In The Metaphysics of Morals, Kant claims that “the first command” of all self-regarding duties is to know our “heart.” Kant ostensibly identifies our heart with our moral disposition. Strangely, this appears to be precisely the sort of knowledge that, elsewhere, Kant claims is epistemically inaccessible to us. While the more sophisticated attempts to resolve this difficulty succeed in situating an injunction to know the quality of one’s disposition within a Kantian epistemic framework, no account is wholly successful in explaining why Kant takes self-knowledge to be a necessary condition of virtue. To make sense of the priority Kant assigns to the pursuit of self-knowledge, I argue that it is essential to understand the role of what has been called “generic” self-knowledge in Kant’s moral philosophy. I proceed to defend the place Kant grants moral self-knowledge in his moral philosophy, primarily by developing a Kantian account of such “generic” self-knowledge.

The objective of the research was to understand how customer knowledge was used in an organization and the role knowledge management systems (KMS) played in this use. Traditionally, organizations have relied on internal knowledge to shape their corporate strategy. Recently however they are tapping new sources of knowledge that are external to the firm. One important source of organizational knowledge is a company’s customers, as they present a source of knowledge that may provide new insights, innovations and ideas that are not necessarily found within the organization. The study examined the perceptions and beliefs of customer knowledge held by an organization’s employees, the types of customer knowledge available to the firm, the use of a KMS, and its impact on an organization’s use of knowledge. We posed the question of how these perceptions and beliefs influenced the types of customer knowledge available and the design and implementation of a KMS. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of customer knowledge types and knowledge management systems on how an organization uses customer knowledge in its regular operational routines. To answer these questions, a case study was conducted in a Canadian health care systems organization. By taking the approach that individuals in an organization are the key to sharing knowledge with customers, this research was able to gain an in-depth understanding of how employees view customer knowledge, including both positive and negative attitudes towards this new source of knowledge. The types of customer knowledge available to the study organization were identified, as were the ways that the newly implemented KMS helped and hindered knowledge sharing. The results of the research demonstrate how the types of customer knowledge available to an organization can be categorized by the perceived quality and the perceived accessibility of the knowledge. These findings contribute to the field of knowledge management by moving towards a theory of how customer knowledge is used by an organization, and how internal and external factors affect this use. Furthermore, this study raises awareness of the importance of a KMS in managing customer knowledge, including key aspects of its design and implementation.

The purpose of this study is to understand the significance of contemplative practice in fostering teachers’ personal practical knowledge. Teachers’ practical knowledge has been valued to make teaching relevant to students’ real life contexts. However, practical knowledge has been considered difficult to teach because of the diversity and dynamism of reality. Based on the conceptualization that teachers’ contemplative practice could support their practical knowledge development, this qualitative study was carried out through a review of the literature and exploration of direct experiences of four teachers who have linked their contemplative practices to their teaching. The literature review informs us that in order to develop teachers’ practical knowledge, attention, a sense of the whole, and a sense of context are critical. In addition, those qualities can be fostered by non-dual knowing or intuitive knowing which can be developed by contemplation, that is, the act of looking at something by paying attention without thinking of anything else and without premises or judgments. The exploration of the participants’ direct experiences shows that their contemplative practices performed a significant role in fostering personal practical knowledge of self, students, environment, subject matter, curriculum, and instruction and in making their teaching relevant to the students’ real lives from a holistic perspective.

Successful knowledge transfer is all about relationships. As anyone who has conducted research with non-academic partners knows, it takes a considerable amount of time and effort for these relationships to be fruitful. The great benefit of placing this work within the context of a community of practice is that it gives researchers and decision makers a structure within which to interact.<p> This study explored ways in which a community of practice framework can be used to develop and nurture relationships between researchers and decision makers. Further, it investigated how these communities of practice can be supported by online communications technologies. Its major contribution is the development, testing and refinement of a checklist of six ways that researchers can connect with decision makers in communities of practice, both in person and online. This checklist provides concrete, practical suggestions on how to develop an effective community of practice. Items in the checklist are based on both the academic literature on knowledge transfer and communities of practice, and the authors experience as part of an academic research unit focused on conducting collaborative research with community and government partners. Each item in the checklist was validated through interviews with members of two communities of practice. While the initial checklist had five items, a sixth was added following analysis of the interviews.<p> This checklist is generalizable, in that it can help guide any kind of community of practice, not just those in which members work on early childhood development issues, nor those communities in which researchers and decision makers interact. It is a valuable contribution to knowledge transfer methods at a time when both interest levels and efforts to improve knowledge implementation are widespread. The final checklist reads as follows:<p> A community of practice should:<p> 1. provide opportunities for regular interaction between community members;<p> 2. allow members to participate at varying levels that can change over time;<p> 3. provide both public and private spaces for interaction;<p> 4. document its goals, activities and outcomes, in order to develop a knowledge repository;<p> 5. identify and document the value of the community itself; and <p> 6. enlist the guidance of a technology champion in order to use online communications technologies effectively.

