none

This thesis explores knowledge transfer between firms in multinational organisations. The subject of knowledge transfer is undisputedly important because knowledge is the essence of competitive advantage. In addition, multinational organisations are believed to be more effective at facilitating inter-firm knowledge transfer. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on four constructs of knowledge transfer: motivation to transfer knowledge; richness of communication channels; absorptive capacity and organisational context. The research uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore these constructs. The research confirms the positive relationship between these constructs. Importantly, it highlights three knowledge transfer levels namely: pooling; assimilation; application and integration of knowledge into the multinational organisation. The research shows that knowledge must move through each of these levels if the focus is knowledge creation, these levels not to be treated as isolated but in fact overlapping. The research also found that high levels of espoused motivation are not always supported by proactive knowledge transfer behaviours. It demonstrated that at a certain level of knowledge transfer encouragement becomes less important than other motivational factors. Importantly, the multinational needs to manage knowledge transfer. To do this, the nature of knowledge must be considered and there needs to be an understanding that ad hoc knowledge transfer patterns can inhibit knowledge being transferred to where it may be needed. The research highlights how important it is for multinational inter-firm knowledge transfer to begin with the individual and then move to the organisation. The individual needs to have the necessary attitudes and ability to understand the benefits. Also, they need to understand that knowledge is not transferred through acceptance alone, but needs to be implemented. This means the multinational must provide strategic direction and structure that facilitates the movement of knowledge across the multinational organisation. Knowledge transfer routines must be managed to allow knowledge to move to where it can create unique knowledge because it is this unique knowledge that can be a strategic benefit to the organisation.

Submitted by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2015-05-11T16:35:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rocha, Anderson Fabiano Rocha.pdf: 6146282 bytes, checksum: 3371cf5333dac88e51e1ce766b5d0857 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2015-05-11T16:35:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Rocha, Anderson Fabiano Rocha.pdf: 6146282 bytes, checksum: 3371cf5333dac88e51e1ce766b5d0857 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-11T16:35:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rocha, Anderson Fabiano Rocha.pdf: 6146282 bytes, checksum: 3371cf5333dac88e51e1ce766b5d0857 (MD5) / O objetivo deste estudo é relatar e analisar a experiência do processo de implantação do Programa Manter Petrobras na UO-SEAL, sendo uma das ações de Gestão do Conhecimento definidas pelo RH/GC da Companhia. O fator motivador constitui uma ação estratégica de ampliação da capacidade competitiva e de sustentabilidade do negócio, tendo em vista um mercado extremamente dinâmico, inovador e de grande competitividade. Outros fatores também motivaram o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, o elevado número de empregados com tempo de aposentadoria, os desligamentos de empregados, o retrabalho e a busca pela rápida tomada de decisão contribuindo para o aprendizado organizacional, garantindo a continuidade e geração de novos negócios. O compartilhamento do conhecimento em suas diversas áreas, principalmente naquelas reconhecidas como estratégicas e de diferencial competitivo, são carentes de ações sistematizadas que garantam a qualidade do conhecimento transmitido e a sua utilização dentro dos sistemas organizacionais. A aprendizagem organizacional tomada como base foi na Teoria da criação do conhecimento, onde se trabalhou a dimensão epistemológica (conhecimento explícito e tácito) e ontológica (criação individual do conhecimento), peças chave para o modelo SECI. Através do Programa Mentor, buscou-se o alcance dos objetivos. A abordagem utilizada foi a qualitativa, baseando-se no método de pesquisa-ação, tendo por conta o modo cooperativo e participativo, a visão de transformar o social, gerando um resultado, também pela interação e capacitação dos participantes (treinamentos e reuniões). O público alvo foram empregados de cargos júniors com até 3 anos de empresa, aqueles aposentáveis (para os próximos 3 anos) e aqueles aposentados mas ainda na ativa, reconhecidos pelo seu saber técnico. O período compreendeu os anos de 2011 a 2013. Buscaram-se com base no Programa Piloto implantado na UO-RNCE, as melhores práticas e lições aprendidas, minimizando assim as dificuldades e maximizando os ganhos. Este estudo demonstrou resultados positivos, tanto em termos de produto final como pelos próprios integrantes e, suas respectivas gerências, culminando na realização do 1º Encontro de Mentores da UO-SEAL, onde foram apresentados os produtos finais de cada plano de mentoria. / The objective of this study is to describe and analyze the experiment of the process of implantation of of the Mentor Program Petrobras UO-SEAL, The motivating factor is a strategic move to expand the capacity - competitive and sustainable business, with a view dynamic, innovative and highly competitive extremely a market. Other factors also motivated the development of this work, the high number of employees with time to apo - rement, the employee terminations, rework and the quest for rapid decision-making contributes