UNTYING A LANCASTRIAN BUNDLE: ECOSYSTEM VALUATION IN WETLAND MITIGATION

A utility-theoretic model indicates that mitigation prices for wetland ecosystems depend on preferences and technical knowledge. Empirical analysis found gaps in respondents' knowledge about such ecosystmes. Valuing wetland types requires dealing with respondents' possible misinformation, by developing tools for informing respondents or by combining service-based valuations with valid technical data.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Critical knowledge map as a decision tool for knowledge transfer actions

Knowledge transfer is no longer reducible to classical solutions such as face-to-face training, technical education or tutoring. Knowledge to be transferred is professional knowledge (Business Knowledge). It involves the whole Knowledge Capital within an organization. Identifying the knowledge components that are worthwhile transferring is not an easy task. This is the problem addressed in this paper.Knowledge transfer, Knowledge Management, Knowledge mapping, Knowledge capitalization

Factors Influencing Household Solar Adoption in Santiago, Chile

In Santiago, Chile, the market conditions are seemingly excellent for the household adoption of photovoltaic (PV) technology, yet the uptake is negligible. To explore this paradox, the authors conducted a Delphi study to solicit the knowledge of a panel of Chilean PV experts. These efforts yielded 26 factors—both motivations and barriers—impacting the diffusion of PV in Santiago. Of the 26, experts were in consensus on the relative importance of 21. The literature suggests that diffusion of PV technologies is influenced by complex technical, economic, and social factors. Similarly, the experts saw influence from financial, environmental, and energy supply (e.g., electrical reliability) factors. They saw emergent barriers to adoption as being financial, technical, institutional, and knowledge factors. They considered the most important factors influencing adoption to be financial motivations (e.g., subsidies) and financial barriers (e.g., high upfront costs); they considered the least important factors to be environmental motivations (e.g., environmental stewardship) and technical barriers (e.g., concerns with roof mounting). With this knowledge, the authors develop an adoption framework for household PV that describes the interaction among the identified motivations and barriers. This framework informs policy recommendations for Santiago, Chile, and contributes to the body of literature exploring the interconnected systems of factors that influence civil infrastructure in general and PV adoption in particular

New innovation management paradigms in the knowledge-driven economy

The growing importance of knowledge as a production factor and as a determinant of innovation can be explained by the continuous accumulation of technical knowledge over time. Innovation Management Techniques (IMTs) are critical to support the process of innovation in firms and help them in a systematic way to meet new market challenges

Editor's Introduction: Scientific and Technical Human Capital

Human capital and social networks are the two pillars supporting scientists' and engineers' ability to contribute knowledge. Throughout their careers, scientists seek to enhance both. Human capital endowments include not only formal education and its representation in credentials but the actual scientific and technical knowledge, craft knowledge and technical skills. In science and technology the deploying of human capital in the production of scientific and technical knowledge is intensely and inevitably social. Science cannot be understood in purely cognitive terms. Social mechanisms undergird not only the production of knowledge but its distribution and use. Scientific and technical journals and conferences are social institutions, as well as intellectual property protections, grants and awards, job placement and career transitions which are governed by social institutions. Social networks are the means by which scientists and engineers traverse social institutions. Indeed, scientists and engineers are as dependent upon social networks as they are upon such tangible scientific tools as electron microscopes, supercomputers and synchrotrons. Research policy and management scholars have long recognized the importance of scientists' and engineers' human capital endowments and their social networks. It is surprising, though, how rarely the two are viewed as part and parcel of a single bundle

Knowledge practices in design: The role of visual representations as 'epistemic objects'

We use a detailed study of the knowledge work around visual representations to draw attention to the multidimensional nature of `objects'. Objects are variously described in the literatures as relatively stable or in flux; as abstract or concrete; and as used within or across practices. We clarify these dimensions, drawing on and extending the literature on boundary objects, and connecting it with work on epistemic and technical objects. In particular, we highlight the epistemic role of objects, using our observations of knowledge work on an architectural design project to show how, in this setting, visual representations are characterized by a `lack' or incompleteness that precipitates unfolding. The conceptual design of a building involves a wide range of technical, social and aesthetic forms of knowledge that need to be developed and aligned. We explore how visual representations are used, and how these are meaningful to different stakeholders, eliciting their distinct contributions. As the project evolves and the drawings change, new issues and needs for knowledge work arise. These objects have an `unfolding ontology' and are constantly in flux, rather than fully formed. We discuss the implications for wider understandings of objects in organizations and for how knowledge work is achieved in practice

Maximizing Competency Education and Blended Learning: Insights from Experts

In May 2014, CompetencyWorks brought together twenty-three technical assistance providers to examine their catalytic role in implementing next generation learning models, share each other's knowledge and expertise about blended learning and competency education, and discuss next steps to move the field forward with a focus on equity and quality. Our strategy maintains that by building the knowledge and networks of technical assistance providers, these groups can play an even more catalytic role in advancing the field. The objective of the convening was to help educate and level set the understanding of competency education and its design elements, as well as to build knowledge about using blended learning modalities within competency-based environments. This paper attempts to draw together the wide-ranging conversations from the convening to provide background knowledge for educators to understand what it will take to transform from traditional to personalized, competency-based systems that take full advantage of blended learning