My objective is to deepen and thicken public and private policy debate about the competitiveness of nations in a global knowledgebased economy. To do so I first demonstrate the inadequacies of the Standard Model of economics, the last ideology standing after the Market-Marx Wars. Second, I develop a methodology (Trans-Disciplinary Induction) to acquire knowledge about knowledge. In the process of surveying the event horizons of seventeen sub-disciplines of thought, I redefine ideology as the search for commensurable sets or systems of ideas shared across knowledge domains and practices. Third, I create a definitional avalanche about knowledge as a noun, verb, form and content in etymology, psychology, epistemology & pedagogy, law and economics. In the process I demonstrate that personal & tacit and codified & tooled knowledge are the staple commodities of the global knowledge-based economy. Fourth, I establish the origins and nature of the Nation-State, the shifting sands of sovereignty on which it stands and the complimentary roles it plays as curator, facilitator, patron, architect and engineer of the national knowledge-base. Fifth, I examine the competitiveness of nations with respect to a production function in which all inputs, outputs and coefficients are defined in terms of knowledge. In the process, I demonstrated that competitiveness, as Darwinian win/lose against rivals, is inadequate because it does not account for the mutualism of symbionts and environmental change, i.e., coevolution and coconstruction. Accordingly, I propose fitness as a more appropriate criterion for the competitiveness of nations in a global knowledge-based economy. Finally, I consider the comparative advantage of nations given their initial and differing national knowledge endowments.

The objective of the research was to understand how customer knowledge was used in an organization and the role knowledge management systems (KMS) played in this use. Traditionally, organizations have relied on internal knowledge to shape their corporate strategy. Recently however they are tapping new sources of knowledge that are external to the firm. One important source of organizational knowledge is a company’s customers, as they present a source of knowledge that may provide new insights, innovations and ideas that are not necessarily found within the organization. The study examined the perceptions and beliefs of customer knowledge held by an organization’s employees, the types of customer knowledge available to the firm, the use of a KMS, and its impact on an organization’s use of knowledge. We posed the question of how these perceptions and beliefs influenced the types of customer knowledge available and the design and implementation of a KMS. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of customer knowledge types and knowledge management systems on how an organization uses customer knowledge in its regular operational routines. To answer these questions, a case study was conducted in a Canadian health care systems organization. By taking the approach that individuals in an organization are the key to sharing knowledge with customers, this research was able to gain an in-depth understanding of how employees view customer knowledge, including both positive and negative attitudes towards this new source of knowledge. The types of customer knowledge available to the study organization were identified, as were the ways that the newly implemented KMS helped and hindered knowledge sharing. The results of the research demonstrate how the types of customer knowledge available to an organization can be categorized by the perceived quality and the perceived accessibility of the knowledge. These findings contribute to the field of knowledge management by moving towards a theory of how customer knowledge is used by an organization, and how internal and external factors affect this use. Furthermore, this study raises awareness of the importance of a KMS in managing customer knowledge, including key aspects of its design and implementation.

The purpose of this study is to understand the significance of contemplative practice in fostering teachers’ personal practical knowledge. Teachers’ practical knowledge has been valued to make teaching relevant to students’ real life contexts. However, practical knowledge has been considered difficult to teach because of the diversity and dynamism of reality. Based on the conceptualization that teachers’ contemplative practice could support their practical knowledge development, this qualitative study was carried out through a review of the literature and exploration of direct experiences of four teachers who have linked their contemplative practices to their teaching. The literature review informs us that in order to develop teachers’ practical knowledge, attention, a sense of the whole, and a sense of context are critical. In addition, those qualities can be fostered by non-dual knowing or intuitive knowing which can be developed by contemplation, that is, the act of looking at something by paying attention without thinking of anything else and without premises or judgments. The exploration of the participants’ direct experiences shows that their contemplative practices performed a significant role in fostering personal practical knowledge of self, students, environment, subject matter, curriculum, and instruction and in making their teaching relevant to the students’ real lives from a holistic perspective.