to organizational learning, ensuring continuity and generating new business. The sharing of knowledge in diverse areas - will, especially those recognized as strategic and competi -tive advantage, are lacking of systematic actions that ensure the quality of knowledge imparted and its use within the organizational systems. Organizational learning was taken as a basis in the theory of knowledge creation, where it worked the epistemological dimension (explicit and tacit knowledge) and ontological (individual knowledge creation), key pieces to the SECI model. Through the Mentor Program, we sought to achieve the goals. The used approach was qualitative, based on the method of action research, by taking account of the mo - co-operative and participatory vision of transforming the social, generating a result, also by the interaction of the participants and training (training and meetings). The target pub- PUBLIC employees were junior positions with up to 3 years from now, those retired (for the next 3 years) and those retired but still active, recog-lished by his technical knowledge. The period comprised the years 2011-2013. Searching themselves to be based on the Pilot Program implemented in UO- RNCE, best practices and lessons learned, thus minimizing the difficulties and maximizing gains. This study showed positive results, both in terms of final product as members and their respective managements for themselves, culminating in the holding of the 1st Meeting UO-SEAL Mentors, where the final products of each mentoring plan were presented.

Although research and practice agree that visions are essential for organizations, the process of vision development remains elusive in academic literature. Presenting the "theory wave", this paper proposes a knowledge-based theory for developing sustainable visions to guide the creation of measures and actions in the future. Central to the theory wave, we suggest three features that characterize the development of sustainable visions; (1) learning from an envisioned future, (2) need orientation and (3) a wavelike process combining top-down and bottom-up approaches. Furthermore, by enhancing the creation of different kinds of knowledge, the theory-wave entails aspects of research on knowledge creation and thereby, it provides a new perspective on the field of vision development.

The ubiquitous use of computers and greater accessibility of the Internet have triggered widespread use of educational innovations such as online discussion forums, Wikis, Open Educational Resources, MOOCs, to name a few. These advances have led to the creation of a wide range of instructional videos, written documents and discussion archives by engineering learners seeking to expand their learning and advance their knowledge beyond the engineering classroom. However, it remains a challenging task to assess the quality of knowledge advancement on these learning platforms particularly due to the informal nature of engagement as a whole and the massive amount of learner-generated data. This research addresses this broad challenge through a research approach based on the examination of the state of knowledge advancement, analysis of relationships between variables indicative of knowledge creation and participation in knowledge creation, and identification of groups of learners. The study site is an online engineering community, All About Circuits, that serves 31,219 electrical and electronics engineering learners who contributed 503,908 messages in 65,209 topics. The knowledge creation metaphor provides the guiding theoretical framework for this research. This metaphor is based on a set of related theories that conceptualizes learning as a collaborative process of developing shared knowledge artifacts for the collective benefit of a community of learners. In a knowledge-creating community, the quality of learning and participation can be evaluated by examining the degree of collaboration and the advancement of knowledge artifacts over an extended period of time. Software routines were written in Python programming language to collect and process more than half a million messages, and to extract user-produced data from 87,263 web pages to examine the use of engineering terms, social networks and engineering artifacts. Descriptive analysis found that state of knowledge advancement varies across discussion topics and the level of engagement in knowledge creating activities varies across individuals. Non-parametric correlation analysis uncovered strong associations between topic length and knowledge creating activities, and between the total interactions experienced by individuals and individual engagement in knowledge creating activities. On the other hand, the variable of individual total membership period has week associations with individual engagement in knowledge creating activities. K-means clustering analysis identified the presence of eight clusters of individuals with varying lengths of participation and membership, and Kruskal-Wallis tests confirmed that significant differences between the clusters. Based on a comparative analysis of Kruskal-Wallis Score Means and the examination of descriptive statistics for each cluster, three groups of learners were identified: Disengaged (88% of all individuals), Transient (10%) and Engaged (2%). A comparison of Spearman Correlations between pairs of variables suggests that variable of individual active membership period exhibits stronger association with knowledge creation activities for the group of Disengaged, whereas the variable of individual total interactions exhibits stronger association with knowledge creation activities for the group of Engaged. Limitations of the study are discussed and recommendations for future work are made. / Ph. D.

