Contunued deterioration of the earth¡¦s ecology, the green energy industry comes into the latest industry. From United States, Europe to Asia, currently the world is committed to the development of new energy. Being one of the major economies, whether manufacture, production or market, the prospects in China are optimistic and attract investment from enterprises all over the world. However, in a number of competitors, how companies can earn opportunities and come out on top¡H In this study, three subsidiaries of foreign companies in Chian are discussed how to build up competitiveness and continuous innovation in the field of technical, marketing, personnel, products, services and R&D from perspectives of knowledge flow and organizational learning. After analysis and comparison, following conclusions are summarized¡G 1.Subsidiaries need to develop localized core competencies. 2.In addition to the parent company¡¦s resources, academic and research institutions and other external resources can be relied on for strengthening R&D and technical capabilities. 3.Making good use and enhance the quality of local talents, and cultivate staff to become the world¡¦s professionals. 4.Customer service oriented for customized research and development by interacting technology and marketing, strengthen customer relationships to maintain and establish a good corporate image. 5.Through resources complementary¡Bsharing and combination with core capabilities, companies can give consideration to both profit and social responsibility, and work together to upgrade the competitiveness.

Knowledge management is one of main sources of competitive advantages. It said in a KPMG(1998)'s survey that the obstacle of knowledge flows between knowledge sources and knowledge receivers is the biggest bottleneck of knowledge exploitation. In the domain of knowledge management, there are prolific academic studies about knowledge flow. However, lots of them focus on the factors infecting knowledge flows between knowledge sources and receivers. Fewer researches discuss about the process and context of knowledge flows while implementing knowledge management in an organization. In this thesis, we try to research the process of knowledge flows while implementing knowledge management in an organization in order to understand how these knowledge flows affect the organizational learning results upon the knowledge of knowledge management. We try to answer how knowledge of knowledge management(KKM) flows, what the processes are, and find out the accelerating factors and obstacles of these knowledge flows. We use theoretical sampling to select the companies implementing knowledge management and grounded theory to analysis the processes and context of knowledge flows while implementing knowledge management. After drawing a serious of figures of knowledge flows and inductive analysis, we get three discoveries: 1. The 3 stages of the KKM flows. 2. The 8 kinds of KKM flows and their importance in each KKM flow stages. 3. The accelerating factors and obstacles KKM flows in each KKM flow.

Under global competition, some Taiwan corporations started to implement international strategy. Most of the corporations go foreign investment in South-East Asia and Mainland China. But some of the corporations do not afford the expected profit from the international strategy because they are not familiar with international business. In the international business area, multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiary knowledge flow is an important factor to influence the role of the subsidiary and the success of international strategy. The procedures of this study are mainly through the review on the relevant reference documents and the interview of PHILIPS Semiconductor Kaohsiung managers. The main purposes of this study are to establish an appropriate MNC subsidiary knowledge flow model to find out what factors will influence subsidiary knowledge flow, and to make a recommendation both for headquarter and subsidiary managers as their reference when they plan to implement knowledge transfer strategy.

