Tacit knowledge transfer from a master to an apprentice among hairdressers

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franklin Gyamfi Agyemang ◽  
Henry Boateng
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Interview Guide ◽  
Tacit Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Collection Data

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the factors affecting tacit knowledge transfer from a master to an apprentice in the informal sector among hairdressers in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach A case study was used as the research design. Convenient sampling technique was used to select 47 master hairdressers. Semi-structured interview guide was used for data collection. Data were analysed using the thematic technique. Findings The study found that apprenticeship fee, fear of competition, delegation reasons, joy and pride of mentorship, apprentices’ attitude and time, to be significant factors influencing tacit knowledge transfer from a master to an apprentice. It was also evident that time spent with master as he/she performs or works is crucial to learning as most of the learning is through socializing with the master. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of the study is the use of the convenient sampling technique in choosing the participants. The results of this study, if it has to be generalised to all hairdressers in Ghana, it may have to be done with caution since the participants were not drawn from a pool of all master hairdressers in Ghana. Practical implications The paper provides what apprentices must do to acquire the tacit knowledge of master hairdressers. Originality/value This paper focuses on the holder of tacit knowledge (master hairdressers) and reveals their motivations to transfer or hoard their tacit knowledge.

Use of electronic resources by law academics: a case study from the University of Namibia

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-68
Author(s):  
Anna Leonard ◽  
Nampa Meameno Hamutumwa ◽  
Chiku Mnubi-Mchombu
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Electronic Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quantitative Research Methods ◽  
Interview Guide ◽  
The University

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of e-resources by the Faculty of Law’s academic staff at the University of Namibia’s (UNAM’s) main campus. The study aimed to determine their level of awareness of electronic resources (e-resources) available to them, how useful and effective they found these e-resources, and the challenges they face in accessing them. Design/methodology/approach A convenient sampling technique was used to select a sample of 12 law academics from the population of 17. The study used both qualitative and quantitative research methods using questionnaires and a semi-structured interview guide. Findings Findings revealed that the majority of the law academics were aware of the e-resources subscribed by UNAM’s library, although some were not aware of the newly subscribed international law databases. The findings further revealed that the academics used e-resources for research, publications and teaching purposes, but irregular training, bandwidth problems and limited searching skills hindered their use of e-resources. Practical implications Findings could be used to inform future collection-development decisions, realignment of information-literacy training and promotion and marketing of library services. Originality/value This study has made a significant contribution in the understanding the use of electronic legal resources by law academics at UNAM. The findings and recommendations could also benefit similar academic institutions in developing countries like Namibia.

Tacit knowledge transfer in coopetition

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Kumar ◽  
Swarup Kumar Dutta
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ordinary Least Square ◽  
Tacit Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Ordinary Least Square Regression ◽  
Empirical Context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how firms affiliated to business groups (BGs) are able to improve their innovation capability (IC) when engaged in coopetition (collaboration between competing firms). This study aims to explore the relationship between coopetitive relationship strength (CRS), the extent of tacit knowledge transfer (TKT) and IC as well as examine the moderating effect of both BG affiliation and coopetitive experience. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines inter-firm relationships within the empirical context of Indian manufacturing and service firms, by adopting (ordinary least square) regression analysis to test the various hypotheses. The central thesis is that the TKT in coopetition constitutes an important driver to the IC. Findings The paper provides some evidence that inter-firm CRS influences the extent of TKT, and the extent of TKT affects firm IC. The results support that firms in coopetition gain more if their coopetitive partner has a BG affiliation. In absence of a BG affiliation of any of the coopetitive partners, the buildup of TKT reduces as CRS is increased. Research limitations/implications Additional large-sample of data may attempt to validate relationships. The study, however, did not consider all enablers that are critical for TKT. Despite these limitations, analysis provides important and novel perspectives. Practical implications The paper contributes to develop executives’ practices in understanding potential benefits of coopetitive relationship. The implications of this research are important for managers seeking understanding of the management of coopetition. Originality/value The paper makes a modest attempt to investigate the various scenarios of the presence or absence of the moderation of BGs and its impact on CRS in the buildup of TKT. This is the first attempt to link coopetition to the TKT in the BG literature. This study also contributes to our understanding of coopetition in a non-western context.

The death of distance, revisited: disseminative capacity and knowledge transfer

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chansoo Park
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Psychic Distance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tacit Knowledge Transfer ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Foreign Parent

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess how the transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge is affected by the knowledge disseminative capacity of a foreign parent firm, with an emphasis on the moderating role of psychic distance, by developing and testing a theoretical model of international joint venture (IJV) learning. Design/methodology/approach The author tested the hypotheses with survey data collected from 199 IJVs in South Korea, estimating a structural equation model using AMOS 23.0. Findings The authors found that the capacity of the foreign parent to disseminate knowledge to the IJV has a greater impact on explicit knowledge transfer than tacit knowledge transfer. He also found that the relationship between disseminative capacity and explicit knowledge transfer is significantly moderated by psychic distance, but the relationship between disseminative capacity and tacit knowledge transfer is not. Originality/value The results are critical for IJVs and parent firms seeking to improve knowledge transfer, as they establish the importance of parent firms’ disseminative capacities and the moderating role of psychic distance in the process of both tacit and explicit knowledge transfer. This research addresses the research gap regarding disseminative capacity by providing empirical evidence.

