<p>This master thesis explores the transfer of R&D activities from Western MNC’s to their Chinese subsidiaries and how companies can leverage key enablers to address main barriers in this process. The research project is conducted as a multiple-case study consisting of three case companies: the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, the Swiss/Swedish power and automation company ABB and the global food and beverage company Nestlé. The main rationale for conducting this study is that a significantly increasing level of foreign invested R&D is conducted in the Chinese environment with its increasingly important market. In order to preserve competitive advantages and secure global market penetration it could be necessary for other companies as well to undertake a similar process of transferring R&D.</p><p>The main barriers identified are the difficulty to find qualified employees in China, to train and retain the recruited employees and the language gaps that are present between the Western and the Chinese units. One key enabler applied to address these barriers is to organize activities at selected Chinese universities in order to attract skilled graduates. Utilizing expatriates and short-term traveling increases personal interaction between otherwise geographically distant employees together with providing training of increasing complexity are key enablers addressed to develop the Chinese employee’s knowledge. Language courses is the key enabler applied in order to decrease the language gaps, both Chinese courses for Westerners and English courses for Chinese.</p><p>In addition to identifying barriers and enablers and investigating their interrelatedness we propose a conceptual model for R&D transfer consisting of four elements to transfer together with implementation of the transferred knowledge at the receiving unit. In our view, the elements to transfer are physical objects, individual explicit knowledge, individual tacit knowledge and collective knowledge.</p> / This thesis won Sparbanksstiftelsen Kronan's award of 50000 SEK.

<p>Labour mobility can in theory be an efficient channel for knowledge transfer between cluster firms, thus contributing to growth and competitiveness. In the thesis labour mobility in two Swedish ICT clusters is studied. The purpose of the thesis is to develop an understanding of processes of labour mobility in clusters and to investigate whether mobility can be regarded as a cluster advantage. Both interview data and extensive registry data are used in order to analyse processes of mobility at three levels: individual, firm and cluster level.</p><p>The results show that labour mobility can to some extent be considered a cluster advantage for Swedish ICT firms, since cluster firms are likely to experience a higher level of labour mobility. It is also shown how mobility to and from the clusters contributes to the upgrading of formal competencies within cluster firms. However, the firms themselves are shown to rather focus on staff retention than turnover. </p><p>To some degree, labour mobility in the Swedish clusters in focus is presumably constrained by the formal institutional framework, as well as by informal rules and agreements between cluster firms. It is argued nonetheless that the sheer potential for mobility and the viability of informal hiring practices in clusters may be viewed as cluster advantages, besides the actual extent of labour mobility.</p>

Background: Society of today is characterised by greater dynamics and a constant demand for innovation and fresh ideas. This development is often named "the new economy" or "the knowledge society". Independent of how one chooses to name this society, most individuals seem to agree upon the fact that knowledge grows more and more important. New competencies, such as new knowledge and new forms of organising, will be demanded for corporations to be successful in the future. In recent years it has become more common with corporations based on projects. In this context it is interesting to discuss the spread of knowledge. Purpose: We aim at create understanding for the spread of knowledge, through focusing on corporate culture, organisational routines, and processes of knowledge transfer in corporation based on projects. Realisation: This paper is based on a study of two IT-companies, Cell Network and Framfab. The empirical material, chiefly collected through interviews, has been analysed with starting-point in the frame of references. Conclusions: We came to the conclusion that corporate culture, organisational routines, and processes of knowledge transfer, studied separately is not enough to explain the spread of knowledge. Instead the three variables co-operate. Corporate culture cerates common values, organisational routines guide behaviour, and the processes of knowledge transfer results in the actual spread of knowledge.

Labour mobility can in theory be an efficient channel for knowledge transfer between cluster firms, thus contributing to growth and competitiveness. In the thesis labour mobility in two Swedish ICT clusters is studied. The purpose of the thesis is to develop an understanding of processes of labour mobility in clusters and to investigate whether mobility can be regarded as a cluster advantage. Both interview data and extensive registry data are used in order to analyse processes of mobility at three levels: individual, firm and cluster level. The results show that labour mobility can to some extent be considered a cluster advantage for Swedish ICT firms, since cluster firms are likely to experience a higher level of labour mobility. It is also shown how mobility to and from the clusters contributes to the upgrading of formal competencies within cluster firms. However, the firms themselves are shown to rather focus on staff retention than turnover. To some degree, labour mobility in the Swedish clusters in focus is presumably constrained by the formal institutional framework, as well as by informal rules and agreements between cluster firms. It is argued nonetheless that the sheer potential for mobility and the viability of informal hiring practices in clusters may be viewed as cluster advantages, besides the actual extent of labour mobility.

The purpose of this research is to analyze business incubators and the relevant factors that take place inside these organizations. The methodology used was a case study approach, which investigates a real environment, in this case: NeoEmpresa, a business incubator located in La Paz, Bolivia. The explanatory approach is also considered in this research since the purpose is to explain the business incubation characteristics as well as understand the importance of knowledge transfer and network creation inside business incubators. The findings propose that the most adequate incubation model strongly depends on the incubator’s main purpose and that the learning practices that take place inside an incubator involve knowledge transfer, more considered experience transfer, and networking as relevant factors.

