Knowledge mediation and overlapping in interfirm networks

Purpose – The literature on interfirm networks devotes scant attention to the ways collaborating firms combine and integrate the knowledge they share and to the subsequent learning outcomes. This study aims to investigate how motorsport companies use network ties to share and recombine knowledge and the learning that occurs both at the organizational and dyadic network levels. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a qualitative and inductive approach with the aim of developing theory from an in-depth examination of the dyadic ties between motorsport companies and the way they share and recombine knowledge. Findings – The research shows that motorsport companies having substantial competences at managing knowledge flows do so by getting advantage of bridging ties. While bridging ties allow motorsport companies to reach distant and diverse sources of knowledge, their strengthening and the formation of relational capital facilitate the mediation and overlapping of that knowledge. Research limitations/implications – The analysis rests on a qualitative account in a single industry and does not take into account different types of inter-firm networks (e.g. alliances; constellations; consortia etc.) and governance structures. Cross-industry analyses may provide a more fine-grained picture of the practices used to recombine knowledge and the ideal composition of inter-firm ties. Practical implications – This study provides some interesting implications for scholars and managers concerned with the management of innovation activities at the interfirm level. From a managerial point of view, the recognition of the different roles played by network spanning connections is particularly salient and raises issues concerning the effective design and management of interfirm ties. Originality/value – Although much of the literature emphasizes the role of bridging ties in connecting to diverse pools of knowledge, this paper goes one step further and investigates in more depth how firms gather and combine distant and heterogeneous sources of knowledge through the use of strengthened bridging ties and a micro-context conducive to high quality relationships.

Recursos para la alfabetización mediática: investigación y propuestas para niños

Mucho se ha investigado sobre la educación en medios, su importancia y objetivos. Más allá de las Directivas, resoluciones o recomendaciones, la investigación en esta área ha permitido profundizar y solidificar sus fundamentos, al tiempo que ha facilitado el reconocimiento de sus puntos más débiles u omisiones. Uno de los puntos críticos destacados por la formación y por el trabajo de investigación que se ha desarrollado en la Universidad de Miño (Portugal) durante los últimos 20 años, es la inexistencia de recursos y materiales que puedan utilizarse para la promoción de la educación en los medios de comunicación en diferentes contextos. De esta forma, independientemente de los recursos y materiales, se genera la importancia de la transferencia de conocimientos a la práctica, la trascendencia de la mediación del conocimiento producido a su público. Esta preocupación fue la base principal del proyecto titulado «Recursos para la alfabetización mediática» llevado a cabo en el Centro de Estudios de Comunicación y Sociedad y financiado por Evens Foundation (Bélgica). Este trabajo presenta sucintamente los procesos de creación y los resultados generados por estos recursos, centrados en tres medios: televisión, videojuegos e Internet y redes sociales.

Escolarização formal e dimensões curriculares para alunos com autismo: o estado da arte da produção acadêmica brasileira

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Knowledge repository framework for crowdsourcing innovation intermediary: a proposal

A crowdsourcing innovation intermediary performs mediation activities between companies that have a problem to solve or that seek a business opportunity, and a group of people motivated to present ideas based on their knowledge, experience and wisdom, taking advantage of technology sharing and collaboration emerging from Web2.0. As far as we know, most of the present intermediaries don´t have, yet, an integrated vision that combines the creation of value through community development, brokering and technology transfer. In this paper we present a proposal of a knowledge repository framework for crowdsourcing innovation that enables effective support and integration of the activities developed in the process of value creation (community building, brokering and technology transfer), modeled using ontology engineering methods.

Modelling the simultaneous effects of intellectual capital and knowledge management on the organisational performance of Finnish companies

The aim of this study was to contribute to the current knowledge-based theory by focusing on a research gap that exists in the empirically proven determination of the simultaneous but differentiable effects of intellectual capital (IC) assets and knowledge management (KM) practices on organisational performance (OP). The analysis was built on the past research and theoreticised interactions between the latent constructs specified using the survey-based items that were measured from a sample of Finnish companies for IC and KM and the dependent construct for OP determined using information available from financial databases. Two widely used and commonly recommended measures in the literature on management science, i.e. the return on total assets (ROA) and the return on equity (ROE), were calculated for OP. Thus the investigation of the relationship between IC and KM impacting OP in relation to the hypotheses founded was possible to conduct using objectively derived performance indicators. Using financial OP measures also strengthened the dynamic features of data needed in analysing simultaneous and causal dependences between the modelled constructs specified using structural path models. The estimates were obtained for the parameters of structural path models using a partial least squares-based regression estimator. Results showed that the path dependencies between IC and OP or KM and OP were always insignificant when analysed separate to any other interactions or indirect effects caused by simultaneous modelling and regardless of the OP measure used that was either ROA or ROE. The dependency between the constructs for KM and IC appeared to be very strong and was always significant when modelled simultaneously with other possible interactions between the constructs and using either ROA or ROE to define OP. This study, however, did not find statistically unambiguous evidence for proving the hypothesised causal mediation effects suggesting, for instance, that the effects of KM practices on OP are mediated by the IC assets. Due to the fact that some indication about the fluctuations of causal effects was assessed, it was concluded that further studies are needed for verifying the fundamental and likely hidden causal effects between the constructs of interest. Therefore, it was also recommended that complementary modelling and data processing measures be conducted for elucidating whether the mediation effects occur between IC, KM and OP, the verification of which requires further investigations of measured items and can be build on the findings of this study.