This thesis offers insights from knowledge management theory to understand the flow of knowledge across the multiple actors involved in the execution of a clinical trial in Latin America. In the last 12 years, the participation of Latin America in the business of clinical trials has significantly increased, becoming a highly demanded region to implement sponsored clinical research, overtaking regions like Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and Middle Eastern countries. Also, over this period, sponsors have increased the outsourcing of in-house activities such as trial monitoring, pharmacovigilance and regulatory services to Contracted Research Organisations (CROs), shifting the 'two organisations' and bi-directional relationship between the sponsor and the research sites. This change in the clinical trials landscape has also taken place in Latin America, where in addition to the CRO, the figure of Site Management Organisations (SMOs) has emerged to manage multiple research sites over the course of the trial. Therefore, the internationalisation of clinical research, plus the outsourcing of strategic activities, have transformed the implementation of clinical trials in the region. On the other hand, the results of a clinical trial depend strongly on the analytical skills and cognitive capabilities employed by people working on the project. These characteristics make the clinical trial a Knowledge Intensive Project (KIP), where the main project outcomes depend to a large extent on the use of knowledge by the workers, and the transfer of knowledge data and information across the multiple organisations working in the clinical trial. Because knowledge is the primary production factor in a clinical trial, and in the context of Latin America, to my knowledge, there is reduced research about the production of clinical evidence and the role of each one of the actors over the execution, the main research question that this thesis answers is: How does knowledge flow across organisations and is employed by people in their firms to implement the clinical trials and obtain their respective results? To answer this research question, I proposed and evaluated a three-step model to study the flow of knowledge, data and information across multiple organisations being part of the clinical trial and the use of these to produce the knowledge products by the sponsor and the research sites. This model has its roots in the literature of knowledge 'models, work and processes', the concept of interdependence and the literature of knowledge transfer and acquisition in the outsourced project. The model consists of three steps to address, at the inter-organisational level, the transfer and acquisition of knowledge, data and information and the interdependency on results; and at the intra-organisational level, the use of knowledge and storage. The presented model was evaluated and complemented based on the evidence collected through a multi-case study of three multi-organisational clinical trials to evaluate three new vaccine candidates in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico. The findings of this research indicated that the model was robust to study the flow of knowledge, data and information between the sponsor and the research sites, from the design of the protocol to the production of the clinical data. The results also indicate that the presence of intermediaries decreases the transfer of knowledge and information between the parts, and induces the selectivity of the research sites toward one of the sources of knowledge, the Sponsor, the CROs or SMO. The evidence shows that the acquisition of knowledge by physicians demands a knowledge-destruction capability to actively employ the acquired knowledge in the trial and the constant presence of loops to reinforce the knowledge acquisition. The empirical findings of knowledge and data acquisition by the research sites and the sponsor contributed to developing the concept of permeability, contributing to the literature of knowledge acquisition in outsourced projects. This research addresses, for the first time, the implementation of vaccine clinical trials in Latin America countries and the contribution of the local researcher to the project, especially with their knowledge about the communities intervened. But it also highlighted some of the aspects that affect the implementation of clinical trials, such as the labour conditions in academia, which induce turnover, and the lack of harmonisation among clinical trial regulation in the region. In conclusion, the model proposed allowed me to address simply the complexities that take place in the production of knowledge products in multi-organisational clinical trials in Latin America countries.

The relationship among the Taiwan¡¦s multinational corporations¡¦ knowledge management and the organization¡¦s role of human resource management Abstract Today, the commercial environment face the change of globalization, according to improve the corporations¡¦ efficiency and performance, corporations will transfer the core competences and the knowledge of operation practices inside the organization to others organization units, especially to the multinational corporations. Based on Drucker (1993) said, the knowledge workers are the most important property inside the organization. The knowledge need the appropriate persons to practice, creating and storing, so, how to keep the good person and integrate their knowledge inside the organization, that need ¡¨ human resource management system¡¨ to process. This research chose four multinational corporations which nationality is Taiwan. These four company coming from: the traditional livelihood industry; the traditional infrastructure industry; the high-tech manufacturer and information software research and development industry. This research concludes some propositions through the interview with top managers of these sample corporations. Positions are as follows: Proposition 1: the more explicit that the core knowledge inside organization was, the more complete that the information technology infrastructure done, the more possible that the corporation