No description available.

No description available.

Background:The management of knowledge within organizations and projects has become increasinglyimportant. In addition, the number of transnational projects is on the rise. Moreover, projectsare considered the loci where new knowledge is generated. Further, the asset of knowledge ishighly related to the competitiveness and value creation of the organization. Yet, due to theintangible nature of knowledge, it is often considered difficult to manage. Literature review: Literature shows a growing interest in the topic of knowledge management and theenhancement of new knowledge creation. Additionally, structuring and managing this processwithin projects is highly complex due to the nature of projects as temporary organizations.Mitigating these challenges demands careful actions and thoughtfulness throughout the project.Moreover, the conversion between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge to generate newknowledge is vital. Managing tacit knowledge on an individual level is difficult, yet crucial forprojects and organizations to absorb knowledge into the core of the operations. Method:The methodology employed in this research is a constructionist research design with relativismas ontology. The standpoint of the study is therefore that several truths exist and that facts aredependent on the viewpoint of each observer. As the study aims to investigate the knowledgecreation process within an international multi-actor project, several perspectives with their ownunderlying reality, as well as truth, must surrender to the surface. The study follows aqualitative and abductive research approach. A single case study was carried out with purposivesampling. Primary data consists of six semi-structured interviews and one observation thatprovides the foundation for the findings. The seven steps of grounded theory were used toanalyze the empirical findings. Findings & Analysis: From the findings of the study, the starting point for the generation of tacit knowledge was seento be shared experiences. Additionally, to fully generate the tacit knowledge, a strategic purpose was seen to be critical. Further, to transform the generated knowledge into explicitknowledge, feedback loops internally among the different actors were identified. Yet, thedimension of feedback loops was not sufficient in itself to generate and transform into explicitand codified knowledge. The incorporation of practical instruments enabled the knowledge tobecome codified knowledge available to be absorbed on an organizational or project level.Finally, SACC-USA acting as a neutral facilitator was seen as a vital component for the successof the project. Further, they enabled the process to take place and bridged the differencesbetween the actors involved in the project. Conclusion:Compared to projects within organizations, projects with different actors and culturaldifferences do not share tacit knowledge as a starting point. They need to form theseexperiences together with respect to their shared interest and understanding of each other'sdifferences. To enable the process of tacit knowledge between the individuals responsible forthe project, shared experiences are crucial. Additionally, to discuss the strategic purpose createsa common ground between the actors and fulfills the generation of tacit knowledge.Furthermore, for the generation of new knowledge to take place, this needs to be converted intoexplicit knowledge through feedback loops internally and further transformed into practicalinstruments.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-06-28T15:52:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Kadígia Faccin_.pdf: 5715661 bytes, checksum: d848e99d1da8626663a9bb8f64bac6a7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-28T15:52:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Kadígia Faccin_.pdf: 5715661 bytes, checksum: d848e99d1da8626663a9bb8f64bac6a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-08 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O estudo das práticas colaborativas de criação de conhecimento em projetos colaborativos de pesquisa e desenvolvimento é particularmente relevante quando se consideram projetos de indústrias intensivas em conhecimento, como a de semicondutores no caso do projeto do transistor FD-SOI 28nm, desenvolvido no cluster de microeletrônica, em Grenoble, na França. As evidências demonstradas na literatura sobre as características da criação de conhecimento não têm atentado às práticas vivenciadas pelos atores, que facilitam este processo. Assim, a dinâmica das práticas colaborativas não consegue ser suficientemente explicada pelas perspectivas teóricas existentes, apresentando-se como uma “caixa preta” para os estudos das relações interorganizacionais. Neste trabalho, buscou-se compreender como ocorre a dinâmica das práticas colaborativas de criação do conhecimento em projetos colaborativos de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (P&D), a partir do significado que os participantes do projeto atribuem às suas experiências. Na presente pesquisa, desenvolveu-se uma contribuição substantiva para explicar a dinâmica das práticas colaborativas de criação do conhecimento, que visa contribuir, tanto com o incremento da visão relacional, quanto da teoria de criação do conhecimento, utilizando