Professionalism and Information Technology: Positioning and Mediation

The starting point of this paper is the assumption that - on the one hand - information technology (IT) is increasingly shaping the professional knowledge base and on the other the relation between organisation and profession. IT is changing the role, responsibilities and practices of social workers and therefore it is important to deal with the impact of IT on social work (representative for many: Harlow and Webb 2003; Burton and van den Broek 2008). Hence, the general aim of this paper is to stimulate a basic discussion on “IT application in social work“, or rather, in a more general way, on „technology and professions“. Secondly, it is about an analytical differentiation of the process of informatisation, respectively formalisation. Thirdly we want to discuss the assumption and overall combination of efficiency, effectiveness and IT. Therefore this paper is arranged as follows: After some opening remarks (chapter 1) we outline case management systems as research object (2). Further on, we confront the approach of reflexive professionalism (3) with the process of formalization (4). Subsequently, we touch on the debate of “technologies of care” (5) and conclude with some short remarks on a research program (6).

Information Management and Mediation in a Digital Reference Service Focused in Social Sciences

This paper investigates the current relationship between information management and information mediation along with the digital reference service through a case study which took place in an academic library. The concept of information mediation is herein analyzed, since a conceptual examination provides elements that will help people to comprehend and evaluate the concerned service. The information professional plays a very important role in the mediation aforementioned, which may be directly or indirectly; consciously or unconsciously; by himself/herself or plurally; individually or inserted into a group ? in all such manners that mediator facilitates the acquisition of information, fully or partially satisfying a user?s need of all sorts of knowledge. Meanwhile, we here approach information management from a scope that points out a description over performed activities concerned to policies and procedures put into effect until the service evaluation by proposing a criterion for such point. Finally, we outline a few actions to be implemented in long-term perspective, which goal is to continually ameliorate such assistance, taking in account the human factor

Information Management and Mediation in a Digital Reference Service Focused in Social Sciences

This paper investigates the current relationship between information management and information mediation along with the digital reference service through a case study which took place in an academic library. The concept of information mediation is herein analyzed, since a conceptual examination provides elements that will help people to comprehend and evaluate the concerned service. The information professional plays a very important role in the mediation aforementioned, which may be directly or indirectly; consciously or unconsciously; by himself/herself or plurally; individually or inserted into a group ? in all such manners that mediator facilitates the acquisition of information, fully or partially satisfying a user?s need of all sorts of knowledge. Meanwhile, we here approach information management from a scope that points out a description over performed activities concerned to policies and procedures put into effect until the service evaluation by proposing a criterion for such point. Finally, we outline a few actions to be implemented in long-term perspective, which goal is to continually ameliorate such assistance, taking in account the human factor

Information Management and Mediation in a Digital Reference Service Focused in Social Sciences

This paper investigates the current relationship between information management and information mediation along with the digital reference service through a case study which took place in an academic library. The concept of information mediation is herein analyzed, since a conceptual examination provides elements that will help people to comprehend and evaluate the concerned service. The information professional plays a very important role in the mediation aforementioned, which may be directly or indirectly; consciously or unconsciously; by himself/herself or plurally; individually or inserted into a group ? in all such manners that mediator facilitates the acquisition of information, fully or partially satisfying a user?s need of all sorts of knowledge. Meanwhile, we here approach information management from a scope that points out a description over performed activities concerned to policies and procedures put into effect until the service evaluation by proposing a criterion for such point. Finally, we outline a few actions to be implemented in long-term perspective, which goal is to continually ameliorate such assistance, taking in account the human factor