This is a case study, within the field of Education and Human Resource Development. The subject is handover in a non-profit organization. The organization studied is the Uppsala Student Union (US). US is a politically run Non-profit organization (NGO), with the objective to work for better study- and living conditions of the 35 000 students at Uppsala University, Sweden, who are its members. Four people active within US have been interviewed, and the empiric material has been analyzed mainly based on the theories of Organizational Learning and Continuity Management. Some other theories are presented as well, as an orientation with relation to handover in organizations and organizational development. The questions asked are: 1. How is transfer of knowledge perceived in US – as a significant problem, a small problem or no problem at all? 2. If transfer of knowledge is perceived as a problem, what are thought to be the causes? 3. In US, as a NGO, how is handover managed? Which problems arise with respect to handover? 4. What else of interest and relevance can be found? The answers are: 1. A small problem. Transfer of knowledge is much thought of, but there are problems which are viewed as more important. 2. The causes for problems with handover are mainly referred to a heavy workload for the actives, high turnover and insufficient handover routines. 3. Routines for handover is a well integrated part of the work at US. And the conditions in terms of resources are good compared to other student unions. Some problems still arise, and a selection of these are presented in the study. 4. Additional findings have been defined under the following headlines: Representation on Boards – an area for improvement Changing the roles On Actives-mentality (Swe. föreningsmänniskor) Effective policy making Students as actives