will take the system knowledge management strategy; the more tacit that the core knowledge inside organization was, the more important the tacit system was, such as, the organization culture, pay attention to the people and so on, to force the knowledge management. Proposition 2: the more that the core competition of the enterprises tends to be the market exploration, the easier they will use the partial step-by-step knowledge management strategy. the more that the core competition of the enterprises tend to be the technology exploration, the easier they will use the integral system knowledge management strategy. Proposition 3: the more complex that the need of global knowledge originality strategy (the localize and the global integrate level increased),the stronger that the effect of human resource management coordinate and control. Proposition 4: the role that the knowledge management organization plays in an enterprise follows the different executive step of the knowledge management in the enterprise has its different position. Proposition 5: the higher that the level of the enterprise knowledge management systematize ,the greater that the role of human resource management plays .besides, the higher that the level of personalizing of the enterprise knowledge management system, the greater that the roll of human resource management in strategetical execution. Proposition 6: the strategy about knowledge management of the enterprise and the human capital of the enterprise are to complement each other. From the six propositions, we can derive the following two important conclusion: 1. By the diversification of the knowledge management, the organization should select that can adopt to its characteristic of knowledge and compare to its competition strategy of knowledge management strategy. So that it can afford positive promotion of organization management achievements. Besides, the organization should transform to organic organization to construct the opening culture makes benefits of the knowledge flow; the organization should make his endeavor to build up the culture of edution to make learning and effective interaction to all action of the member in the organization and the manager should promote his own leadership. 2. The diversified roll of the human resource management, in the recruited policy, we pay more attention on the potential of staff and the corresponding of culture of education to make more benefits to carry out knowledge management. In the training, the develop scheme which is centered by the staff makes each member can be the knowledge contributor to pass the values toward the knowledge of the organization in the courses. Plot and connect the achievement system. The human resource professional should make progress with knowledge management science. Besides, we should progress the step task toward the strategy of knowledge management and realize the situation of the knowledge management proceeded in the organization. From inside of this, we can position the roll of human resource management organization and cooperate with the strategy of the company knowledge management to derive the hugest management result. Keyword: multinational knowledge management; knowledge flow, knowledge management strategy, knowledge workers, human resource management

Within corporate governance research, boards of directors constitute an essential part and are described as "the apex of the internal control system" (Jensen, 1993, p.862). Several stands of research have investigated whether, and to which degree, boards’ composition, structure and processes have impact on board task performance, but board processes and specifically the use of knowledge and skills have not been thoroughly researched, yet. Simultaneously, there is a gap within organisational behaviour research on how knowledge is explored, transformed and exploited, which is conceptualised as absorptive capacity. Further, the concept of absorptive capacity has so to date not been researched in a board context. In this thesis board processes are studied by exploring the impact of absorptive capacity on board task performance. Three dimensions of absorptive capacity, exploratory learning, transformative learning and exploitative learning, are used in the analyses. The research is conducted using mixed methods (based on a survey and a case study). A quantitative analysis is based on the Norwegian Value Creating Board Survey, and a case study is conducted based on records, observations from board meetings and interviews in the Norwegian health company Healthy. The findings show that the three dimensions of absorptive capacity, positively and significantly, mediate the relation between presence of knowledge and skills and board task performance. Complementarities between the three learning processes exist with the result that the three learning processes together are a stronger mediator than a single process. The qualitative findings show that 1) information flows have an impact on absorptive capacity, 2) that the role and power of the CEO and the division of labour between the CEO and the chair, might have an impact on board task performance and 3) that a comprehensive utilisation of consensus has an impact on transformative and exploitative learning, 4) that effort norms are positively correlated to use of knowledge and skills and 5) that activation triggers have impacts on the learning processes. The research contributes to theory with an extended application of the concept of absorptive capacity to boards, responding to calls from researchers to conduct new and more extensive research to analyse and integrate the concept. The thesis further contributes by shedding new light on learning processes in boards, underpinning former conceptual models. In the case study several findings are reported which are presented in an extended and modified model of determinants of board tasks. Finally, this thesis contributes to mixed methods research in boards. The findings have implications for board practice with regard to board selections, board evaluations and learning processes in boards. Corporate governance codes should be aligned with these findings.