os procedimentos metodológicos da grounded theory, bem como narrativa e mapas temporais em um estudo de caso único, tomando-se uma abordagem processual, de caráter qualitativo e de cunho analitico. Para que isso fosse possível, resgatou-se a história do desenvolvimento de um projeto colaborativo que começa na pesquisa básica e vai até o desenvolvimento experimental do produto. Neste estudo, contou-se a história do projeto colaborativo desenvolvido nos últimos 15 anos (1999 a 2014) a partir da percepção dos atores que colaboraram na criação do transistor FD-SOI 28nm. Dessa forma, por meio da análise de dados, foi possível fornecer uma descrição pragmática das condições contextuais responsáveis pela emergência de um conjunto de práticas colaborativas utilizadas no projeto. Essa descrição processual, somada à identificação das práticas colaborativas adotadas para a criação do conhecimento, permitiu a compreensão da dinâmica das práticas colaborativas em projetos conjuntos de P&D, que é a grande originalidade deste estudo. Entre os principais achados da pesquisa está o entendimento de que as diferentes práticas colaborativas adotadas tendem a agregar diferentes tipos de conhecimentos ao projeto; garantindo, assim, a síntese dinâmica entre conhecimentos tácitos e explícitos. Outrossim, reconheceu-se que o tipo de prática colaborativa adotada em um projeto conjunto de P&D varia de acordo com o estoque de conhecimento necessário para tornar o conceito realidade, e também conforme a estratégia de criação do conhecimento adotada em cada fase do projeto colaborativo de P&D. Este estudo possibilitou confirmar a tese de que a dinâmica das práticas colaborativas de criação do conhecimento em projetos conjuntos de P&D na indústria de semicondutores são fundamentais para a criação de conhecimento interorganizacional. Espera-se que os resultados encontrados por este estudo possam aumentar o conhecimento sobre a gestão de projetos colaborativos de P&D na indústria de semicondutores, assim como se espera que esses resultados possam gerar reflexões governamentais, sociais e novas contribuições acadêmicas sobre a criação de conhecimento interorganizacional. / The study of collaborative practices of knowledge creation in collaborative projects of research and development is particularly relevant when considering intensive- knowledge industry projects such as the semiconductor in the case of the project of the FD-SOI 28nm transistor, developed in the microelectronics cluster in Grenoble, France. The evidence demonstrated in the literature on the characteristics of knowledge creation do not attack the practices experienced by actors that facilitate this process. Thus, the dynamics of collaborative practices cannot be sufficiently explained by the existing theoretical perspectives, being a black box for the study of inter-organizational relationships. In this work, we sought to understand how the dynamics of collaborative practices of knowledge creation in collaborative projects of R&D occur, from the meaning that project participants attach to their experiences. In this research, we developed a substantive contribution to explain the dynamics of collaborative practices of knowledge creation, which aims at contributing to increase the relational view, as well as the knowledge creation theory by using methodological procedures of grounded theory as well as narrative and temporal maps, in a single case study, taking a procedural approach of qualitative and analitycal nature. To make this possible, we recovered the history of the development of a collaborative project which begins in basic research and extends to the experimental product development. In this study, the story of the collaborative project developed over the last 15 years (1999-2014) was described, according to actors who collaborated in the creation of the FD-SOI 28nm transistor. So, from the data analysis, it was possible to provide a pragmatic description of the contextual conditions responsible for the emergence of a set of collaborative practices used in the project. This procedural description, plus the identification of collaborative practices for knowledge creation, allowed the understanding of the dynamics of collaborative practices in joint R&D projects, which is the greatest originality of this study. Among the main findings of the research, it’s the understanding that the various collaborative practices tend to aggregate different types of knowledge to the project, thus ensuring a dynamic synthesis between tacit and explicit knowledge. It was also recognized that the type of collaborative practice adopted in a joint R&D project varies according to the stock of knowledge required to make the concept real, and according to the knowledge creation strategy, adopted at each stage of the collaborative R&D project. This study allowed us to confirm the thesis that the collaborative practices of knowledge creation in joint R&D projects in the semiconductor industry are fundamental to the creation of inter-organizational knowledge. We hope that the findings of this study will increase awareness of the management of collaborative projects of R&D in the semiconductor industry, and it is expected that these results will generate government and social reflections and new academic contributions on creating inter-organizational knowledge.