Towards Chinese smart manufacturing ecosystem in the context of the one belt one road initiative

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafif Al-Sayed ◽  
Jianhua Yang
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Industrial Clusters ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Smart Manufacturing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Regional Collaboration

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically China’s determined thrust to attain a high level of technological innovation and the factors affecting moving towards a smart and sophisticated manufacturing ecosystem in conjunction with the Belt and Road Initiative (OBOR). Design/methodology/approach This research provides empirical determination of the factors affecting moving towards smart manufacturing ecosystems in China. The method is based on combining two approaches: semi-structured interview and questionnaire-based with academics, experts and managers in various Chinese industrial sectors. The results are based on the multivariate analysis of the collected data. A case study of the current manufacturing ecosystem was also analyzed, in order to understand the present state as well as the potential for China’s competitive edge in the developed OBOR countries. Findings The results illustrate the importance of the infrastructure dimension comprising variables related to ecosystems, industrial clusters and Internet of Things IoT and other advanced technologies. A case study of the city of Shenzhen’s transformation into a smart cluster for innovative manufacturing points out how China’s OBOR initiative for regional collaboration will further transform the regional smart clusters into an ultra-large innovation based smart ecosystem. Originality/value This research is the first to study China’ policies towards playing a prominent role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution 4IR in the context of the OBOR initiative, through empirically defining the factors affecting moving towards a knowledge-intensive smart manufacturing ecosystem where the added value is mostly innovation based.

Examining the appropriateness and effectiveness of technology transfer in China

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Li‐Hua
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
International Technology Transfer ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tacit Knowledge Transfer ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis paper seeks to address the appropriateness and effectiveness of technology transfer based on the extant literature reviews and the structured survey data in Jiangsu, Henan and Xinjiang, China.Design/methodology/approachStructured survey followed by a correlation analysis with the CORREL function in Excel.FindingsThis paper describes a structured survey undertaken in Jiangsu Province, Henan Province and Xinjiang Autonomous Region, PRC, which examines a particular aspect of technology transfer within Sino‐foreign joint ventures. The findings suggested important implications for the relationship between technology transfer and economic development. Moreover, the identification of the peculiarities of both technology transfer and knowledge transfer has led to the thorough examination of appropriateness and effectiveness of technology transfer. This study is thought‐provoking in establishing the blockage of tacit knowledge transfer and suggests means by which tacit knowledge transfer could be improved. In addition, it also leads the way for the introduction of systematic processes that could be specifically incorporated into World Bank projects that involve international technology transfer as a major feature.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the appropriateness and effectiveness of technology transfer. The study identifies that, without knowledge transfer, technology transfer does not take place, as knowledge is the key to control technology as a whole. Hence, knowledge transfer is crucial in the process of technology transfer. Furthermore, the study identifies that technology transfer is not obtainable if there is too big a gap in terms of economic development between transferor and transferee. This has important implications for the economists in addressing economic problems both at macro and micro levels and the government policy‐makers in addressing the existing deficiencies in the process of technology transfer and assisting in development of more appropriate arrangements for the transfer of management knowledge.

Tacit knowledge transfer and spillover learning in ramp-ups

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1099-1121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Letmathe ◽  
Marc Rößler
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Settings ◽  
Context Learning ◽  
Future Production ◽  
Tacit Knowledge Transfer

Purpose With shortening product life cycles and an increasing number of product variants, manufacturing firms perform more production ramp-ups. In this context, learning is crucially important to quickly achieve high production process quality and stability. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach Through a laboratory experiment, this study analyzes spillover learning between consecutive ramp-ups and how this phenomenon is influenced by tacit knowledge transfer through observation and imitation. Findings The results prove the existence of spillover learning between consecutive ramp-ups. Moreover, they provide evidence how tacit knowledge transfer through observation and imitation enhances learning of new tasks in consecutive production ramp-ups. Research limitations/implications Future research could focus on the specific psychological processes driving tacit knowledge transfer and spillover learning, a topic which is only touched upon in this paper. Practical implications The findings show that manufacturing firms should not only aim at reaching a steep learning curve during a single production ramp-up, but should also take into account the effects of spillover learning with regard to future production ramp-ups. Furthermore, the paper provides novel insights concerning the allocation of workers to production tasks with regard to previous experience when introducing new personnel and during ramp-up phases. Originality/value Previous evidence on the existence and characteristics of spillover learning in production ramp-up situations is not conclusive. This paper provides new and unambiguous insights by considering different organizational settings.

Facilitating tacit knowledge transfer: routine compatibility, trustworthiness, and integration in M & As

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Ann Ranucci ◽  
David Souder
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Seemingly Unrelated Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implementation Processes ◽  
Sustained Competitive Advantage ◽  
Tacit Knowledge Transfer ◽  
The Right

Purpose – This paper aims to theorize how tacit knowledge influences implementation success in mergers and acquisitions (M & As), and contrasts this with explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge can be a source of sustained competitive advantage because its lack of codifiability precludes easy appropriation by competitors. However, such non-codifiability also makes it difficult to transfer knowledge within a firm. M & As exemplify this challenge because they are often motivated by opportunities for transferring knowledge. With differing demands for tacit and explicit knowledge across departments (Sales and Operations), the empirical results demonstrate how tacit routine compatibility affects implementation outcomes in different functions. Design/methodology/approach – This research draws from a survey of 86 M & A implementation processes between 1996 and 2002, using seemingly unrelated regression to analyze the predictions. Findings – There is strong empirical support that tacit routine compatibility leads to success in sales but not operations and further support for the differential moderating roles of trustworthiness and integration. Practical implications – Managers should make implementation choices based on the type of knowledge being transferred and where that knowledge will reside post-integration. Routine compatibility, trustworthiness and integration facilitate knowledge transfer in M & As – but only if applied in the right combinations for the context. Originality/value – The type of knowledge is a critical distinction for the value of M & A implementation. Furthermore, despite integration receiving significant attention in this literature, trustworthiness, not integration, facilitates successful tacit knowledge transfer in M & As.

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