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The aim of this article is to contribute to the debate on university‐industry knowledge transfer and on the changing organization of knowledge creation activities.

By integrating several strands of analysis, a conceptual framework is developed that associates several properties of knowledge and of the institutional context in which university‐industry relationships take place, to the knowledge transfer governance forms that are most likely to be adopted. The framework is shown to be in accordance with results from the empirical literature, and is validated using an original dataset.

The data analysis confirms that the choice of university‐industry knowledge transfer governance forms on the part of organizations involved in knowledge production and dissemination projects is related to the key dimensions in the conceptual framework.

The conceptual framework developed in this article allows the incentives that drive the choice of specific governance forms for university‐industry interactions to be explained, as well as the processes and rationales that underpin the changing nature of university‐industry relationships to be explained.

Adopting a knowledge-based view of the firm, this chapter explores how different contents of firm-level entrepreneurship may influence performance of SMEs in moderately dynamic industries, which represent the bulk of economic activity in several countries. More specifically, this study aims, first, at identifying what types of entrepreneurial behavior – new-market entry, new-product development, diversification – are more suitable in order to survive and prosper in industries characterized by moderate growth and dynamism. Second, the analysis aims at assessing whether knowledge sharing is to be promoted in order to successfully compete in these industries. Third, the study aims at identifying which type of knowledge – market knowledge or technology knowledge – is most needed to develop entrepreneurial behavior and performance in low-growth industrial contexts. Following a knowledge-driven approach, we propose a view on corporate renewal that may complement current streams of research focused on large firms in high-velocity settings. Emerging results contribute to advancing the literature on entrepreneurial renewal by providing both an investigation of such behaviors within an industrial setting different from the high-growth, high-technology industries in which investigations have been conducted so far, and by suggesting that rich insights may be gained by investigating entrepreneurial recombinations within smaller firms that operate in less-dynamic contexts.

In this chapter, we analyzed the effects of internationalization on innovation, productivity, and firm performance among multinational pharmaceutical companies as representatives of a global knowledge-based industry. The empirical analysis used multiple stepwise regressions based on a sample of 149 firms headquartered in Europe and the US. The results indicate that innovation outcomes are positively correlated to the number of foreign subsidiaries (scope internationalization), whereas surprisingly, formal research and development (R&D) does not seem to directly influence innovation. This suggests that the firms benefit from local overseas subsidiaries to create and implement new innovative offerings. The number of foreign subsidiaries has a U-shaped relationship to patent productivity suggesting that firms can gain advantages by locating cost-intensive activities in low-cost countries and critical tasks in advanced market locations. Firm performance has a U-shaped relationship to sales abroad (scale internationalization) and the relationship is further enhanced by a high focus on R&D. This suggests that sales abroad enable scale economies, where R&D improves quality and relevance of products and thereby boosts performance. Finally, to validate the findings we conducted two semi-structured interviews with representative industry experts and gained further insights for an extended interpretation of results.

The increasing pace of global competition has recast the balance between multinational corporations’ (MNCs’) needs to protect the knowledge that underlies their competitive advantages and their needs to continually create new knowledge. This essay will discuss MNCs’ knowledge-seeking strategies as industry-level phenomena. I will argue that knowledge-seeking strategies demand a concept of industries both as arenas for competition and as global knowledge networks within which firms collaborate to innovate. Contemporary MNCs face challenges to function not only as self-contained production systems that internationalize in the search for efficiency and markets, but also as open systems globally seeking knowledge and innovations. Metanational strategies and organizations represent a new response to these challenges. I present empirical evidence of distinctive metanational industry opportunities and organizational responses from the emergence of the global flat panel display industry. The essay concludes with a framework that outlines the characteristics of a global knowledge-driven generic strategy as an alternative and synthesis of generic product-driven strategies of cost-leadership and differentiation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of an industry’s connectedness to foreign countries on knowledge sourcing.

The authors examine the research model through probit regression techniques to the 472,303-patent data across 16 industries derived from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The results suggest that international connectedness increases the accessibility of foreign knowledge and helps the accumulation of technological capability. Thus, this paper provides a better understanding that international connectedness can be critical for exploiting knowledge dispersed worldwide and influencing intra- and interindustry knowledge-sourcing behavior in the home country.

While prior studies have mainly paid attention to the relationship between parents and subsidiaries in foreign countries for international knowledge sourcing, the authors attempt to analyze international and local knowledge sourcing with a broader set of knowledge sourcing channels at an aggregate level. By considering an industry’s export intensity and inward foreign direct investment, this study reveals specifically how the extent of an industry’s international connectedness influences knowledge sourcing from both abroad and locally.

The purpose of this study is to explore the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of Industry 4.0 between the academicians and industry players in construction engineering, further suggesting a mechanism to narrow the gap between the distinct parties.

This study was conducted through structured online and face-to-face interviews, using KAP survey, and semi-structured interviews. This constructive research was conducted among Malaysian construction industry players and academicians from the construction engineering department in public universities.

