Revisiting interaction in knowledge translation

Abstract Background Although the study of research utilization is not new, there has been increased emphasis on the topic over the recent past. Science push models that are researcher driven and controlled and demand pull models emphasizing users/decision-maker interests have largely been abandoned in favour of more interactive models that emphasize linkages between researchers and decisionmakers. However, despite these and other theoretical and empirical advances in the area of research utilization, there remains a fundamental gap between the generation of research findings and the application of those findings in practice. Methods Using a case approach, the current study looks at the impact of one particular interaction approach to research translation used by a Canadian funding agency. Results Results suggest there may be certain conditions under which different levels of decisionmaker involvement in research will be more or less effective. Four attributes are illuminated by the current case study: stakeholder diversity, addressability/actionability of results, finality of study design and methodology, and politicization of results. Future research could test whether these or other variables can be used to specify some of the conditions under which different approaches to interaction in knowledge translation are likely to facilitate research utilization. Conclusion This work suggests that the efficacy of interaction approaches to research translation may be more limited than current theory proposes and underscores the need for more completely specified models of research utilization that can help address the slow pace of change in this area.</p

Towards Agent-Based Models of Rumours in Organizations: A Social Practice Theory Approach:14th Social Simulation Conference, 2018

Rumour is a collective emergent phenomenon with a potential for provoking a crisis. Modelling approaches have been deployed since five decades ago; however, the focus was mostly on epidemic behaviour of the rumours which does not take into account the differences between agents. We use social practice theory to model agent decision-making in organizational rumourmongering. Such an approach provides us with an opportunity to model rumourmongering agents with a layer of cognitive realism and study the impacts of various intervention strategies for prevention and control of rumours in organization

The impact of managerial networking intensity and market-based strategies on firm growth during institutional upheaval:a study of small and medium-sized enterprises in a transition economy

Varying institutional environments provide the foundation for a great deal of international business research, yet relatively little empirical work has examined the determinants of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) growth during institutional upheaval, although the importance of SME development for economic transition and growth is widely acknowledged. Our paper addresses this gap in the literature by examining how the competitive strategies of SMEs evolve during institutional transitions, and assessing the implications for firm growth. Using data collected from 135 SMEs in 1993, and 200 SMEs in 2001, we find that managerial networking intensity (i.e., developing and maintaining relationships that may be used for business purposes) declines markedly over time, whereas the importance of market-based strategies increases. Managerial networking intensity is strongly associated with firm growth early in the institutional transition process, but not later. Market-based strategies are not associated with firm growth in either time period. Drawing on convergent insights from multiple theoretical perspectives, we argue that changes in strategy are concurrently driven by socially constructed norms that legitimize new ways of competing and delegitimize old ones, and by knowledge acquisition and learning, which provide managers with a more diverse set of tools with which to exercise their strategic choices