Data on the handweaving program at the Quicksand Craft Center in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky were compiled and analyzed. Four areas--history of the craft program, business organization and financial structure, weave patterns of goods woven and sold by the craft center, and weavers employed in the program --were examined to assess the success of the program in the local community. Factors in the four areas examined contributed to the success of the program. The benevolence, perseverance, and co-operation of the founders, directors and community members involved with the craft center have been largely responsible for the continued success of the program. The non-profit organizational structure of the craft program was financially stable and met federal guidelines for tax exemption. Weave patterns in goods produced at the craft center were basically traditional with modern adaptations in fibers and end products. Influence of the handweaving program in the lives of weavers and their families was primarily positive.

La presente tesi si propone di comprendere come le organizzazioni chiamate ad agire in mercati complessi siano in grado di produrre, sedimentare, utilizzare, condividere e rendere disponibile la propria conoscenza. La ricerca si focalizza sulle organizzazioni creative legate all'artigianato d’eccellenza in quanto realtà ancora poco esplorate e all'interno delle quali il tema proposto è percepito in misura crescente. Dallo studio emergono due risultati significativi raggiunti grazie all’elaborazione di una review della letteratura e di un’indagine qualitativa condotta sul campo. Il primo risultato è la constatazione di un recente interesse da parte degli studi accademici per il tema della conoscenza e del suo trasferimento con riferimento alle industrie creative dell’artigianato d’eccellenza. Il secondo risultato mette in risalto la relazione tra trasferimento del saper fare e creazione di manufatti d’eccellenza, e riconosce il maestro d’arte come figura cruciale di questo processo di trasferimento della conoscenza (knowledge transfer) in quanto detentore di un sapere che costituisce ed alimenta il valore unico ed esclusivo dei manufatti. Il lavoro proposto riconosce quindi nel sapere dei maestri d’arte una risorsa cardine da valorizzare e trasmettere, in quanto leva di sviluppo di sistemi produttivi basati sulla qualità, sull’eccellenza e sulla differenziazione. / The goal of this study is to understand how organizations operating in a complex market are able to produce, leave sediment, use, share and make available their knowledge. The focus is on arts & crafts creative industries as still insufficiently investigated organizations, although the proposed theme is increasingly perceived. This study presents two significant results achieved thanks to a literature review and a qualitative field research. The first result is the identification of a unprecedented interest of academic studies for the issue of knowledge and its transfer relevant to arts & crafts creative industries. The second result focuses on the relationship between knowledge transfer and creation of artifacts of excellence. In this second part of the study, the craftsman is a critical factor in the process of knowledge transfer as holder of a knowledge which constitutes and nurtures the sole and the exclusive value of the products. In the present dissertation the knowledge of these craftsmen emerges as a key resource that must be valued and transmitted as lever of development of production systems based on quality, excellence and differentiation.