Medical Cosmoceutical service is a new rising medical service in recent 5 years. It combines medical profession and cosmetic service, offering customers integrated aesthetic therapy services that are safe, reliable, delicate and effective. Due to medical cosmoceutical is a popular and self-payed medical service not limited to any specific medical field by law, it is undouhtedly an effective way of business transformation for the medical institutes with difficult running under poor National Health Insurance policy. Therefore, many plastic surgery and dermatological clinics, and other medical field even beauty salons, quite to establish their medical cosmoceutical service for competing this big market. Surviving the strong competition in this hot market of medical cosmoceutical is an important issue for every member of the plastic surgery field that seeks to succeed in this medical cosmoceutical business. The key successful factor for plastic surgery field in medical cosmoceutical shall be an innovative strategy and innovative business model that leads to attracting and retaining customers. Through literature review and the practice data of T Union Clinic of Plastic Surgery based on its mamagement philosophy and business model, this study proposes the following three innovative strategies for medical cosmoceutical service: (1) Pioneer into the offering of medical cosmoceutical service that providing dedicated post-cosmetic surgery massage therapy ; (2) Pioneer into the research and development of skin care product therapeutic compound formula; and (3) Pioneer into the training and certification center for medical aesthetician. Followed by the dimensions of four innovative business model listed below, successful business performance will be obtained through the offering of comprehensive service attachment that enhances customers¡¦ willingness to accept such services. The four innovative business models comprise: (1) Knowledge transfer to customers, by delivering medical cosmetic knowledge for promoting trustworthiness from customers; (2) Customer relationship management (CRM) ,with higher customer value through maintaining close relationship with customers by offering multiple two-way communication channels; (3) Experience marketing, by creating word-of-month effects, and (4) Strategic alliance, through the referrals from related clinics, beauty salons, and affiliated medical cosmetic workshops to acquire more customers. In the verification of innovative strategies and business models for medical cosmoceutical business, this study adopts both qualitative and quantitative research methodology to provide deep insights and findings. In qualitative research, a small scale qualitative ¡§customer in-depth interview¡¨ is conducted on the medical cosmoceutical customers (5 people) of the T Union Clinic of Plastic Surgery, to verify accuracy of the innovative strategies and business model, followed by a large scale quantitative questionnaire survey (100 people) on the customers that are randomly drawn from the customers of T Union Clinic of Plastic Surgery. With quantitative data derived from the survey, the viability of the innovative strategies and innovative models are further verified. In conclusion, the research finding is that after quantitative and qualitative verification from the customer perspective, the three innovative strategies and four innovative business models proposed for medical cosmoceutical business has been indeed proved as the successful model for medical cosmoceutical business in the plastic surgery field, and is also commonly accepted by the medical cosmoceutical customers. Furthermore, an additional insight extracted from the verification in customer perspective is the need for designing of system for employee training and encouragement. By this, the effectiveness of transfering knowledge to customers and service quality delivery will be expected to enhance. So, this study adds the fifth dimension ¡§Employee training and encouragement¡¨ to the innovative business model. In the point of view of management implicatin, when performing the innovative strategy and innovative business model for medical cosmoceutical business in plastic surgery field, one should pay more attension to two management aspects, including internal management and external customer service. In the peer suggestion, the three innovative strategies and the four innovative business model proposed by this study are practically viable and may serve as the practical suggestions for the plastic surgery peer when providing medical cosmoceutical service.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur ett globalt management konsultföretag arbetar internt med kunskapsöverföring över landsgränser av den svåruttryckliga erfarenhetsbaserade kunskapen som en konsult innehar. Den kvalitativa data som används i empirin samlades in genom intervjuer med anställda på fallföretaget Accenture. Resultatet av undersökningen visade att praktisk kunskap överförs genom formella sammankomster samt en ”learning by doing” modell där konsulter av olika nationaliteter och grad av erfarenhet arbetar tillsammans på olika projekt. Erfarenheter från projekt samlas, lagras och överförs till databasen Knowledge Exchange, i en process där den praktiska kunskapen transformeras till teoretisk kunskap och görs tillgänglig för hela företaget. Studien visar att Accenture har rutiner som gör att dem överkommer de flesta hinder som presenteras i den befintliga teorin. Det hinder som Accenture belyste som ett problem var informationsöverflödet som fanns inom företaget. / The purpose of the study is to study how a global management consulting firm works internally with knowledge transfer across national borders of the hard to express, experience-based knowledge of a consultant. The qualitative data which is presented in the empirical part of the paper was collected through interviews with employees at the case firm Accenture. The result of the study showed that practical knowledge is transferred through formal meetings, and a “learning by doing” process, where consultants of different nationalities and degrees of experience work together on projects. Experiences from projects are collected, stored, and transferred to the Knowledge Exchange database, in a process where the practical knowledge is transformed into theoretical knowledge and made available to the entire company. The study shows that Accenture has routines that help them overcome most of the impediments presented in the existing theory. The impediment that Accenture expressed to be a problem within their organization was information overflow.