O presente estudo tem por objetivo caracterizar o fluxo de conhecimento na interação universidade-empresa, identificando a relação em diferentes setores de diferentes países. O conceito de fluxo de conhecimento é apresentado como um complemento às teorias atuais de interação universidade-empresa, descritas principalmente pelo Triângulo de Sábato e pela Hélice Tripla. Argumenta-se que a interação universidade-empresa vem sendo apresentada pelo papel dos atores e canais de transferência de conhecimento, mas não deixa claro qual ator é responsável por iniciar a interação e o conteúdo de conhecimento transferido. Com isso, o conceito de fluxo de conhecimento é descrito pelo ator responsável por estimular a interação e pelo conteúdo de conhecimento, seja científico ou aplicado, transferido entre atores. A pesquisa foi conduzida pelo método de estudo de caso, em dois setores, horticultura e espacial, de dois países, Brasil e Holanda, totalizando 27 casos. Os resultados demonstram diferenças no fluxo de conhecimento entre os atores, relacionadas principalmente na comparação entre os países, e não tanto quanto aos setores. Os setores de horticultura e espacial holandeses possuem uma estrutura de conhecimento formada por universidades, centros tecnológicos e empresas, que desenvolvem atividades de pesquisa básica e aplicada voltadas à inovação. Como afirmam os entrevistados, comissões do governo aproximam pesquisadores e empresários, estimulando contatos informais e parcerias de desenvolvimento tecnológico. No Brasil, ambos os setores apresentam carências principalmente na geração de conhecimento, seja pesquisa básica, e na a formação de mão de obra. Os entrevistados declaram que os incentivos governamentais à pesquisa são restritos e descontínuos, dificultando o desenvolvimento tecnológico. Em relação ao fluxo de conhecimento, as interações universidade-empresa na Holanda possuem conteúdo de conhecimento descrito pelo critério pesquisa básica, pesquisa estratégica e pesquisa aplicada. No Brasil, o conteúdo de conhecimento presente no fluxo foi principalmente baseado no critério pesquisa aplicada, e tecnologia corrente. Os entrevistados de ambos os países mencionam que o estímulo ao fluxo ocorre principalmente pelo contato de empresas ou universidades, enquanto o estímulo do governo ocorre através de editais ou incentivos à pesquisa. Conclui-se que a interação universidade-empresa ocorre em ambos os países, porém o fluxo de conhecimento entre os atores reflete diferenças na estrutura científica e tecnológica instalada em cada país. Enquanto a Holanda desenvolve interações voltadas ao desenvolvimento tecnológico, no Brasil as interações buscam principalmente solucionar problemas técnicos, ou atividades de pesquisa aplicada às necessidades das empresas. Esta diferença ocorre pela reduzida capacidade científica das universidades brasileiras, pois as empresas buscam inovações em universidades e centros tecnológicos do exterior, ou desenvolvem internamente. Por fim, o conceito de fluxo de conhecimento demonstra que a Holanda possui uma avançada estrutura de pesquisa, e que comissões do governo formadas por pesquisadores e empresários aproximam os atores e alinham os objetivos tecnológicos. No Brasil, o conceito do fluxo de conhecimento apresenta restrições quanto à estrutura acadêmica de ensino e pesquisa científica, além de recursos governamentais limitados. / The present research aims to characterize the knowledge flow in university-industry relations, identifying this kind of partnership in different sectors of different countries. The concept of knowledge flow aims to complement the current university-industry relations theories, mainly described by Sábato’s triangle and the triple helix. It is argued that university-industry relations are generally defined by the role of actors and the channels of knowledge transfer. However, it is not clear which actor is responsible for initiating the interaction and the content of knowledge transferred. Thus, the concept of knowledge flow is described by the actor responsible for stimulating the relationship and the content of knowledge, between science and applied, transferred between actors. The case study research was conducted in two sectors, horticulture and space, in two countries, Brazil and The Netherlands, describing 27 cases. Results showed that differences in the knowledge flow between the actors can be mainly compared between countries, rather than between sectors. Both horticulture and space sectors in The Netherlands have a knowledge environment constituted by universities, research centres and companies which develop basic and applied research activities focused on innovations. As stated by the respondents, government commissions bring researchers and companies closer, encouraging informal contacts and partnerships for technological development. On the other hand, both sectors in Brazil present deficiencies especially in knowledge creation by basic research or training students. Respondents state that government subsidies for research are limited and discontinued, restricting technological development. Regarding the knowledge flow, university industry relations in The Netherlands are mainly defined by knowledge content criteria such as basic research, strategic research or applied research. In Brazil, the content of the knowledge flow was mainly based on applied research and current technology criteria. Respondents from both countries reported that the stimulus to the knowledge flow occurs by contact from companies or universities, while government stimulus is described by research tenders or subsidies. To conclude, universityindustry relations occur in both countries, but the knowledge flow between the actors reflects differences on the science and technology structure in each country. While The Netherlands develops interactions aiming to develop new technologies, in Brazil such relations mainly seek to solve technical issues, or applied research activities guided by market needs. This difference, however, is given by the reduced scientific capacity of Brazilian universities, as companies seek for technology innovations in research centres and universities abroad, or develops internally. Finally, the concept of knowledge flow shows that The Netherlands have an advanced research structure, and government commissions formed by researchers and companies approach the actors, aligning technology goals. In Brazil, the concept of knowledge flow demonstrates restrictions mainly in the structure of academic teaching, scientific research and also in government resources.

