Organizational climate and its influence on brokers’ knowledge transfer activities: A structural equation modeling

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the processes involved in transferring knowledge into action. Obviously an interesting subject of research, it is worthwhile delving into the role played by knowledge brokers in bridging the gap between research and practice. This paper investigates the relationship between organizational climate and brokers’ knowledge transfer activities. The structural equation model was tested, using survey data from 301 respondents who primarily carry out their professional activities in health services, such as knowledge brokers. The results suggest two major findings: first, that the organizational climate as a multidimensional concept has a direct positive impact on the brokers’ knowledge transfer activities; secondly, that the organizational climate, characterized by the autonomy granted to brokers and a cooperative climate play an indirect role in affecting the knowledge transfer activities through the mediation of the organizational support provided to brokers.     

Managing the protection of innovations in knowledge-intensive business services

How do knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) protect their inventions from imitation by rival firms when choosing among various protection mechanisms? Data from the 2003 Statistics Canada Innovation Survey on services are used to investigate this issue by looking into complementarities, substitution and independence among eight protection mechanisms. A Multivariate Probit (MVP) model is estimated to take into account the fact that KIBS simultaneously consider many alternative intellectual property (IP) protection methods when they attempt to protect their innovations. Results show that patents, registration of design patterns, trademarks, secrecy and lead-time advantages over competitors constitute legal and informal methods that are used jointly. These complementarities suggest that IP protection mechanisms that are interdependent and reinforce each other to protect innovations from imitation by rival firms constitute a pattern on which firms rely to protect their innovations from imitation. A second pattern is based on the fact that KIBS rely on patents and complexity of designs as substitutes, and tend to use registration of design patterns and complexity of designs as substitutes in protecting their innovations from imitation. A third emerging pattern concerns protection mechanisms that are independent from each other and exhibit no synergy, and do not reinforce each other to protect innovations from imitation by other firms.     

The impact of transaction costs on the institutional structuration of collaborative academic research

This paper addresses a crucial question: Which factors explain the choices of institutional structures made by university researchers? The main findings of the study point to the central importance of publication assets, coordination costs, additional funding, and membership in the disciplines of engineering, natural sciences and health sciences as factors affecting the choices of institutional structures university researchers make when they become involved in collaborative research projects. On the other hand, the number of years researchers have been involved in collaborative research, the capture of additional publications linked to involvement in collaborative research, the importance of administrative burdens and the time required to coordinate collaborative research were demonstrated to be unimportant in explaining these choices.     

Indigenous technology of Sierra Leone and the science education of girls

Female school enrolment in Sierra Leone is consistently and significantly lower than that of boys at all levels of the educational system. Certain traditional beliefs, values and practices discriminate against the education of girls. There is an urgent need to adapt the science curriculum to the needs of girls, by including aspects they can relate to and identify with. Using indigenous technology as a basis for science education is a good way to begin. The use of familiar materials and processes will remove the fear often associated with science, thereby encouraging more female participation.     

Faculty consulting in natural sciences and engineering: between formal and informal knowledge transfer

Academic consulting is a form of knowledge and technology transfer largely under-documented and under-studied that raises ethical and resources allocation issues. Based on a survey of 2,590 Canadian researchers in engineering and natural sciences, this paper explores three forms of academic consulting: (1) paid consulting; (2) unpaid consulting for companies and; (3) unpaid consulting for government agencies. The results of this study show that academics tend to engage simultaneously in paid and unpaid consulting. Two patterns of consulting emerged from the results: a first pattern regarding engagement in paid consulting for companies and government agencies, and unpaid consulting for companies is positively associated with industry funding, size of research laboratories, large-sized research universities, technical validation of knowledge, protection of IP, and strong ties with people in companies. By comparison, a second pattern regarding engagement in unpaid consulting services provided to government organizations is positively associated with size of research laboratories, teaching, large-sized research universities, technical validation of knowledge, and with strong ties with people in government organizations. Knowledge and technology transfer policy should pay more attention to the contribution of academics engaged in consulting activities because they likely significantly contribute to help companies and government agencies solve practical problems that improve their productive and innovative capabilities.     

Evidence on how academics manage their portfolio of knowledge transfer activities

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether six broad categories of knowledge transfer activities undertaken by academics: the creation and diffusion of knowledge through publications, transmission of knowledge through teaching, informal knowledge transfer, patenting, spin-off formation and consulting activities, are complementary, substitute, or independent, as well as the conditions under which complementarities, substitution and independence among these activities are likely to emerge. This investigation relied on data regarding 1554 researchers funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Contrary to prior studies which have examined complementarities and the determinants of knowledge transfer activities in separate models, this study relied on a multivariate path model to reflect the fact that in practice, academics consider simultaneously whether or not to undertake multiple knowledge transfer activities. Overall, the results point to the existence of three very different types of knowledge transfer portfolios of activities: a first portfolio made up of complementary activities which are interdependent and reinforce each other. This portfolio includes publications, patenting, spin-off creation, consulting and informal knowledge transfer. A second portfolio includes teaching activities and publication outputs which are substitute for each other. A third portfolio comprises teaching activities and other activities independent from teaching, namely, patenting, spin-off creation, consulting and informal knowledge transfer. Each of these three portfolios of knowledge transfer activities emerged under different conditions. Implications are derived for managerial practice and future research.