Internationalization is one of the most complicated elements in Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) expansion. Researchers seem to agree more and more that none of the theories in this field can solely explain the dynamics of the internationalization of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises particularly small knowledge- and service-intensive firms. There are different theories and approaches toward the SMEs‘ internationalization; however there is one predictor in common among them: Firm‟s knowledge resources (Yli-Renko, Autio, &amp; Tontti, 2002).Since the value-adding processes of firms are increasingly based on the creation and exploitation of knowledge, the natural focus of attention shifts from the control of static, firm-specific resources to the acquisition, assimilation, and exploitation of firm-specific knowledge (Bettis &amp; Hitt, 1995; Grant, 1996; J.Nahapiet &amp; Ghoshal, 1998). In today‘s global competitive landscape, firms succeed not because they have control over scarce resources, but because they have the ability to gain the knowledge, learn and use this learning more efficiently than others. In comparison with big companies SMEs have relatively less resources, which make knowledge very vital for their survival and growth. (Mejri &amp; Umemoto, 2010)There has not been much empirical research on knowledge resources and capabilities although the importance of knowledge-related process is widely acknowledged. There is a notable limitation in SME literature on influence of knowledge that can only offer limited insight into firm‘s foreign market operations. In other words, there is a gap in the literature about the different types of knowledge and their role in the internationalization process and therefor this research has set it goal to answer the aforementioned issues.This research has used qualitative approach and case study research design, and six semistructured interviews were conducted with small Swedish firms that involved in international activities. Since this is an exploratory study, the data from the six cases was quite managable. Analysis was conducted by coding the interviews and categorization of the codes. The codes were interpreted and three types of knowledge were extracted based on both the data and theories; Technological Knowledge, Business Knowledge and Market-specific Knowledge. The main characteristics of each company were put together with regard to the three types of knowledge. The next step in analysis was to find out if there were any differences or similarities between the companies when it came to internationalization process. By using the aforementioned results a farmework was developed. The framework presents the role of each Knowledge in the internationalization process and is the key finding of this research.The results from this study indicate the significant role of different types of knowledge as the main source of competitive advantage for SMEs to go to international markets. However the result of this study also designates that the role of knowledge in the internationalization process must be understood in the context of the industry, the company and the people involved.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe, explore and explain the influence of entrepreneurial knowledge transfer effectiveness in the subsidiary initiative selling process. Specifically the flow of tacit knowledge relating to specific entrepreneurial opportunities transferred from subsidiaries as part of an attempt to achieve approval, support or resources for subsidiary initiatives is under focus. The paper seeks to develop hypothesis regarding possible relationships between tacit knowledge transfer effectiveness and subsidiary initiative, and further the relationship regarding the utilization of tacit knowledge transfer mechanisms for this purpose. Method The study consists of qualitative research in the form of a multiple case study. Eight cases are presented, four are Swedish subsidiaries of international organizations and the other four are Swedish headquarters of international MNC´s. The study uses an ‘abductive’ approach, moving frequently between literature, theory and empirical findings in order to prepare hypotheses that can be used for quantitative testing. The study develops its final hypotheses by comparing hypotheses that can be derived from literature, and then confirming, rejecting or modifying them based on the empirical evidence collected. Findings The study finds that tacit knowledge transfer effectiveness is a significant determinant of subsidiary initiative. Despite this fact the study finds that subsidiary managers appear to underrate and in some cases disregard the importance of tacit knowledge transfer effectiveness in the initiative selling process. The fact that tacit knowledge transfer effectiveness is not actively addressed means that a significant opportunity for improvement probably exists in this area. The study findings stand in contrast to the viewpoint held by the majority of the existing literature that although the transfer of tacit knowledge and the associated integrative and interactive communication mechanisms will have a positive direct effect on subsidiary initiative, they will as a secondary effect increase headquarters monitoring and interference. This interference is thought to decrease subsidiaries autonomy, entrepreneurial-ness and ultimately the level of subsidiary initiative. The study finds that the secondary effect is in fact in the opposite direction, being positively related to subsidiary initiative. The study also finds that when examining subsidiaries located in small developed markets the most important entrepreneurial knowledge flow to consider may be between the subsidiary and its regional management structure, as opposed to the head office. Originality/Value The study combines existing literature with a multiple case study to create hypothesise specifically relating to tacit knowledge transfer effectiveness and its role as a determinant of subsidiary initiative. The study further focuses on the influence of tacit knowledge transfer mechanisms in relation to subsidiary initiative. The study provides a classification of subsidiary initiatives which is most useful given the subject of this study and further creates a distinction between the discrete short term effects of a specific instance of knowledge transfer and the continuous process of knowledge transfer over time. The paper also brings forward the importance of the distinction between the conceptualization of the discrete specific process of initiative selling, and the cumulative effect of initiative selling over time, which along with other types of knowledge transfer and subsidiary promotion tactics I refer to as ‘subsidiary selling’. Implications for research The hypotheses developed in this paper are suitable to be tested in a large scale quantitative study. The fact that managers do not seem to be actively trying to transfer tacit knowledge more effectively means that where active tacit entrepreneurial knowledge transfer strategy is found it is likely to have significant effect on subsidiary initiative level. The challenge to the conventional assumptions that the presence and utilization level of tacit knowledge transfer mechanisms are likely to have a positive side effect on subsidiary initiative, as opposed to the negative side effect as predicted by contingency theory, is very significant. The distinction between the short- and medium term effects, as put forward in this study, informs scholars that an academic study needs to both take into account the time frame over which the effects of knowledge transfer are studied as well as the negative feedback loop of the knowledge transfer. The study also puts forward specific categories of subsidiary initiative, and suggests that these categories should be individually studied in future quantitative research. Implications for managers/practitioners Subsidiary Management should be aware that they could dramatically improve their entrepreneurial project approval rate by improving their tacit knowledge transfer effectiveness. The finding  regarding that increases in tacit knowledge effectiveness, lead to lower costs of future knowledge transfer, further leading to increased likelihood of headquarters attention and comfort, means that they have the opportunity to create a virtuous circle of increased knowledge transfer resulting in lower costs of knowledge transfer resulting in more willingness to engage in knowledge transfer. The finding that the secondary effects of knowledge transfer of entrepreneurial opportunities have a further positive effect on subsidiary initiative means that there is very little downside to increasing the use of integrating and interactive communication mechanisms, and with significant upside this indicates managers should immediately attempt to increase the presence and utilization of these mechanisms. The study indicates that it may be a prudent strategy for managers of subsidiaries in multinational corporations operating in small developed market’s to increase their tacit knowledge transfer effectiveness regarding entrepreneurial opportunities during the initiative selling process, as this rare skill may help them win the battle for internal resources such as attention and finance.