“The Art of Knowing”: Social and Tacit Dimensions of Knowledge and the Limits of the Community of Practice

Community of practice theory is inherently a social theory. As such it is distinct from more individualist accounts of human behavior, such as mainstream economics. Consequently, community of practice theory and economics favor different accounts of knowledge. Taking a community of practice perspective, this article challenges economists' attempts to reduce knowledge to information held by individuals and to reject tacit knowledge as mere uncodified explicit knowledge. The essay argues that Polanyi's notion of a tacit dimension affected numerous disciplines (including economics) because it addressed aspects of learning and identity that conventional social sciences overlooked. The article situates knowledge, identity, and learning within communities and points to ethical and epistemic entailments of community practice. In so doing it attempts to limit, rather than expand, the scope of community of practice analysis and to stress the difference, rather than the commonalities, between this and other apparently congenial forms of social analysis.     

At the Intersection of the Digital Divide and the Knowledge Gap: Do Knowledge Domains and Measures Matter?

This study reports on knowledge gain, examined through three separate measures (free recall, comprehension and recognition) among high- and low-education groups who used two types of news media (newspaper vs. online) to consume two kinds of news (public affairs vs. entertainment). Results (n = 123) confirm the knowledge gap and validate concerns about the digital divide. Yet three different knowledge acquisition measures generated dissimilar findings: strong education effects for free recall, strong media format effects for recognition, and strong interaction effects between education and media format for comprehension. The implications of these inconsistencies are considered for measuring knowledge gaps in future research.     

Sectoral Transformation in the Photovoltaics Industry in Australia,Germany and Japan: Contrasting the Co‐evolution of Actors,Knowledge, Institutions and Markets 1

This paper studies the evolution of the photovoltaics industry in Australia, Germany and Japan taking a comparative perspective. A modification of the sectoral innovation system framework is used to discuss: knowledge and technologies, actors and interactions, institutions and funding, development of markets and technological structure, as a way to understand the changes. In the process of transition from niche to mass production, national players have specialised in different activities, and the institutions’ building block has been a key determinant. In the case of Australia, it is also the least developed area which ultimately exposes the country to losing its innovation benefits.     

New Leader of Institute of Policy and Management Named

Prof. Mu Rongping has been taking the helm ofthe CAS Institute of Policy and Management(IPM) since May 20, when the Academy namedhim Vice Executive Director of IPM. He will succeedformer IPM director Fang Xin, who left IPM in lateApril and is now working at the Standing Committee ofthe National Peoples Congress (NPC), the Chinas toplegislature.Prof. Mu, a physicist by training, received his Ph. Dfrom the Department of History and Communicationsof Technische Universitt Berlin,…     

Civil Society and the Shaping of Communication–Information Policy: Four Decades of Advocacy

This article initiates exploratory empirical research on how civil society collective action has reacted to and affected communication–information policy (CIP), a policy domain that has been reshaped by technological and industrial change. It reviews the relevant theory on social movements, citizens groups, and interest groups from political science. Data are gathered on two dimensions of the research question: (1) We quantify the number of public interest advocacy groups focused on CIP in the United States from 1961 to the present, using organizational ecology methods. (2) We track the number of U.S. Congressional hearings held each year on CIP issues. The results show that CIP now exceeds other social movement issues (women, civil rights, the environment, human rights) as a major concern of Congressional activity, that the issues are becoming more interdependent, and that modes of citizens advocacy have undergone drastic changes in recent years.     

Innovation and firm value: An investigation of the changing role of patents, 1985–2007

This paper examines how the relationship between firm value and patent-based indicators of inventive activity has changed over time. We use data from more than 33,000 mergers and acquisitions deals between 1985 and 2007, and distinguish between American (USPTO) and European (EPO) patents. Our results indicate that over time EPO patents have become the dominant indicator of innovative activity, while USPTO patents have no effect on firm value near the end of the sample period. The results are robust to controlling for citations and are especially strong for small firms, for firms operating in the drug and chemical industries, and when target and acquiring firms operate in different industries or countries.     