O presente estudo tem por objetivo caracterizar o fluxo de conhecimento na interação universidade-empresa, identificando a relação em diferentes setores de diferentes países. O conceito de fluxo de conhecimento é apresentado como um complemento às teorias atuais de interação universidade-empresa, descritas principalmente pelo Triângulo de Sábato e pela Hélice Tripla. Argumenta-se que a interação universidade-empresa vem sendo apresentada pelo papel dos atores e canais de transferência de conhecimento, mas não deixa claro qual ator é responsável por iniciar a interação e o conteúdo de conhecimento transferido. Com isso, o conceito de fluxo de conhecimento é descrito pelo ator responsável por estimular a interação e pelo conteúdo de conhecimento, seja científico ou aplicado, transferido entre atores. A pesquisa foi conduzida pelo método de estudo de caso, em dois setores, horticultura e espacial, de dois países, Brasil e Holanda, totalizando 27 casos. Os resultados demonstram diferenças no fluxo de conhecimento entre os atores, relacionadas principalmente na comparação entre os países, e não tanto quanto aos setores. Os setores de horticultura e espacial holandeses possuem uma estrutura de conhecimento formada por universidades, centros tecnológicos e empresas, que desenvolvem atividades de pesquisa básica e aplicada voltadas à inovação. Como afirmam os entrevistados, comissões do governo aproximam pesquisadores e empresários, estimulando contatos informais e parcerias de desenvolvimento tecnológico. No Brasil, ambos os setores apresentam carências principalmente na geração de conhecimento, seja pesquisa básica, e na a formação de mão de obra. Os entrevistados declaram que os incentivos governamentais à pesquisa são restritos e descontínuos, dificultando o desenvolvimento tecnológico. Em relação ao fluxo de conhecimento, as interações universidade-empresa na Holanda possuem conteúdo de conhecimento descrito pelo critério pesquisa básica, pesquisa estratégica e pesquisa aplicada. No Brasil, o conteúdo de conhecimento presente no fluxo foi principalmente baseado no critério pesquisa aplicada, e tecnologia corrente. Os entrevistados de ambos os países mencionam que o estímulo ao fluxo ocorre principalmente pelo contato de empresas ou universidades, enquanto o estímulo do governo ocorre através de editais ou incentivos à pesquisa. Conclui-se que a interação universidade-empresa ocorre em ambos os países, porém o fluxo de conhecimento entre os atores reflete diferenças na estrutura científica e tecnológica instalada em cada país. Enquanto a Holanda desenvolve interações voltadas ao desenvolvimento tecnológico, no Brasil as interações buscam principalmente solucionar problemas técnicos, ou atividades de pesquisa aplicada às necessidades das empresas. Esta diferença ocorre pela reduzida capacidade científica das universidades brasileiras, pois as empresas buscam inovações em universidades e centros tecnológicos do exterior, ou desenvolvem internamente. Por fim, o conceito de fluxo de conhecimento demonstra que a Holanda possui uma avançada estrutura de pesquisa, e que comissões do governo formadas por pesquisadores e empresários aproximam os atores e alinham os objetivos tecnológicos. No Brasil, o conceito do fluxo de conhecimento apresenta restrições quanto à estrutura acadêmica de ensino e pesquisa científica, além de recursos governamentais limitados. / The present research aims to characterize the knowledge flow in university-industry relations, identifying this kind of partnership in different sectors of different countries. The concept of knowledge flow aims to complement the current university-industry relations theories, mainly described by Sábato’s triangle and the triple helix. It is argued that university-industry relations are generally defined by the role of actors and the channels of knowledge transfer. However, it is not clear which actor is responsible for initiating the interaction and the content of knowledge transferred. Thus, the concept of knowledge flow is described by the actor responsible for stimulating the relationship and the content of knowledge, between science and applied, transferred between actors. The case study research was conducted in two sectors, horticulture and space, in two countries, Brazil and The Netherlands, describing 27 cases. Results showed that differences in the knowledge flow between the actors can be mainly compared between countries, rather than between sectors. Both horticulture and space sectors in The Netherlands have a knowledge environment constituted by universities, research centres and companies which develop basic and applied research activities focused on innovations. As stated by the respondents, government commissions bring researchers and companies closer, encouraging informal contacts and partnerships for technological development. On the