention was once again concentrated in major metropolitan areas with high knowledge variety, they frequently involved long-distance collaboration. In this article, I document these changes and propose a theory to interpret why they occurred. The theory emphasizes how changes in inventors' institutional and communication technology environments influence the geographical locations that are advantageous for breakthrough invention. In support of the model, I find that the disruptiveness of the regime of technological change, the knowledge intensity of breakthroughs, the distance-based frictions incurred by collaboration technologies, and the distance-based frictions incurred by knowledge-sourcing technologies help to predict the spatial distribution of breakthrough invention. To conclude the article, I discuss lessons that the 20th century's geography of breakthrough innovation provide for anticipating the geography of innovation in the 21st century, including in the years beyond COVID-19.     

Reproducing knowledge: Xerox and the story of knowledge management

This paper is a commentary on discursive transformations that occur in stories told about Xerox's photocopier technicians, comparing particularly Orr's brilliant ethnographic study and a later management case study. It argues that significant shifts take place in how knowledge is understood between these accounts so that what begins as elusive, oral, improvised and social becomes increasingly presented as encodable in a structured database, countable, auditable, individualistic. These ideological transformations seem much to do with Xerox's own historic need to rebrand itself, and simply to sell a commercial product. Thus, how knowledge is represented and what knowledge management might mean seems to be heavily influenced by corporate vested interests. The paper stresses the need to capture complexity in case studies if they are to promote a realistic or critical understanding of the organisation.     

Multiple intelligence theory,knowledge identification and trust

This paper presents the results of introducing management students to Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences as a means of increasing respect for the knowledge and abilities of others, which in turn, may increase levels of trust in the ability of others, willingness to share knowledge and trust in equity of knowledge exchanges. The results indicate that most of the participants agreed that the theory raised their awareness of the knowledge of others as well as respect for the knowledge of others and trust in the abilities of others to provide knowledge, willingness of others to share knowledge and trust in an equitable exchange in knowledge sharing. However, large numbers of participants indicated that they remained unsure about the potential effects of their new knowledge on trust. Suggestions for more extensive and intensive research to test the effects of the theory and the proposed model are put forward.     

Cascade embedding model for knowledge graph inference and retrieval

Knowledge graphs are widely used in retrieval systems, question answering systems (QA), hypothesis generation systems, etc. Representation learning provides a way to mine knowledge graphs to detect missing relations; and translation-based embedding models are a popular form of representation model. Shortcomings of translation-based models however, limits their practicability as knowledge completion algorithms. The proposed model helps to address some of these shortcomings.The similarity between graph structural features of two entities was found to be correlated to the relations of those entities. This correlation can help to solve the problem caused by unbalanced relations and reciprocal relations. We used Node2vec, a graph embedding algorithm, to represent information related to an entity's graph structure, and we introduce a cascade model to incorporate graph embedding with knowledge embedding into a unified framework. The cascade model first refines feature representation in the first two stages (Local Optimization Stage), and then uses backward propagation to optimize parameters of all the stages (Global Optimization Stage). This helps to enhance the knowledge representation of existing translation-based algorithms by taking into account both semantic features and graph features and fusing them to extract more useful information. Besides, different cascade structures are designed to find the optimal solution to the problem of knowledge inference and retrieval.The proposed model was verified using three mainstream knowledge graphs: WIN18, FB15K and BioChem. Experimental results were validated using the hit@10 rate entity prediction task. The proposed model performed better than TransE, giving an average improvement of 2.7% on WN18, 2.3% on FB15k and 28% on BioChem. Improvements were particularly marked where there were problems with unbalanced relations and reciprocal relations. Furthermore, the stepwise-cascade structure is proved to be more effective and significantly outperforms other baselines.     

From knowledge theory to management practice: towards an integrated approach

This paper critically contrasts the three main schools of thought on knowledge – namely, those that respectively conceptualize knowledge as situated in mind, process, and object – and assesses the resulting implications for knowledge management (KM). Against the background of the existing diversity of definitions of KM an integrated and holistic view of the KM value chain is put forward. Within this theoretical framework five main research streams (culture, knowledge location, awareness, evaluation, and absorption) are identified with a view to devising a practical concept of KM applicable in a business context. With a focus on knowledge flow and detailed approaches to potential solutions, conflicts and compatibilities between existing business strategies and KM are examined. A conceptual model is devised to offer a holistic integration of the theoretical and practical themes in order to serve as a framework for developing a future research agenda for the development of theoretically grounded, yet practical, KM business tools and applications.     