Effective knowledge integration in emergency response organizations

Natural and man-made disasters have gained attention at all levels of policy-making in recent years. Emergency management tasks are inherently complex and unpredictable, and often require coordination among multiple organizations across different levels and locations. Effectively managing various knowledge areas and the organizations involved has become a critical emergency management success factor. However, there is a general lack of understanding about how to describe and assess the complex nature of emergency management tasks and how knowledge integration can help managers improve emergency management task performance. ^ The purpose of this exploratory research was first, to understand how emergency management operations are impacted by tasks that are complex and inter-organizational and second, to investigate how knowledge integration as a particular knowledge management strategy can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the emergency tasks. Three types of specific knowledge were considered: context-specific, technology-specific, and context-and-technology-specific. ^ The research setting was the Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the study was based on the survey responses from the participants in past EOC activations related to their emergency tasks and knowledge areas. The data included task attributes related to complexity, knowledge area, knowledge integration, specificity of knowledge, and task performance. The data was analyzed using multiple linear regressions and path analyses, to (1) examine the relationships between task complexity, knowledge integration, and performance, (2) the moderating effects of each type of specific knowledge on the relationship between task complexity and performance, and (3) the mediating role of knowledge integration. ^ As per theory-based propositions, the results indicated that overall component complexity and interactive complexity tend to have a negative effect on task performance. But surprisingly, procedural rigidity tended to have a positive effect on performance in emergency management tasks. Also as per our expectation, knowledge integration had a positive relationship with task performance. Interestingly, the moderating effects of each type of specific knowledge on the relationship between task complexity and performance were varied and the extent of mediation of knowledge integration depended on the dimension of task complexity. ^

The effect of complex workplace dietary interventions on employees dietary behaviours, nutrition knowledge and health status

Background The growing prevalence and associated burden of diet-related non-communicable diseases is a global public health concern. The environments in which people live and work influences their dietary behaviours. Aim The focus of this thesis was on the effectiveness of complex workplace dietary interventions. The comparative effectiveness of a complex workplace environmental dietary modification intervention and an educational intervention were assessed both alone and in combination relative to a control workplace setting. Methods The systematic review was guided by the PRISMA statement. In a cluster controlled trial, four workplaces were purposively allocated to control, nutrition education alone (Education), environmental dietary modification alone (Environment) and nutrition education and environmental dietary modification (Combined intervention). The interventions were guided by the MRC framework. In the control workplace, data were collected at baseline and follow-up. In the intervention related sub-study, the relationships between nutrition knowledge, diet quality and hypertension were examined. Results The systematic review provided limited evidence. In the FCW study, 850 employees aged 18-64 years were recruited at baseline with N(response rate %) in each workplace as follows: Control: 111(72%), Education: 226(71%), Environment: 113(91%), Combined intervention: 400(61%). Complete follow-up data was obtained for 517 employees (61%). There were significant positive changes in dietary intakes of saturated fat(p=0.013), salt(p=0.010) and nutrition knowledge(p=0.034) between baseline and follow-up at 7-9 months in the combined intervention versus the control workplace in the fully adjusted multivariate analysis. Small but significant changes in BMI(-1.2kg/m2 (p=0.047) were also observed in the combined intervention. In the sub-study, nutrition knowledge was positively significantly associated with diet quality and blood pressure but no evidence of a mediation effect of the DASH score was detected between nutrition knowledge and blood pressure. Conclusion This thesis provides critical evidence on the effectiveness of complex workplace dietary interventions in a manufacturing working population.

Effective Knowledge Integration in Emergency Response Organizations

Natural and man-made disasters have gained attention at all levels of policy-making in recent years. Emergency management tasks are inherently complex and unpredictable, and often require coordination among multiple organizations across different levels and locations. Effectively managing various knowledge areas and the organizations involved has become a critical emergency management success factor. However, there is a general lack of understanding about how to describe and assess the complex nature of emergency management tasks and how knowledge integration can help managers improve emergency management task performance. The purpose of this exploratory research was first, to understand how emergency management operations are impacted by tasks that are complex and inter-organizational and second, to investigate how knowledge integration as a particular knowledge management strategy can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the emergency tasks. Three types of specific knowledge were considered: context-specific, technology-specific, and context-and-technology-specific. The research setting was the Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the study was based on the survey responses from the participants in past EOC activations related to their emergency tasks and knowledge areas. The data included task attributes related to complexity, knowledge area, knowledge integration, specificity of knowledge, and task performance. The data was analyzed using multiple linear regressions and path analyses, to (1) examine the relationships between task complexity, knowledge integration, and performance, (2) the moderating effects of each type of specific knowledge on the relationship between task complexity and performance, and (3) the mediating role of knowledge integration. As per theory-based propositions, the results indicated that overall component complexity and interactive complexity tend to have a negative effect on task performance. But surprisingly, procedural rigidity tended to have a positive effect on performance in emergency management tasks. Also as per our expectation, knowledge integration had a positive relationship with task performance. Interestingly, the moderating effects of each type of specific knowledge on the relationship between task complexity and performance were varied and the extent of mediation of knowledge integration depended on the dimension of task complexity.