The transfer of knowledge between universities and industry has received considerable attention throughout the last 20 years. The study of knowledge and its relationship to commercial advantage and innovation is popular in management research. The majority of this research considers knowledge transfer at a society or company level, however, there is an absence of research that focuses at a project level and considers the day-today practices involved in transferring knowledge, back and forth, between universities and commercial organisations. This research focuses on this aspect of knowledge transfer by undertaking a range of theory-building activities to develop a new understanding of the practice of transferring knowledge in this context. Adopting an inductive methodological approach, aligned with a ‘social constructivist’ paradigm, the research develops a number of questions from the literature. The questions are then explored by reference to experienced participants from ‘real’ knowledge transfer projects, using participant enquiry methods. A number of practical frameworks are proposed. The appropriateness of these is further explored using participant interaction techniques – where research interventions are developed and applied in ‘live’ knowledge transfer projects. The results suggest that by raising participant’s awareness of the inherent properties of knowledge, the outcomes of knowledge transfer projects may be strengthened. By focussing on standardised frameworks for interaction and suggesting practical activities that can be carried out before and during knowledge transfer projects, a focus can be achieved on improving the outcomes of the projects respectively. The wider implication of this work could be in the development of policy interventions, practical management guidelines and knowledge transfer ‘best practice’. In addition, the practical tools and techniques developed could also form the basis for further evaluative research. This could be used to compare organisations’ competences and services, which could, in turn, advise the strategies of industrial organisations, universities and knowledge transfer intermediaries.

Many people face difficulties in remembering knowledge, which is complex and abstract. This is especially important when the descriptions of knowledge are to be stored in searchable knowledge bases. But if complex knowledge can be transferred through real life stories, it is more understandable and easier to retrieve for the knowledge acceptor. Moreover, if the stories follow a certain pattern like ‘intentional suspense’ it may be more useful. This study investigates how far a story with intentional interruption is helpful in transferring complex computer science knowledge through processing of information that compares similarities between new and well-understood concepts. The data collection was done by applying framework analysis approach through the interview of 40 students of Stockholm University. Results of this study is assumed to help organizations to design, store and retrieve complex knowledge structures in knowledge bases by using a specific pattern of the stories used in the narrative pedagogy known as 'Zeigarnik effect' which is a form of creating suspense. Interviews with managers showed that they are positive to using the type of knowledge transfer as is proposed in the results of this thesis. Transcribed interviews with students show that the students appreciate and understand the use of analogies in combination with the ‘Zeigarnik effect’ as is described in the result of this thesis. After analysis of the data collected from the experiments, it was confirmed that ‘Zeigarnik effect’ has a small positive effect for a group of people as better results have been found in most of the time when ‘Zeigarnik effect’ was used as compared to when the ‘Zeigarnik effect’ was not used. The participants that experienced the ‘Zeigarnik effect’ answered in a better way which proved that their understanding and memory regarding the subject have been enhanced using it.

Submitted by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-27T14:02:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissGRO.pdf: 1949409 bytes, checksum: db095c27a40ca0db42bd9916c024e4e8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-27T14:03:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissGRO.pdf: 1949409 bytes, checksum: db095c27a40ca0db42bd9916c024e4e8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-27T14:03:14Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissGRO.pdf: 1949409 bytes, checksum: db095c27a40ca0db42bd9916c024e4e8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-27T14:03:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissGRO.pdf: 1949409 bytes, checksum: db095c27a40ca0db42bd9916c024e4e8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-20 / Não recebi financiamento / Brazil is a country with a wide range of socais problems that need to be resolved so that it can be considered a developed nation. In this sense many social problems could be studied by public research in order to mitigate social inequality. This research aims to identify and understand the obstacles and possibilities for the formation of the research agenda of the public university demands from the local community. The methodology was qualitative and exploratory, which is outlined in literature and literature. The literature encompassed thematic as science, technology and innovation policy (PCT&I); channels of communication between university and society; social technology; and territorial development. The result of the survey pointed out as an obstacle to the construction of the university agenda based on the demands of local communities PCT&I developed based on international models; political control centered in the hands of a few actors, especially scientists; research agenda aimed at an international science, business or particular demands; lack of communication channels and strategies and exchange of knowledge between universities and local communities; little research on the research agenda of Brazilian scientists. As possibilities the search result pointed adherence by the PCT&I concepts such as: social technology; regional development; solidarity economy; social technology park; sustainable development; and actions as public policy development: municipalities, states (master plan) and urban planning. / O Brasil é um país com um vasto leque de problemas socais que precisam ser resolvidos para que ele possa ser considerado uma nação desenvolvida. Nesse sentido muitos problemas sociais poderiam ser estudados pelas pesquisas públicas a fim de amenizar a desigualdade social. A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo identificar e compreender os obstáculos e as possibilidades para a formação da agenda de pesquisa da universidade pública a partir de demandas da comunidade local. A metodologia adotada foi a qualitativa e exploratória, sendo esta delineada em levantamento bibliográfico e pesquisa bibliográfica. O levantamento bibliográfico abarcou tematicas como: política científica, tecnológica e de inovação (PCT&I); canais de comunicação entre universidade e sociedade; tecnologia social; e desenvolvimento territorial. O resultado da pesquisa apontou como obstáculo para a construção da agenda da universidade com base nas demandas das comunidades locais: PCT&I elaborada com base em modelos internacionais; controle político centrado na mão de poucos atores, com destaque aos cientistas; agenda de pesquisa direcionada a uma ciência internacional, ou as demandas particulares empresariais; falta de canais e estratégias de comunicação e troca de conhecimento entre universidade e comunidades locais; poucas pesquisas sobre a agenda de pesquisa dos cientistas brasileiros. Como possibilidades o resultado da pesquisa apontou a adesão por parte da PCT&I de conceitos como: tecnologia social; desenvolvimento territorial; economia solidária; parque tecnológico social; desenvolvimento sustentável; e ações como elaboração de políticas públicas: municípios, estados (plano diretor) e planejamento urbano.