other hand, both sectors in Brazil present deficiencies especially in knowledge creation by basic research or training students. Respondents state that government subsidies for research are limited and discontinued, restricting technological development. Regarding the knowledge flow, university industry relations in The Netherlands are mainly defined by knowledge content criteria such as basic research, strategic research or applied research. In Brazil, the content of the knowledge flow was mainly based on applied research and current technology criteria. Respondents from both countries reported that the stimulus to the knowledge flow occurs by contact from companies or universities, while government stimulus is described by research tenders or subsidies. To conclude, universityindustry relations occur in both countries, but the knowledge flow between the actors reflects differences on the science and technology structure in each country. While The Netherlands develops interactions aiming to develop new technologies, in Brazil such relations mainly seek to solve technical issues, or applied research activities guided by market needs. This difference, however, is given by the reduced scientific capacity of Brazilian universities, as companies seek for technology innovations in research centres and universities abroad, or develops internally. Finally, the concept of knowledge flow shows that The Netherlands have an advanced research structure, and government commissions formed by researchers and companies approach the actors, aligning technology goals. In Brazil, the concept of knowledge flow demonstrates restrictions mainly in the structure of academic teaching, scientific research and also in government resources.

O presente estudo tem por objetivo caracterizar o fluxo de conhecimento na interação universidade-empresa, identificando a relação em diferentes setores de diferentes países. O conceito de fluxo de conhecimento é apresentado como um complemento às teorias atuais de interação universidade-empresa, descritas principalmente pelo Triângulo de Sábato e pela Hélice Tripla. Argumenta-se que a interação universidade-empresa vem sendo apresentada pelo papel dos atores e canais de transferência de conhecimento, mas não deixa claro qual ator é responsável por iniciar a interação e o conteúdo de conhecimento transferido. Com isso, o conceito de fluxo de conhecimento é descrito pelo ator responsável por estimular a interação e pelo conteúdo de conhecimento, seja científico ou aplicado, transferido entre atores. A pesquisa foi conduzida pelo método de estudo de caso, em dois setores, horticultura e espacial, de dois países, Brasil e Holanda, totalizando 27 casos. Os resultados demonstram diferenças no fluxo de conhecimento entre os atores, relacionadas principalmente na comparação entre os países, e não tanto quanto aos setores. Os setores de horticultura e espacial holandeses possuem uma estrutura de conhecimento formada por universidades, centros tecnológicos e empresas, que desenvolvem atividades de pesquisa básica e aplicada voltadas à inovação. Como afirmam os entrevistados, comissões do governo aproximam pesquisadores e empresários, estimulando contatos informais e parcerias de desenvolvimento tecnológico. No Brasil, ambos os setores apresentam carências principalmente na geração de conhecimento, seja pesquisa básica, e na a formação de mão de obra. Os entrevistados declaram que os incentivos governamentais à pesquisa são restritos e descontínuos, dificultando o desenvolvimento tecnológico. Em relação ao fluxo de conhecimento, as interações universidade-empresa na Holanda possuem conteúdo de conhecimento descrito pelo critério pesquisa básica, pesquisa estratégica e pesquisa aplicada. No Brasil, o conteúdo de conhecimento presente no fluxo foi principalmente baseado no critério pesquisa aplicada, e tecnologia corrente. Os entrevistados de ambos os países mencionam que o estímulo ao fluxo ocorre principalmente pelo contato de empresas ou universidades, enquanto o estímulo do governo ocorre através de editais ou incentivos à pesquisa. Conclui-se que a interação universidade-empresa ocorre em ambos os países, porém o fluxo de conhecimento entre os atores reflete diferenças na estrutura científica e tecnológica instalada em cada país. Enquanto a Holanda desenvolve interações voltadas ao desenvolvimento tecnológico, no Brasil as interações buscam principalmente solucionar problemas técnicos, ou atividades de pesquisa aplicada às necessidades das empresas. Esta diferença ocorre pela reduzida capacidade científica das universidades brasileiras, pois as empresas buscam inovações em universidades e centros tecnológicos do exterior, ou desenvolvem internamente. Por fim, o conceito de fluxo de conhecimento demonstra que a Holanda possui uma avançada estrutura de pesquisa, e que comissões do governo formadas