Supporting complex problems: an examination of Churchman's inquirers as a knowledge management foundation

This paper examines the current knowledge management (KM) research through the lens of Churchman's inquiring systems. These inquiring systems are ideal foundations from which to view KM and its associated research because knowledge creation and organizational learning are critical elements of KM. Churchman proposed that organizations should support knowledge creation and learning through emphasis on problem structure and appropriate inquiring strategies. This paper discusses the characteristics of Churchman's inquirers, the problem structure for which they are most appropriate, and presents examples of each. Then, examples of previous research that share characteristics of the most complex inquirers are discussed. Organizational benefits from the inquiring system approach and guidelines for future research are suggested.     

Organisational knowledge creation strategies: A conceptual framework

The main purposes of this article are to identify the dimensions of organisational knowledge creation strategies (EICE model: exploration, institutional entrepreneurship, combination, exploitation) and to clarify the relationship between the organisational knowledge creation strategies and its knowledge asset. For these purposes, guided by knowledge-based view and knowledge creation theory, we propose an EICE model and explore its effect on the knowledge asset. We further suggest the managerial implications and theoretical implications. The main managerial implication is that the knowledge creation strategies model may help manager to make effective strategies for knowledge creation within the organisation. The main contributions to organisation theory are extending Nonaka's knowledge creation theory to form a new strategic model for knowledge creation.     

Implementing a knowledge management system within an NHS hospital: a case study exploring the roll-out of an electronic patient record (EPR)

This research aims to contribute to understanding the implementation of knowledge management systems (KMS) in the field of health through a case study, leading to theory building and theory extension. We use the concept of the business process approach to knowledge management as a theoretical lens to analyse and explore how a large teaching hospital developed, executed and practically implemented a KMS. A qualitative study was conducted over a 2.5 year period with data collected from semi-structured interviews with eight members of the strategic management team, 12 clinical users and 20 patients in addition to non-participant observation of meetings and documents. The theoretical propositions strategy was used as the overarching approach for data analysis. Our case study provides evidence that true patient centred approaches to supporting care delivery with a KMS benefit from process thinking at both the planning and implementation stages, and an emphasis on the knowledge demands resulting from: the activities along the care pathways; where cross-overs in care occur; and knowledge sharing for the integration of care. The findings also suggest that despite the theoretical awareness of KMS implementation methodologies, the actual execution of such systems requires practice and learning. Flexible, fluid approaches through rehearsal are important and communications strategies should focus heavily on transparency incorporating both structured and unstructured communication methods.     

Web knowledge sharing and its effect on innovation: an empirical investigation in SMEs

This paper extends previous studies on knowledge management by analysing factors affecting Web Knowledge Sharing (WKS) in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition, the impact of WKS on organizational innovation and the moderating effect of IT skills on this relation are analysed. Grounded in the technology-organization-environment (TOE) theory and the resource-based view (RBV), this paper develops an integrative research model, which analyses these relations using structural equation modelling on a data set of 535 Spanish SMEs. Results suggest that technological and organizational factors – IT expertise and commitment-based human resources practices – positively influence WKS, while the contrary is found for environmental factors (customer power). In addition, results show that WKS contributes positively to organizational innovation, though support for the moderating effect of IT skills in this relation is not found. The main conclusions of this research can be valuable to SMEs that use or intend to use Internet technologies for knowledge management.     

面向“卡脖子”问题的知识创新生态系统分析：核心挑战、理论构建与现实路径

  新形势下,面对关键核心技术“卡脖子”问题的挑战,系统提升我国科技研究的整体水平迫在眉睫。然而,我国现有知识创新生态研究的基本思路仍是以“大学、企业、政府”构成的“三螺旋”框架,无法体现新时代多元化主体、多样化路径、多种创新模式的平行共存与协同演化特征,致使研究者破题“卡脖子”难题时缺乏整合性视角与适用性框架的支撑。本研究基于知识创新范式转型背景下影响我国以系统工具解决“卡脖子”问题的核心挑战,深入探究新时代“模式3”知识创新“多重螺旋”（N-tuple helices）生态系统的主体特征与拓扑结构。以之为基础,讨论系统性提升我国科研创新能力,应对“卡脖子”挑战的可行路径与具体措施。     

Inducing knowledge sharing in teams through cost-efficient compensation schemes

A natural challenge for firms seeking to implement knowledge management systems is accounting for the interplay of incentives among workers and supervisors. This paper studies this interaction, focusing on the dynamics arising from joint projects, task evaluation, and knowledge sharing, in the framework of a game-theoretic model. We identify conditions under which a firm can minimize the costs of implementing an incentives-based system for knowledge sharing, taking into account the firm’s ability to monitor individual performance. We show that an employer in our framework has a stronger incentive to monitor tasks when relative-performance pay is small and when higher-paid agents are more likely to generate new knowledge.     

