Knowledge management: Exploring the relationship between human capital and organisation structure capital

Human capital and its impact on the organisation structure capital are of paramount importance in the modern business organisations. This research in progress, which investigates and analyses the role that human capital plays in the determination of the organisation structure capital. The study is based on wide spectrum of current literature, which presents theoretical and practical research on the subject of study. Knowledge Management (KM) is systematic process based on models and technological integration, which helps in the development of the conceptual framework. It is assumed that KM leads to benefits for the organisation and provides a platform for future research. Also, it addresses KM impacts on human capital and the enhancement of organisational effectiveness. The procedure is established for the measurement of the effectiveness of knowledge management criteria. The study aims at large businesses in Syria. It is confirmed through the results and findings that models and processing of information through systematic structure is essential for the development of the manager’s capabilities which plays an important factor in defining the impact of human capital on the success of the organisation structure of a business

Innovation dynamics and the role of infrastructure

This report shows how the role of the infrastructure – standards, measurement, accreditation, design and intellectual property – can be integrated into a quantitative model of the innovation system and used to help explain levels and changes in labour productivity and growth in turnover and employment. The summary focuses on the new results from the project, set out in more detail in Sections 5 and 6. The first two sections of the report provide contextual material on the UK innovation system, the nature and content of the infrastructure knowledge and the institutions that provide it. Mixed modes of innovation, the typology of innovation practices developed and applied here, is constituted of six mixed modes, derived from many variables taken from the UK Innovation Survey. These are: Investing in intangibles Technology with IP innovating Using codified knowledge Wider (managerial) innovating Market-led innovating External process modernising. The composition of the innovation modes, and the approach used to compute them, is set out in more detail in Section 4. Modes can be thought of as the underlying process of innovation, a bundle of activities undertaken jointly by firms, and whose working out generates well known indicators such as new product innovations, R&D spending and accessing external information, that are the partial indicators gathered from the innovation survey itself

Knowledge Transfer and the Services Sector in the Context of the New Economy

This paper examines the processes of knowledge transfer in the services sector in the economic reality, increasingly affected by the use of information and communication technologies. An important focus is to explore whether the knowledge transfer channels, traditionally used in manufacturing, can also be made use of in services. To this end, the authors examine the specificity of services with respect to the nature of their output, degree of customer participation in the production process, degree of simultaneity of production and consumption, and study its effect on knowledge transfer. It turns out that in services the following transfer channels are highly important: foreign direct investment, training and producer-consumer two-way knowledge transfer, whereas for manufacturing links with academy and patents are very significant. It is underlined that the characteristics of knowledge holders and knowledge recipients are very important for the process of knowledge transfer. The paper also contains recommendations for policy-making in relation to the knowledge transfer in the Dutch services sector in the context of new economy.economics of technology ;

An integrated core competence evaluation framework for portfolio management in the oil industry

Drawing upon resource-based theory, this paper presents a core competence evaluation framework for managing the competence portfolio of an oil company. It introduces a network typology to illustrate how to form different types of strategic alliance relations with partnering firms to manage and grow the competence portfolio. A framework is tested using a case study approach involving face-to-face structured interviews. We identified purchasing, refining and sales and marketing as strong candidates to be the core competencies. However, despite the company's core business of refining oil, the core competencies were identified to be their research and development and performance management (PM) capabilities. We further provide a procedure to determine different kinds of physical, intellectual and cultural resources making a dominant impact on company's competence portfolio. In addition, we provide a comprehensive set of guidelines on how to develop core competence further by forging a partnership alliance choosing an appropriate network topology

The University in the Learning Economy

In all parts of the world, universities are exposed to a growing pressure to change. This is caused by the emergence of new relationship between the economic dynamics and the production of knowledge as well as by policy and administrative initiatives finding their rationale in interpretations of these changes. In this paper an attempt is made to specify some of the new challenges, and suggest appropriate responses. Under the heading ‘the learning economy’ changes in the context of universities are identified. One important conclusion is that traditional modes of organisation, characterised by sharp and rigid borders between disciplines and isolation from the society at large are being challenged and alternatives have to be developed. Another conclusion is that strategies of alliance and networking have become a key factor behind the success of universities. A third conclusion is that the universities’ most significant contribution to society and the economy will remain welleducated graduates with critical minds and good learning skills.Production of knowledge, education, networks

One Knowledge Base or Many Knowledge Pools?

It is increasingly realized that knowledge is the most important resource and that learning is the most important process in the economy. Sometimes this is expressed by coining the current era as characterised by a ‘knowledge based economy’. But this concept might be misleading by indicating that there is one common knowledge base on which economic activities can be built. In this paper we argue that it is more appropriate to see the economy as connecting to different ‘pools of knowledge’. The argument is built upon a conceptual framework where we make distinctions between private/public, local/global, individual/collective and tacit/codified knowledge. The purpose is both ‘academic’ and practical. Our analysis demonstrates the limits of a narrowly economic perspective on knowledge and we show that these distinctions have important implications both for innovation policy and for management of innovation.Knowledge, economic development

The economics of accreditation

This paper is a report on a research project on the economics of accreditation in the UK. The main motivation and objective for the study is to have available a detailed analysis of how the accreditation system impinges on important aspects of economic life, such as innovation and business and economic performance. It aims to improve the general understanding of the benefits of using accredited conformity assessment and to help businesses make informed decisions when procuring conformity assessment and related services. It is also intended to be helpful to government by supporting evidence-based policy making in relation to accreditation and conformity assessmen