This study addresses the problem of knowledge dissemination in science–society relation, its connection with the specialization of scientific research fields and the proliferation of academic and practitioner-oriented journals. Specifically, we elaborate on the scientists’ failure to communicate successfully with practitioners and the need for establishing alternative mechanisms that help boost the flow of knowledge between academics and industry. To do so, a thorough literature review is conducted and the author guidelines of the most prominent journals that appeal to both academics and practitioners are reviewed. Based on the analysis, the article offers suggestions on how to narrow the science–industry knowledge gap and how to find a way of not only delivering science to practitioners, but also making science benefit society. Progress is necessary to move towards a better academic–practitioner dialogue and thereby advance both science and practice.

According to past research, intellectual capital (IC) is a key driver of innovation performance and subsequent competitive advantage. Given the human nature of innovation activities (i.e. human beings produce innovations), human capital (HC) deserves special attention. Although researchers in the past have analysed the HC–innovation linkage, we still do not have a detailed understanding of how specific human capabilities affect innovation. Furthermore, the technology level of the firm could generate major differences in the HC–innovation relationship as it influences both the type of knowledge prevalent within the company and the radicalness of the innovations developed. Nevertheless, former literature has largely omitted technology level when studying the IC–innovation linkage. To fill this research gap, this study examines the role of human attributes, including knowledge, skills and motivation (i.e. traditional HC), learning capability (i.e. renewal capital) and entrepreneurial attitude (i.e. entrepreneurial capital) on innovation in high-tech versus low-tech companies. To that end, survey data from 180 Spanish companies were analysed by means of structural equation modelling based on partial least squares. The results obtained confirm that the influence of HC, renewal capital and entrepreneurial capital on innovation differs depending on the technology level.

Researchers have in the last decade highlighted the increasing importance and continuing expansion of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in developed economies. This study investigates the role of KIBS in the evolution of an innovation system. Interactions between KIBS firms and their clients, and the roles of KIBS in these interactions, are analyzed by examining the evolution of local innovation systems in the Hsinchu and Tainan Science-Based Industrial Parks in Taiwan. Analytical results reveal that cumulative interactions have raised demand for and reliance upon KIBS, and have increased the need for specialized support with various functions. Consequently, KIBS firms are becoming increasingly important in the industrial interface by gradually transforming from being primarily knowledge carriers into influential and symbiotic partners of their clients.

This paper presents the results of a combined quantitative–qualitative study that explored the learning patterns of IT consultants involved in the implementation of Enterprise Systems (ES). The study was carried out in a multinational IT consulting company that specialises in Enterprise System consulting and has offices in Germany, the UK, the US, Poland and China. The study revealed the preferred learning pattern of IT consultants, which starts with introductory learning, preferably executed in the form of instruction-based training, followed by the preparation of a prototype to process and sustain the knowledge, and continues with hands-on learning during real-life projects. Learning during projects was identified as the most important knowledge source, as it is the only way actually to gain experience. The experience itself was considered to be the final outcome of the learning process, and it is the main asset of a consulting enterprise.

This research investigates the moderating role of knowledge-sharing capability on the effects of team dynamics on organisational learning by decomposing team dynamics into two types, namely, intra-team and inter-team dynamics. Using structural equation modelling techniques and data from a large-scale survey of employees in Australia, it is shown that inter-team dynamics has a larger direct effect on organisational learning compared with intra-team dynamics. However, when taking the moderating effects of knowledge-sharing capability into consideration, intra-team dynamics contribute more to organisational learning. The findings suggest that knowledge-sharing capability is more critical within teams rather than between teams in enhancing organisational learning. The implications of these findings for knowledge management research and practice are fully discussed.

Knowledge has become the main competitive tool for firms. Just as knowledge is considered as the most important strategic resource, knowledge management (KM) is considered to be critical to a firm’s success. Several attempts have been undertaken to identify and define the different KM processes. From the literature review, four key dimensions stand out as affecting KM processes: knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, knowledge storage/retrieval, and knowledge application. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the KM and value literature by determining the importance of the different processes of KM for increasing value creation and value capture in firms. The context for the research hypotheses is the Spanish banking industry in 2010. The results support a positive relationship between KM and value creation, and between value creation and value capture.

