Understanding university academics' internal and external knowledge interactions in different disciplines: evidence from university in South Korea

Most of the literature on the role of universities in innovation assumes that academics¡¯ knowledge interacts only with industry and knowledge transfer occurs only or mainly in the technological and scientific fields. We question these assumptions, suggesting academics¡¯ internal and external knowledge interact across disciplines. Using national survey data, this paper tries to show the heterogeneity of university teachers¡¯ knowledge interactions across wider disciplines. Also, this paper explores the patterns of university academics¡¯ internal knowledge interactions with other academics within academia and the university academics¡¯ external knowledge interactions with industry, such as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and major Korean firms, Chaebols. We found that there are heterogeneities of academics¡¯ knowledge interactions across the disciplines.

Unified modelling in support of organization design and change

The aim of this research is to provide a unified modelling-based method to help with the evaluation of organization design and change decisions. Relevant literature regarding model-driven organization design and change is described. This helps identify the requirements for a new modelling methodology. Such a methodology is developed and described. The three phases of the developed method include the following. First, the use of CIMOSA-based multi-perspective enterprise modelling to understand and capture the most enduring characteristics of process-oriented organizations and externalize various types of requirement knowledge about any target organization. Second, the use of causal loop diagrams to identify dynamic causal impacts and effects related to the issues and constraints on the organization under study. Third, the use of simulation modelling to quantify the effects of each issue in terms of organizational performance. The design and case study application of a unified modelling method based on CIMOSA (computer integrated manufacturing open systems architecture) enterprise modelling, causal loop diagrams, and simulation modelling, is explored to illustrate its potential to support systematic organization design and change. Further application of the proposed methodology in various company and industry sectors, especially in manufacturing sectors, would be helpful to illustrate complementary uses and relative benefits and drawbacks of the methodology in different types of organization. The proposed unified modelling-based method provides a systematic way of enabling key aspects of organization design and change. The case company, its relevant data, and developed models help to explore and validate the proposed method. The application of CIMOSA-based unified modelling method and integrated application of these three modelling techniques within a single solution space constitutes an advance on previous best practice. Also, the purpose and application domain of the proposed method offers an addition to knowledge. © IMechE 2009.