Knowledge generation and sharing in UK universities: A tale of two cultures?

As economies become more knowledge intensive it has become evident to most organizations that knowledge is a valuable resource. This is particularly true in academic organizations, which have the generation and dissemination of knowledge as their principal mission. This research assesses whether path-dependency exists in relation to cultural expectations of knowledge generation and sharing in knowledge intensive organizations. This paper adopts a constructivist approach facilitated by focus group discussions which were conducted in two UK universities, one Russell group university and the other a post-1992. Institutional culture and path dependency play a major role in the willingness of institutions to generate and share knowledge. Each institution exemplified a distinct path-dependency that underpinned cultural expectations but in each case internal and external factors were necessitating changes regarding knowledge sharing and generation which affected individual perspectives and organizational structures. The paper concludes by purporting that certain universities display critical junctures and cultural transformation in terms of knowledge generation, dissemination and sharing.     

Knowledge management and ERP: Complementary or contradictory?

This research aims at deepening the understanding of the effects of information systems on supply chain operations, and to find the level and direction of the relationship between Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Knowledge Management (KM) in the context of operational and financial performance. Essentially, this study emphasizes the explanation of the complementary relationship between ERP and KM. Therefore, the mediating effect of KM is also analyzed. Using a survey method, 163 responses are collected from Turkish manufacturing companies which operate in a variety of industries. A structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to test both the reliability and validity of measurement and the structural path model. The results show that ERP has no significantly positive effect on operational performance, but it is a precedent of KM. Moreover, results also show that KM affects operational performance positively and it has a mediating effect for the relationship between ERP and operational performance. Lastly, the path analysis shows that operational performance is positively associated with financial performance.     

4Co-moderating Effects of Knowledge Characteristic and Tie Strength on Knowledge Transfer：A Cost Perspective

知识转移是当前企业知识管理实践和学术研究关注的热点。整合并提出了知识转移成本分析框架,采集了369份问卷进行分析,在个体层面验证了知识距离与知识转移容易性负相关。结果显示,受各种知识转移成本影响,知识隐含性对知识距离与知识转移容易性关系有显著调节效应,联系强度与知识隐含性的联合调节效应显著。进一步发现：联系强度调节知识距离与知识转移容易性关系有赖于知识隐含性,知识隐含性与联系强度存在匹配关系。     

An Academic Overview of Relations Between IP Law and Civil Code

With the development of the economic life and deepening of the theoretic research, the civil law community in China began, from the late 1990s and early this century, heated discussions on how to develop a good civil code, and the legislative authority also appointed some experts and scholars to start the work on drafting the civil code. Since the work along the line also involves the structure and system of the civil code, whether to incorporate the intellectual property law into the civil code has become one of the points of attention from the scholars. The relevant discussions have been kept on to date.     

Knowledge diffusion models – perspectives of gene evolution and population dynamics

Knowledge management has become a popular issue in both the practical and academic fields recently, and is concerned with the processes of knowledge creation, knowledge diffusion and knowledge usage of both intra-organization and inter-organizations. In this paper, we limit the topic of knowledge management to the process of knowledge diffusion. Two knowledge diffusion models distinguished by the degree of involvement of the organizational members are proposed according to the perspectives of gene evolution and population dynamics. These models of knowledge diffusion propose an organic view for realizing the process of knowledge diffusion and insights into how to improve the process of efficient knowledge diffusion based on the evolution of species.     

Exploration on the Cognitive Schema and Its Transformation of Knowledge Management

Abstract Knowledge management （KM） has been receiving considerable attention in the human-system research community. And it is one of the key issues on what the cognitive structure （schema） is and how it transfers. From different perspectives, such as the cognitive science, the concepts, elements and characteristics of cognitive schema, the knowledge structure, knowledge acquisition and influence of schema on it, this paper explores the cognitive schema of knowledge management.     