This research investigates the theory of organisational knowledge creation as a viable model in the management of multi-practitioner arts-related practice-led research projects conducted at the North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus. In this regard Transgressions and Boundaries of the Page (2009-2012) (an interdisciplinary exploration of a practice-led research project by means of the artist’s book) is analysed according to the said theory in order to ascertain the compatibility of this theory and the projects outlined. It should be noted that the particular project is not discussed as an example of the application of the theory of organisational knowledge creation. Rather, the purpose of this research is to identify the appearance of salient aspects of the given theory in order to ascertain whether this could be an appropriate management model for future projects of this nature. Accordingly, the goal is to identify such a model that will facilitate and promote creative practice and accredited research within the History of Art, Graphic Design, and Creative Writing disciplines at the North-West Universities Potchefstroom campus. The proposed coupling of the theory of organisational knowledge creation and multi-practitioner arts-related projects by way of practice-led research is underpinned by the fact that both can be situated within the participatory paradigm due to a common conceptualisation of knowledge. This paradigm offers an extended epistemology consisting of practical, experiential, presentational, and propositional knowledge. This paradigm effectively integrates both the tacit and explicit knowledge modalities, which are fundamental to practice-led research and the theory of organisational knowledge creation. A further commonality is the fact that knowledge is considered as an interdisciplinary, subjective and socially constructed phenomenon. In the context of this research, practice-led research involves the self-reflective process, which involves the making, reading and interpretation of creative outputs in the academic milieu. This requires the utilisation of reflective practice to communicate both the tacit and explicit knowledge dimensions. Additionally the participatory paradigm, practice-led research and the theory of organisational knowledge creation advocate a knowledge process that moves through a tacit–explicit knowledge cycle. This knowledge creation cycle in the participatory paradigm and the theory of organisational knowledge creation occur in four levels. In consequence, the Transgressions and Boundaries of the Page project has been managed in four phases. It is against this background that the four knowledge conversion levels of this theory are linked with the extended epistemology of the participatory paradigm to analyse the four phases of the Transgressions and Boundaries of the Page project. The first phase of the Transgressions and Boundaries of the Page project entailed the conceptualisation, planning, and preparation during August 2008 to March 2009. This phase is analysed by means of level one of the theory of organisational knowledge creation (explicit to tacit knowledge conversion) and practical knowledge of the participatory paradigm. The second phase of the project, namely knowledge creation, took place from March 2009 to January 2010. The analysis of this phase is accomplished by means of level two of the theory of organisational knowledge creation (tacit to tacit knowledge conversion) and experiential knowledge of the participatory paradigm. The third phase of the project, namely knowledge presentation and communication, from February 2010 to July 2010 corresponds with, and is analysed by, level three of the theory of organisational knowledge creation (tacit to explicit knowledge conversion) and presentational knowledge of the participatory paradigm. The fourth knowledge formalisation and dissemination phase of the project occurred during July 2010 to December 2011. This phase is analysed by means of level four of the theory of organisational knowledge creation (explicit to explicit knowledge conversion) and propositional knowledge of the participatory paradigm. Consequently, I argued that each phase of the project correlates with the corresponding levels of the theory of organisational knowledge creation, knowledge conversion mechanisms and the knowledge modalities of the participatory paradigms. The four phases of the project and the four levels share common knowledge conversion and creation processes and goals that are attributed to the common conceptualisation of knowledge. Distinct correlations between the knowledge creation goals of the knowledge conversion levels and phases were identified. Therefore, the mechanisms used to achieve knowledge conversion and creation were applicable to the assigned management phases of the project. It was further argued that it is possible to adapt the current management approach to the more structured theory of organisational knowledge creation without negating either the tacit or explicit knowledge modalities. Consequently it is concluded that the theory of organisational knowledge creation, which is a management model normally used in the commercial business context, could be utilised to manage multi-practitioner arts related practice-led research projects more effectively in the academic context. / PhD (History of Art), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015