The findings exhibit the similarities and differences of KAP between academics and industry on Industry 4.0 in construction engineering. In general, both categories of respondents have displayed more similarities than differences in all aspects, except for knowledge. The better knowledge profile of Industry 4.0 among the academicians reflects the nature of the academic works that constantly seek new knowledge, thus suggesting the establishment of an industry-academic (I-A) knowledge equilibrium framework to leverage the knowledge profile between both parties.

This exploratory study that showcases the perspective of the academia and industry practitioners on Industry 4.0 acts as a cornerstone for bridging the gap between the two distinct sectors within the same field.

The gap between the academic and industry was highlighted, further establishing the I-A knowledge equilibrium framework that could also be applied to other fields of study.

The originality of this paper was the profiling of the KAP of Industry 4.0 for the academicians and industry players in construction engineering, further distinguishing the gap between both parties.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate inter-industry labor mobility, paying special attention to workers who move into high-tech (HT) sectors or knowledge-intensive business services (KIBSs). This study inquires whether skilled workers are mobile and whether the characteristics of mobile workers support the effective transfer of knowledge across industries.

Census data representing 7 percent of Finnish residents were used. The micro-econometric estimation method with correction of sample selection bias was applied.

The results show that young workers are the most mobile, whereas mobility decreased for those with previous work experience, higher education and higher income level. These findings indicate that the highly skilled workers are not necessarily the most mobile, a trend that may weaken the effectiveness of knowledge spillover. However, on average, highly educated workers move into KIBS sectors more often than to other sectors, and HT sectors attract workers who have higher incomes, which may indicate that their skills are highly valued. As a result, knowledge spillovers may emerge. The knowledge spillovers resulting from job mobility are concentrated in large growth centers that have universities.

This study provides a new and topical viewpoint to the mobility literature by focussing on skilled workers and their movement toward the HT and KIBS sectors.

The purpose of this paper is to present a strategic framework of successful knowledge transfer through the development of university‐industry interactions in China.

The research is designed based on a single case study with qualitative analysis. Data were collected through documentary analysis, semi‐structured interviews and participated observations of the commercialization project within Tsinghua University (China), which is one of the world leading research universities in science and technological innovation.

Four modes of university‐industry interactions during the process of knowledge transfer have been identified, which contribute to the success of knowledge transfer at different stages of university‐industry relations. They are: university‐dependent low sticky interaction; university‐dependent high sticky interaction; mutual‐dependent high sticky interaction; mutual‐dependent low sticky interaction. In addition, the development of entrepreneurial spirit within the university and the implementation of Professors of Practice have also been recognized as vital for building and maintaining effective university‐industry interactions.

The distinctiveness of this paper lies in contributing to the existing theories of knowledge transfer between university and industry by identifying the specific modes of interactions that contribute to the success of knowledge transfer between university and industry. The findings also have important implications for government policy makers, university academics and business practitioners for designing and implementing knowledge‐base innovation strategies and creating sustainable competitive advantages through successful knowledge transfer between university and industry. This may enable policy‐makers to understand the complexity and dynamics involved in the process of technology commercialization and take into account the importance of the institutional arrangement and appropriate incentive system in supporting effective knowledge transfer and commercialization.

This paper aims to provide a theoretical frame and practical experience for understanding and improving knowledge creation in the RIC. This paper proved through an empirical study that knowledge transfer, knowledge assimilation and knowledge sharing between firms in a resource-based industry chain (RIC) have positive influence on knowledge creation.

A theoretical model covering knowledge transfer, knowledge assimilation, knowledge sharing and knowledge creation is established in this paper. The research object is the phosphorus chemical industry chain in central Guizhou.

The findings of this paper provide a theoretical frame and practical experience for understanding and improving knowledge creation in the RIC.

The subjective measures of knowledge capacities present a serious limitation. Another limitation is that the authors examined knowledge creation within the context of RIC. The cross-sectional design prevented the authors from studying causal relationships among the variables.

First, it contributes to the knowledge creation of inter-organization literature. Second, it contributes to the studies of knowledge creation in supply chains. Third, this study demonstrates the importance of investigating the strong network embeddedness and industry property of RIC, which have a critic effect on the capabilities of knowledge sharing, transfer and assimilation.

The purpose of this paper is to study Knowledge Management (KM) implementation in Indian manufacturing, IT and IT Enabled Services (ITES) and power generation and distribution companies. Various dimensions of KM, namely: process, leadership, culture, technology, and measurement are compared across the three industries to understand the differences in KM practices.

Samples comprised 17 responses from ITES, 32 from manufacturing and eight from power generation and distribution organizations. Convenient sampling scheme was used. The paper reports the findings of the difference in KM practices with respect to the organizations' use of the above mentioned dimensions across the three industries.

The raw mean score of various dimensions for ITES is the highest followed by manufacturing, and power generation and distribution on all except the leadership dimension. However, one way ANOVA results indicate that no significant difference is found for KM process, culture and technology. Statistical difference is found on the remaining two dimensions, namely, leadership and measurement, which are further analysed.

The study includes 17 responses from ITES and eight from power generation and distribution. A larger sample from these two industries may enhance generalizability of results.

Findings of the study can serve as input to companies from the three industries in developing best practices across KM dimensions for improving performance.

While KM has been studied in Indian manufacturing, pharmaceutical and IT industries, its comparison across industries has not been carried out.