The ‘Voice’ Approach of Trade Associations: Support for SMEs Accessing a Research Institute

10.1068/c16m ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiro Izushi
Keyword(s):  
Textile Industry ◽  
Technical Knowledge ◽  
Public Research ◽  
Trade Associations ◽  
Research Institutes ◽  
Information Gap ◽  
Use Of Services ◽  
External Sources ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Research Institute

Access to external sources of technical knowledge is one of the keys to staying innovative for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The literature suggests that SMEs with a weak internal R&D capacity do not make much use of institutional sources like research institutes and universities. In this paper I investigate how trade associations can induce member SMEs to use a research institute. The case of a public research institute and SMEs in the textile industry in Kyoto, Japan is examined. Evidence from the case suggests that trade associations facilitate the use of the institute by expressing a collective ‘voice’ to the management of the institute. The effect is evident among active members in the use of services involving a large information gap as to their benefits. I also consider a shortcoming of the collective approach and suggest some measures to be taken on the part of research institutes.

Organizational knowledge documentation in project-based institutes

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 994-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Navidi ◽  
Mohammad Hassanzadeh ◽  
Ali Zolghadr Shojai
Keyword(s):  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Organizational Knowledge ◽  
Technical Knowledge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Junior Staff ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Space Agency ◽  
Research Institute

Purpose Employees, as the most important assets of an organization, acquire a great deal of experience, skills and knowledge throughout the time period they work for the organization. If their skills and technical knowledge are not documented properly, these will be lost once the employees leave the organization. Therefore, documentation is necessary for preserving this invaluable knowledge, avoiding duplication and preventing repeated mistakes that occurred in the past and, providing the junior staff with experiences gained by their predecessors. Thus, this research aims to elaborate on the role of organizational knowledge management (KM) as an essential tool for turning tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge and sharing the gained experiences with others. Design/methodology/approach This research is developmental applied research with qualitative approach and it was conducted using thematic analysis method. This method includes a semi-structured interview with 18 researchers conducting research projects at the Satellite Research Institute under the supervision of the Iran Space Agency. Findings The projects contain knowledge that is a combination of “know why”, “know what”, “know who” and “know how”. A large amount of this knowledge is, indeed, the tacit knowledge. Most of this tacit knowledge is not reflected in the project documents. Generally, the documents contain results only and they do not include experience, technical details, methodology, analysis and mistakes that were made during research activities. Documentation challenges fall into three major types: technical, human resources and administrative. Originality value Considering the necessity of documentation within the knowledge transfer process and its important role in KM; and, with respect to the lack of technical knowledge and experience transfer observed in the documents of Satellite Research Institute, this research proposes some steps that need to be taken to turn the knowledge sharing into an organizational culture.

Measuring Scientific Research Performance of Romanian Public Research Entities

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 52-66
Author(s):  
Silviu-Mihail Tiţă
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Research Performance ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Quantitative Model ◽  
Public Research ◽  
Research Institutes ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
Romanian Academy

In this period, the science sector plays a strategic role to increase the economic growth of countries and for this reason the measure and evaluation of research performance of its units (public research institutes) is needed. The most model for evaluate research is based on peer review, but when this method in Romania become inefficient the alternative was quantitative model One of the quantitative model is RELEV. The author used this model to evaluate more than 100 Romanian research entities: National Research Institutes, Universities, Research institutes of the Romanian Academy, Medical Units and Companies.

scholarly journals The “Voice of Industry”: Why management researchers should pay more attention to trade associations

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 224-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tazeeb Rajwani ◽  
Thomas Lawton ◽  
Nelson Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Trade Associations ◽  
The Voice
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