Organizational learning through experience has been found to be associated with enhanced firm performance. Organizational experiments are a method of experiential learning that enable organizations to learn from experience and gain context-specific knowledge of how and why to implement new knowledge. Pilot projects, a type of organizational experiment, involve making intentional, systematic efforts to gather and analyze feedback in order to accurately assess the action-outcome relationships of adopting new knowledge prior to embarking on full-scale implementation. Despite the popularity of pilot projects used to test products, programs, and services as well as reports on the outcomes of such experiments, there is a dearth of research focusing on how organizational learning occurs during organizational experiments, and on the processes and structural mechanisms of organizational experiments that contribute to organizational learning. A qualitative, multiple-case study of eight pilot projects was carried out within nursing units across five acute health care organizations during Fall 2008. Interviews were conducted with 32 individuals, including pilot project leaders, nursing program managers and direct care nurses. An inductive approach to data analysis was applied and themes identified. Results were compared to 14 propositions that were developed based on the knowledge transfer, innovation diffusion, and organizational learning literature, and which were bracketed before data analysis to allow findings to emerge from the data. The findings advance existing organizational learning, innovation diffusion, and knowledge transfer models by illuminating the complexity of organizational learning processes. Several processes and structural mechanisms of organizational experiments were found to facilitate single-loop organizational learning, leading to incremental changes to meet existing goals and objectives. Although double-loop organizational learning, which may result in fundamental changes in an organization’s assumptions, norms, policies, goals and objectives was not observed, the study revealed a number of processes and structural mechanisms that have the potential to encourage this type of learning. Studies of organizational experiments are rare. Future directions for research and theory development are suggested to build on the findings of this study. Practical implications are offered to organizations in any industry interested in realizing the potential that organizational experiments have for double-loop learning and enhanced organizational performance.

The purpose of this study was to examine the following research questions in Turkish coaching context: a) How do coaches perceive sport science research? b) Which sources do coaches utilize when obtaining the knowledge they need? c) What obstacles do coaches confront when trying to access the knowledge they need? Participants were 322 coaches (256 men, 66 women) from diverse sports and coaching levels working in Ankara. &ldquo / New Ideas for Coaches&rdquo / questionnaire by Reade, Rodgers and Hall (2008) was translated and adapted into Turkish for the current study. There was a strong concurrence between Turkish coaches in terms of the belief that sport science contributes to sport (%78). Gaps exist, however, between what coaches were looking for and the research that is being conducted. Coaches were most likely to attend seminars or consult other coaches to get new information. Scientific publications were ranked very low by the coaches. The barriers to the coaches&rsquo / access to sport science were finding out the source of information, being able to implement the knowledge that was obtained from sport sciences into field of coaching, lack of monetary support for the expenses about obtaining knowledge, and language barrier respectively. Coaches&rsquo / demographic characteristics influenced their perceptions of and preferences for obtaining new information. Strategies to remove the barriers could include providing further education opportunities for coaches and eligible scientific knowledge sources to ensure successful knowledge transfer.

Abstract Facing the advent of the knowledge-based economy, enterprises realization that the continuous competitive advantages are no longer land, labor and capital, but have been replaced by knowledge capital such as intellectual and innovation. Knowledge has become the critical core capital in the age of a knowledge economy flowing from information technology. The sole source of competitive advantage today is an organization¡¦s capability to learn through value cognition to create innovation value. Knowledge management has become the primary focus for enterprises in the 21st century. Enterprises shall review the informative degrees of production and working process for the implementation of knowledge management. China Steel already has all production and working process data digitalized and acts as an e-business pioneer among domestic peers in the implementation of knowledge management. This study establishes knowledge management documentation as the basis for questionnaire design. The relationships among knowledge management, engineering professionals¡¦ core competence and job performance for engineers at China Steel were studied through quantitative analysis and case study with moderating variables such as personal initiative and contextual factor. After analyzing the data, the results of the study indicate that: 1.Variations from different educational levels: For the task performance, personal performance is higher when the educational level of the engineering professionals¡¦ is lower. For the operation consciousness, although all are willing to take action for the benefit of the organization, the engineering professionals¡¦ with a lower educational level is the more enthusiastic. 2.Variations from different seniority: For the control cognition, people of higher seniority are more capable of forecasting the relationship between effort and performance, are more confident in judging an event, and are under less stress to carry out a task. While people of lower seniority are the opposite. 3.Variations from different age: In the task performance, the personal performance of older staff is superior. In control cognition, older staff is more capable of forecasting the relationship between effort and performance, are more confident in judging an event, and are under less stress to carry out a task. 4.Variations from different positions: Staff holding managerial positions above superintendent typically shows the leadership ability to influence job performance and motivate the changing. 5.A significant positive correlation was identified among knowledge management, engineering professionals¡¦core competence and job performance. 6.Knowledge management and engineering professionals¡¦core competence was positively significant to job performance. 7.Engineering professionals¡¦core competence was found to have a significant mediating effect between knowledge transfer and job performance. 8.Personal initiative and contextual factor were found to have a significant moderating effect among relationships of knowledge management, engineering professionals¡¦core competence and job performance.