Knowledge transfer
[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] According to cognitive psychology, learning begins from unaware[13] and, even before birth during pregnancy,[14] from non-perceptual processes of distinguishing sensory stimuli.
[20] Indeed, the meaning of the word transfer implies the aim since the dictionary defines it as the process "to move someone or something from one place, vehicle, person, or group to another".
[22] The brief overview of related fields of knowledge introduces the main concepts that scholars consider when studying the current topic.
[24][25] Cognitive anthropologists strive to identify and systematize certain essential aspects of culture to understand how these peculiarities affect knowledge transfer.
In psychology, knowledge transfer is also based on the notion of cognitive schema and involves essential processes of Assimilation and Accommodation.
[1] In communication studies, basic concepts like "sender", "receiver", "message", "channel", "signal", "encoding", "decoding", "noise", "feedback", and "context", appear in different models, which are classified in many ways.
[34] It focuses on transferring technological platforms, market experience, managerial expertise, corporate culture, and other intellectual capital that can improve the companies' competence.
[41] In 1943, Ryan and Gross (1943) recognized the diffusion of innovation as an essential social process where interpersonal contact may play a pivotal role.
[42] The period since 1945 has been characterized as the information age that increased motivation to develop strategies for promoting its wider use.
[41] Numerous research studies tested different strategies of knowledge distribution: print materials, films, videotapes, audiocassettes, consultation, organization development, technical assistance, network arrangements, training conferences and workshops, and participant observation.
[45] Argote and Ingram (2000) defined knowledge transfer as "the process through which one unit (e.g., group, department, or division) is affected by the experience of another"[30] (p. 151).
[46] The second set of studies focus on the organizational level, e.g. discussing cultural aspects, structure, rewards and recognition, policy norms, training, relations.
Explicit knowledge is an awareness of facts or skills that can be readily articulated, conceptualized, codified, formalized, stored and accessed.
Tacit knowledge can be defined as skills, ideas and experiences that are possessed by people but are not codified and may not necessarily be easily expressed.
A source (a sender in terms of communication studies) encodes information as a message and sends it to the recipient (a receiver) through a channel.
[62] The two modes of knowledge transfer – the linear (a unidirectional process) and non-linear (a multi-directional) – encompass a set of different configurations of models.
For instance, according to Sailer and colleagues (2021), based on the number of sources and recipients, all types of knowledge transfer can be reduced to 3 subtypes, namely: linear, divergent, and convergent.
Linear knowledge transfer occurs when there is one source and one recipient (e.g. when one person explains a specific topic to someone else).
Given the contributions of key theorists[1][41] (see the above sections), a guide to the knowledge transfer process may be generalized in the following translation procedure: 1) The first stage aims at establishing the transfer design considering multiple actors, their different interests, perceptions, and interpretations in shaping translations that the existing theory suggests:[1] 2) The second stage forms the transfer design rules based on the activity in the first stage:[1] 3) The third stage aims at studying what a difference the translation makes:[1] With the move of advanced economies from a resource-based to a knowledge-based production,[64] many national governments have increasingly recognized "knowledge" and "innovation" as significant driving forces of economic growth, social development, and job creation.
[65] The underlying assumption that there is a potential for increased collaboration between industry and universities is also underlined in much of the current innovation literature.
In particular the Open Innovation approach to developing business value is explicitly based on an assumption that Universities are a "vital source for accessing external ideas".
Moreover, Universities have been deemed to be "the great, largely unknown, and certainly underexploited, resource contributing to the creation of wealth and economic competitiveness.
Routes to commercialization of IP produced by PSROs and colleges include licensing, joint venture, new company formation and royalty-based assignments.
Neuro-education seeks to improve quality of didactic methods and reduce the so called research practice gap.
Knowledge transfer thus becomes a rare, valuable, imperfectly imitable and also non-substitutable strategic axis for organizations.
A recent trend is the development of online platforms aiming to optimize knowledge transfer and collaboration.
Factors that complicate knowledge transfer include: Everett Rogers pioneered diffusion of innovations theory, presenting a research-based model for how and why individuals and social networks adopt new ideas, practices and products.