por pesquisadores e empresários aproximam os atores e alinham os objetivos tecnológicos. No Brasil, o conceito do fluxo de conhecimento apresenta restrições quanto à estrutura acadêmica de ensino e pesquisa científica, além de recursos governamentais limitados. / The present research aims to characterize the knowledge flow in university-industry relations, identifying this kind of partnership in different sectors of different countries. The concept of knowledge flow aims to complement the current university-industry relations theories, mainly described by Sábato’s triangle and the triple helix. It is argued that university-industry relations are generally defined by the role of actors and the channels of knowledge transfer. However, it is not clear which actor is responsible for initiating the interaction and the content of knowledge transferred. Thus, the concept of knowledge flow is described by the actor responsible for stimulating the relationship and the content of knowledge, between science and applied, transferred between actors. The case study research was conducted in two sectors, horticulture and space, in two countries, Brazil and The Netherlands, describing 27 cases. Results showed that differences in the knowledge flow between the actors can be mainly compared between countries, rather than between sectors. Both horticulture and space sectors in The Netherlands have a knowledge environment constituted by universities, research centres and companies which develop basic and applied research activities focused on innovations. As stated by the respondents, government commissions bring researchers and companies closer, encouraging informal contacts and partnerships for technological development. On the other hand, both sectors in Brazil present deficiencies especially in knowledge creation by basic research or training students. Respondents state that government subsidies for research are limited and discontinued, restricting technological development. Regarding the knowledge flow, university industry relations in The Netherlands are mainly defined by knowledge content criteria such as basic research, strategic research or applied research. In Brazil, the content of the knowledge flow was mainly based on applied research and current technology criteria. Respondents from both countries reported that the stimulus to the knowledge flow occurs by contact from companies or universities, while government stimulus is described by research tenders or subsidies. To conclude, universityindustry relations occur in both countries, but the knowledge flow between the actors reflects differences on the science and technology structure in each country. While The Netherlands develops interactions aiming to develop new technologies, in Brazil such relations mainly seek to solve technical issues, or applied research activities guided by market needs. This difference, however, is given by the reduced scientific capacity of Brazilian universities, as companies seek for technology innovations in research centres and universities abroad, or develops internally. Finally, the concept of knowledge flow shows that The Netherlands have an advanced research structure, and government commissions formed by researchers and companies approach the actors, aligning technology goals. In Brazil, the concept of knowledge flow demonstrates restrictions mainly in the structure of academic teaching, scientific research and also in government resources.

The role of open innovation is becoming increasingly important for organizational competitiveness, while digital technologies provide new opportunities for organizational innovativeness. Regardless of domain and industry, digital technologies have reshaped structure, business logic and organizational dynamics. In that spirit, the forestry industry moves from the traditional model to the open paradigm, embracing the significance of purposive external exploration and internal exploitation of knowledge and technologies. Although the importance of digital technologies has been highlighted by academia, their enabling role in the open innovation process is insufficiently explored. Moreover, little research showcases the systematic way to organize for open innovation in the digital world. This process towards openness creates new opportunities as well as challenges. In order to investigate these emerging challenges and opportunities for open innovation in a digital world, we conducted a qualitative exploratory case study in the Cluster of Forest Technology in northern Sweden. Our results illustrate that challenges such as trust, power asymmetries, knowledge flow and coopetitive activities need to be managed. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing a way to address these challenges, seize more opportunities and bridge the gap between open innovation and digital technologies.