Bakgrund: I och med samhällets globalisering ökar möjligheterna för revisionsmedarbetare till internationell rörlighet länder emellan. En svensk revisionsmedarbetare har idag möjlighet att åka på en utbytesperiod för att tillägna sig ny kunskap; såväl professionell som privat, vilket det finns olika tillvägagångssätt för. Samhälleliga, privata och arbetsmässiga kulturkrockar är något som en revisionsmedarbetare kan uppleva genom ett utbyte. För revisionsmedarbetare bör det vara nyttigt att erfara sådana här skillnader för att skapa ny kunskap, utveckla sin egna samt kunna dela med sig av denna. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vilken utbyteskunskap en svensk revisionsmedarbetare har av ett utbyte till USA, hur denna tillägnas, samt om denna kunskap går att implementera i det fortsatta arbetet i Sverige. Definitioner: Utbyteskunskap definieras i denna uppsats som den typ av kunskap som tillägnas vid ett utbyte. Med kunskap avses sådan som kan användas inom revisionsyrket, vilket innefattar kunskap om arbetsmetoder, tillvägagångssätt, sociala förhållanden samt regelverkens uppbyggnad. Resultat och slutsatser: Resultatet av studien konstaterar att utbyteskunskapen består i privata--‐, kulturella--‐ och arbetsmässiga områden, vilka tillägnas genom erfarenhetsbaserat lärande samt praktisk involvering i samhället. / Background: Considering the globalization of society, the possibility for audit associates to be internationally mobile increases. Today, a Swedish audit associate has the opportunity to leave for an exchange period to acquire new knowledge, both professionally and personally, where the approach differs. Audit associates are exposed to the societal, individual, and work--‐related cultural clashes, which arise from an international exchange. It would be useful for an audit associate to experience such clashes to be able to acquire new knowledge, develop pre--‐existing knowledge, as well as to share it. Aim: The aim with this research is to study the exchange knowledge a Swedish audit associate experiences from a period in the U.S., how this knowledge is acquired, and if it is implementable in to further work in Sweden. Definitions: Exchange knowledge is in this research defined as the type of knowledge that is acquired due to an exchange. Knowledge refers to a kind that could be used within the audit profession, which includes knowledge regarding work--‐methods, procedures, social conditions and the structure of the regulations. Results and conclusion: The result of the research is that the benefit lies in individual-, cultural- and work‐related areas which are acquired through experiential learning and also by involvement in society.

This thesis examines Knowledge Exchange (KE) seminars and the wider social, political, and economic environment in which they are situated Two-way interactive exchanges between academics and Non-Academic Professionals (NAPs) have been identified as an important factor in explaining why some academic research is used by NAPs, or not (Meagher et al, 2008; Mitton et al, 2007; Lavis et al, 2003; Hanney et al, 2003). Despite this, very little research has examined the social occasions where such exchanges occur. This thesis aims to fill this lacuna by examining the process of knowledge exchange through one specific type of intervention (Walter et al, 2003) – that of KE seminars. KE seminars are a common, almost canonical, strategy for academics wishing to engage with non-academic audiences, yet are relatively unexplored within the KE literature. If ‘sharing research findings with a non-academic audience’ is the sole purpose of KE seminars, then the goal could have been achieved more cheaply through a mail-shot of a briefing paper to a targeted audience (Percy-Smith et al, 2002). By comparison, KE seminars require a considerable investment in resources in terms of time and money. These factors make them theoretically and substantively interesting. This thesis explores the rationale for hosting and attending KE seminars, what benefits participants feel that they gain from attending, and provides insights into how best to facilitate those benefits. Conceptually this thesis draws on Spaapen and van Drooge (2011) & Molas-Gallart and Tang’s (2011) concept of ‘productive interactions.’ The thesis research examines what makes interactions between academics and NAPs ‘productive’ in the context of KE seminars, and the wider social network, economic and political environment in which those interactions emerge and are shaped. This thesis is based on a case study of the ESRC Centre for Population Change (CPC). The empirical evidence comes from 27 semi-structured interviews conducted with CPC academics & administrators (13), and NAPs who attended at least 1 CPC-organised KE seminar (14); and an online questionnaire of 48 CPC staff members (representing 75% of the Centre). The interviews were analysed thematically and the online questionnaire was analysed using Social Network Analysis (SNA). The research design was devised to collect data on the motivations, experiences, and understandings of interactions between academics and NAP within the CPC’s KE seminars. The social network analysis was designed to reveal the CPC’s KE social networks which are pertinent to understanding how the CPC engages with NAPs. This thesis documents ways in which KE seminars are sites of ‘knowledge interaction’ (Davies et al, 2008) where multiple actors from multiple organisations with different knowledges come together to engage in a topic of mutual interest. It finds that KE seminars are worthwhile for participants despite being resource-intensive because they fulfil multiple functions which cannot easily be replicated through non-dialogical and non-corporeal interventions. The academic research being presented on these social occasions is just one source of knowledge among many others (ibid). KE seminars are also opportunities for participants to create new informal contacts and strengthen existing ones. In other words, they help develop informal professional networks which is an important component for successful KE (Olmos-Peñuela, 2014b; Grimshaw et al, 2012; Kramer and Wells, 2005; Greenhalgh et al, 2004; Philip et al, 2003; Molas-Gallart et al, 2000). This thesis makes three original contributions. It shows: how KE seminars fill a number of functions that cannot easily be replicated by indirect forms of nonacademic engagement, which makes the investment of resources for hosting and attending them not only desirable but often necessary; how corporeal co-presence is important for facilitating productive interactions (Goffman, 1966; Urry, 2002; 2003); and the major factors which help facilitate ‘productive interactions’ within KE seminars. It is a contribution to the KE field generally, and will also be helpful to KE practitioners and academics that are tasked with organising and hosting KE seminars.

This paper aims to investigate the polarization present within the Design Thinking field ofresearch. Starting off from Johansson-Sköldberg et al. (2013), who first identified the distinctionbetween the two discourses Designerly Thinking and Design Thinking in 2010, we constructed a literature review and a framework of analysis based on conception of knowledge and its relationto the advancement of a research field. We claim that root-causes of the polarization derive from different knowledge bases, which then inhibit knowledge exchange as well as production. We conclude the paper by providing a suggestion for a way forward, claiming the applicability ofEngaged Scholarship within the realm of Design Thinking to make the field of research progresscreating relevance for both practitioners and scholars.