Employing a multidisciplinary approach this paper addresses an important area of how born global high-technology firms develop knowledge integration capability through their internal and external networks. Knowledge integration is noted as a critical capability in the innovation process. Our exploratory study contributes by: presenting evidence from India’s high-technology IT/BPO offshore outsourcing business-to-business (B2B) vendors; adding to the theoretical body of knowledge by identifying the three critical operational routines of learning, market and quality orientations that are critical in developing knowledge integration capability and supporting innovation processes; and develops a theoretical framework for future researchers to test it through survey designs. We conclude by identifying future research and managerial implications for firms operating in such milieus.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of knowledge management (KM) maturity of credit unions. The application of a maturity model to 15 credit unions in North America revealed that an overall level of KM maturity is at an early stage of development, but there are signs of future improvement. Credit unions operate in a highly competitive, knowledge-intensive financial industry and experience various pressures to increase their efficiency, which they can achieve through the implementation of KM solutions. Despite the absence of official KM strategies, KM projects were introduced locally in order to fill particular knowledge gaps. The availability of IT infrastructure and the implementation of KM-related technologies alone are insufficient to ensure universal success of organizational KM activities. Credit union managers periodically access and use academic research in their decision making. At the same time, they prefer accessing scholarly knowledge in translated form from books, practitioner magazines, and consultants. It was concluded that organizations competing in the knowledge-intensive sector have an inner need for KM solutions.

Clinical governance is a transcendent force to steer clinicians towards patients and other clinicians in health-care organizations. This empirical research seeks to examine the chain effect from clinical governance, which is promoted by human resource (HR) practices, through emotional intelligence (EI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR), to knowledge sharing. Through the investigation of the responses from 418 middle-level clinicians, the proposed model was tested through the structural equation modelling-based analysis. Research results confirmed the role of clinical governance in leveraging EI and ethical CSR among clinicians, which are activators of knowledge sharing. The contribution of HR practices to clinical governance was also revealed from data analysis. Managerial implications on clinical governance indicators that aim to shape EI and CSR in health-care organizations were grounded from research findings.

Generating new kinds of knowledge is a key concern of knowledge clusters in which cooperative relationships generally outweigh competitive ones. The knowledge in these kinds of clusters has the character of a flow, or to use a simple metaphor, a stream. The idea of a knowledge capital and how to measure it are very difficult to apply in practice. In France, the distinctive feature of knowledge clusters, called ‘pôles de compétitivité’, is that they are made up of very different entities (businesses, research groups, public or mixed institutions, and so on). The heterogeneous and extended nature of these kinds of organization raises the question of knowledge boundaries and of misunderstandings among members belonging to different entities. In this context, different actors who speak the same mother tongue, French for instance, do not share the same language. To understand one another it is not enough to speak the same tongue. This observation is quite common, however, the importance of its consequences has not been much taken into account. Indeed, in day-to-day work, speakers express themselves in their usual way, in conformity with the codes of the community to which they belong. The presence of several communities brings with it problems of misunderstanding. These arise sporadically, then retreat into the background, and so remain dormant. We demonstrate this by studying the case of a collaborative project named NP that we followed for 2 years, taking part in meetings of the consortium, and transcribing verbatim discussions arising at moments of obvious tension which we were able to observe through our involvement in the project. More particularly we analyze a moment of tension emerging during a consortium meeting between communities of physicists and chemists. Reading this moment in the light of Harry Collins’ theoretical framework we will show that the collective tacit knowledge of each community gives rise to different interpretations of the same subject. These are strongly linked to the usual methods and practices within each community or profession. Following Yrjö Engeström, we show that such moments of tension reveal the dynamics of an activity system and the obstacles to mutual understanding; they also provide a way for actors to transcend the language boundaries. Thus, contradictions and tensions by no means impair the project: on the contrary they should be considered as an opportunity to make progress, generate new knowledge and innovate. The Peer-Mediation Process, by transcending rather than simply overcoming those tensions, offers new perspectives: it becomes a constituent part of knowledge management.