专利合作网络结构特征对企业专利质量的影响——以集成电路产业为例

为细化专利合作网络结构特征对企业专利质量的影响过程，尤其针对当前文献较少关注以知识搜索为中介变量的内在影响机制，以大尺寸硅片等7种集成电路“卡脖子”技术为研究对象，基于知识基础观，以度数中心度和结构洞代表合作网络结构特征，采用2012—2019年中国这7种技术的发明专利合作数据，构建5组4年期的移动时间窗，并结合考虑期刊影响因子构建企业专利质量评价指标体系，运用社会网络分析、文献计量和回归分析等方法进行实证分析。结果表明：在企业专利合作网络中，度数中心度与结构洞这两大结构特征对于专利质量存在正向促进作用，知识搜索在其中发挥重要中介作用，其深度和宽度增加对于企业专利质量均存在正向促进作用；而专利合作网络结构特征对于企业知识搜索同样具有正向影响。因此，中国的集成电路企业要积极与外部组织展开合作，包括组成商业联盟或构建开放式合作研发平台；加强拓宽和加深知识搜索渠道，构建完善知识获取体系，加强知识储备，促进企业专利质量的提升；此外，加大研发投入，扩充研发人员数量、引进高质量研发人才，提升自身的知识吸收、整合和转化的能力。     

A multilevel model for effects of social capital and knowledge sharing in knowledge-intensive work teams

Although it is a widely held belief that social capital facilitates knowledge sharing among individuals, there is little research that has deeply investigated the impacts of social capital at different levels on an individual's knowledge sharing behavior. To address this research gap, this study combines a multilevel approach and an optimal network configuration view to investigate the multilevel effects of social capital on individuals’ knowledge sharing in knowledge intensive work teams. This study makes a distinction between the social capital at the team-level and that of social capital at the individual level to examine their cross-level and direct effects on an individual's sharing of explicit and tacit knowledge. A survey involving 343 participants in 47 knowledge-intensive teams was conducted for testing the multilevel model. The results reveal that social capital at both levels jointly influences an individual's explicit and tacit knowledge sharing. Further, when individuals possess a moderate betweenness centrality and the whole team holds a moderate network density, team members’ knowledge sharing can be maximized. These findings offer a more comprehensive and precise understanding of the multilevel impacts of social capital on team members’ knowledge sharing behavior, thus contributing to the social capital theory, as well as knowledge management research and practices.     

知识网络方法在城市产业技术选择中的应用——以北京建设科技创新中心产业技术选择为例

产业技术选择是城市发展中一项重要的决策内容。传统产业技术选择方法,诸如德尔菲法、层次分析法等,面临着技术分属领域跨度大,颗粒度大小难界定,以及专家主观判断依赖性大的问题。本研究旨在利用知识网络理论,结合文献计量的量化方法,打破传统产业技术选择的局限,帮助城市识别所需的产业技术。本研究以北京的产业技术选择为例,从梳理国家研究机构发布的技术预测结果为起点,筛选与北京城市发展相关度高的产业技术,并结合知识网络理论,量化产业技术在知识网络中的特征参数,并探讨整体网络参数对产业技术选择与政策设计的影响,由此作为城市发展规划中产业选择以及后续产业政策制定的重要参考依据。研究认为,基于知识网络基础的量化方法,在一定程度上解决了现有决策方法偏重定性分析的问题,为城市产业技术选择提供了一种具有科学依据、能够量化评价的分类方法。     

Why do firms publish? A systematic literature review and a conceptual framework

In this paper, we address the question of ‘Why do firms publish scientific papers?’. Research examining the competitive advantages that firms accrue from investment in R&D has provided evidence that such efforts can be associated with the voluntary disclosure of research findings in scientific publications. This form of scientific openness occurs despite potentially undermining the value-capturing process by generating knowledge spillovers and hindering the use of other instruments for protecting intellectual property (patents and secrecy). Our understanding of what leads firms to engage in scientific publishing remains relatively limited, however. We address this gap by presenting a systematic review of 164 studies examining firm publishing. We then develop a conceptual framework that outlines five incentives for firms to engage in publishing: (i) accessing external knowledge and resources; (ii) attracting and retaining researchers; (iii) supporting IP strategies; (iv) building the firm's reputation; and (v) supporting commercialization strategies. Mechanisms that relate incentives to publish to firms' major stakeholders – i.e. academia, industry, investors, users, and institutions – are also outlined in the framework. We conclude by setting out an agenda for future research.