Authors: Ben Heslop; Romeo V. Turcan
Abstract. This paper aims to contribute towards the advancement of an efficient architecture of a single market for knowledge through the development of an integrative model of knowledge transfer. Within this aim, several points of departure can be singled out. One, the article builds on the call of the European Commission to improve the European market for KT between research institutions and industry. Two, various barriers exist that hinder efficient KT in Europe, especially in transition economies that recently joined the EU where the issues of restructuring higher education, building trust between business and academia, and implementing the respective legislature are enduring. The research objectives were to explore (i) the process of knowledge transfer in universities, including the nature of tensions, obstacles and incentives, (ii) the relationships between key stakeholders in the KT market and (iii) the meaning/reality that is construed as a result of these relationships. To address the above research objectives, grounded theory research was undertaken in four universities in the UK and one in Australia. Coding of the data revealed thirteen constructs, which became the building blocks of the emergent integrative model of knowledge transfer. In an attempt to bring it to a higher level of generalizability, the integrative model of KT is further conceptualized from a „sociology of markets‟ perspective resulting in an emergent architecture of a single market for knowledge. Future research is called for to test and validate the emergent theories.
Keywords: knowledge transfer, sociology of markets, institutional theory, grounded theory
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Conference: Glasgow, Scotland (2011)