Exploration on the Cognitive Schema and Its Transformation of Knowledge Management

Knowledge management (KM) has been receiving considerable attention in the human-system research community. And it is one of the key issues on what the cognitive structure (schema) is and how it transfers. From different perspectives, such as the cognitive science, the concepts, elements and characteristics of cognitive schema, the knowledge structure, knowledge acquisition and influence of schema on it, this paper explores the cognitive schema of knowledge management.     

Innovation intermediaries and collaboration: Knowledge–based practices and internal value creation

This paper analyses how knowledge-based practices adopted by innovation intermediaries enable them to generate value for themselves when collaborating with their clients. While the literature focuses on value creation for their client organisations, little is known about how innovation intermediaries create internal value even though this is essential for ensuring their long-term survival and sustaining their key facilitating role in the innovation system. This understudied issue is explored using empirical evidence from a sub-set of innovation intermediaries, Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs). The results indicate that by capitalising on existing knowledge vested in employees and collaborators as well as understanding and shaping the knowledge base of the innovation ecosystem, innovation intermediaries generate internal value from their involvement in collaborative innovation, which range from different financial to non-financial types of value. Implications for intermediaries, their collaborators and for policymakers are then discussed.     

Japonica Rice: Intellectual Property,Scientific Publishing and Data‐sharing1

Abstract

This article examines a series of controversies within the life sciences over data sharing. Part 1 focuses upon the agricultural biotechnology firm Syngenta publishing data on the rice genome in the journal Science, and considers proposals to reform scientific publishing and funding to encourage data sharing. Part 2 examines the relationship between intellectual property rights and scientific publishing, in particular copyright protection of databases, and evaluates the declaration of the Human Genome Organisation that genomic databases should be global public goods. Part 3 looks at varying opinions on the information function of patent law, and then considers the proposals of Patrinos and Drell to provide incentives for private corporations to release data into the public domain.     

Knowledge management practices and performance: are they truly linked?

Knowledge management (KM) has often been claimed to be an essential ingredient in building competitive advantage. Yet, KM adoption is relatively slow, especially in the Malaysian context. Most organizations are unsure if the promised performance improvement is just a passing fad. This study intends to provide empirical verifications to support the link between KM practices and performance outcomes for organizations. Responses from 180 knowledge-based organizations were analysed. The analysis indicated that knowledge acquisition and knowledge utilization positively influenced strategic and operational improvement in organizations, whereas the positive effect of knowledge dissemination was only evident in the case of strategic improvement. Organization size had some interesting moderating impact on the tested relationships.     

Knowledge co-creation across national boundaries: trends and firms’ strategies

This paper examines the role, patterns, and characteristics of knowledge co-creation in a cross-border context and develops a theoretical framework to guide empirical exploration of the value of cross-border knowledge. The empirical results reveal an upward trend in the share of cross-border knowledge and show that cross-border knowledge is of higher quality than within-border knowledge in terms of having more forward and backward citations, more claims, and a shorter technology cycle time. Our study also reveals pronounced differences in knowledge co-creation patterns between the triad regions: Japan, Europe and the United States. Moreover, the analysis of three cases, IBM, Hitachi, and Bayer, demonstrates that instead of focusing on conflicts of interest, such leading firms cooperate with foreign competitors to address technological challenges and opportunities, penetrate foreign markets, defend their positions, and advance technological innovations. Overall, our findings provide new evidence regarding the importance of cross-border knowledge co-creation.     

Knowledge of the natural and the social: how are they different and what do they have in common?

Knowledge of the natural and the social are irreducibly different yet have much in common. The differences lie at the levels of complexity they engage, modes of explanation they adopt, investigation aims they allow and whether they assert a ‘double hermeneutic’ effect to the behaviour of the studied objects. Knowledge are in common in that they are all construed out of available resources, justified based on the consequences of acting upon them, settled until better alternatives emerge, and serving as walking sticks for beating unknown paths in human life. Because of this, there can be no hierarchy of knowledge or unity of methodology, and dialogical encounters guided by situational ethics, not professional deafness driven by ontological/instrumental fallacies, are a viable strategy for morally and practically wise actions, including knowledge management projects.