Managerial Ambidexterity and Firm Performance

Ambidexterity or the ability by individuals or firms to simultaneously and synergistically pursue both exploitation and exploration activities has been found to have positive effects on firm performance. However, the ambidexterity literature has been predominated by the studies at the organizational level, and little is known about the antecedents and consequences of ambidexterity at the individual level. This study examines environmental dynamism and social network as the antecedents of managerial ambidexterity, and knowledge brokerage and firm performance as the consequences. This study tests the mediating role of knowledge brokerage on the relationship between managerial ambidexterity and firm performance. Data are collected from 308 senior executives working in technology manufacturing firms in Malaysia using a questionnaire survey. The findings reveal that environmental dynamism and social networks are significantly and positively related to managerial ambidexterity, and knowledge brokerage mediates the relationship between managerial ambidexterity and firm performance.

Interdisciplinary researchers attain better long-term funding performance

Interdisciplinary research is on the rise globally. Yet, several studies have shown that it often achieves lower impact compared to more specialized work, and is less likely to attract funding. Here, we seek to reconcile such evidence by analyzing 44,419 research grants awarded by the research councils in the UK. We find that researchers with an interdisciplinary funding track record dominate the network of academic collaborations, both in terms of centrality and knowledge brokerage, but such a competitive advantage does not translate into immediate return. Our results based on a matched pair analysis show that interdisciplinary researchers achieve lower impact with their publications in the short run; however, they eventually outperform their specialized counterparts in funding performance, both in terms of volume and value. These findings suggest that pursuing an interdisciplinary career may require perseverance to overcome extra challenges, but can pave the way for a more successful endeavor.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man Is King: Knowledge Brokerage in the Age of Learning Algorithms

This paper presents research on how knowledge brokers attempt to translate opaque algorithmic predictions. The research is based on a 31-month ethnographic study of the implementation of a learning algorithm by the Dutch police to predict the occurrence of crime incidents and offers one of the first empirical accounts of algorithmic brokers. We studied a group of intelligence officers, who were tasked with brokering between a machine learning community and a user community by translating the outcomes of the learning algorithm to police management. We found that, as knowledge brokers, they performed different translation practices over time and enacted increasingly influential brokerage roles, namely, those of messenger, interpreter, and curator. Triggered by an impassable knowledge boundary yielded by the black-boxed machine learning, the brokers eventually acted like “kings in the land of the blind” and substituted the algorithmic predictions with their own judgments. By emphasizing the dynamic and influential nature of algorithmic brokerage work, we contribute to the literature on knowledge brokerage and translation in the age of learning algorithms.

Ready for change? Interlinkages of traditional and novel practices through permaculture

This paper is based on ongoing participatory action research in Latvia since 2016. The research was initially developed within the Marie Curie Innovative Training Network SUSPLACE and is further advanced by the Latvian Council of Science funded project ‘Ready for change? Sustainable management of common natural resources (RFC)’. By using this approach, the researchers aim to, firstly, synthesise natural, climate science and economic systems evidence of the immense transformations required towards regeneration and, secondly, engage in active knowledge brokerage and societal change advancement. Authors encourage to limit the application of the abused term ‘sustainable’ as it has rather meant to ‘sustain the unsustainable’ across the last decades and to follow the logic of ‘regeneration’ instead. The bridging of practices with the permaculture movement can be summarised in three broad groups of regenerative transformations to develop resilience against environmental breakdown – firstly, organic growing or gardening, secondly, ecological building, and thirdly, ecological lifestyle practices. These examples are arising both from particular collaborations with the selected permaculture homesteads as well as from the general environmental and social activism in Latvia. A common expression claims that ‘everything new is well forgotten old’. It resonates very well with the permaculture ethics and movement emphasising not forgetting yet critically assessing the long-developed skills and practices. This paper demonstrates that in addition to the challenging global aims, on the local level the success of permaculture depends on its ability to be deeply embedded in localities and revive cultural, local practices that people feel a connection to.

Social Connection and Knowledge Brokerage in a State Government Research Network in Australia

The social dimensions of knowledge management are often overlooked when attempting to develop innovative approaches to preserve and balance the multiple values of protected natural landscapes. This oversight can hinder the incorporation of knowledge from research and experience, particularly tacit knowledge held by experts and experienced individuals. Building social connection between leaders, researchers and experienced staff within an organisation can address this challenge because it fosters knowledge incorporation and dissemination. However, this can be a slower, more costly and more challenging method of incorporating diverse knowledges. Organisations, particularly government organisations, need to demonstrate the value of building social connection and cohesion. Our work was designed to evaluate social connection and the development of deliberative knowledge networks. We tracked social connection during the formation of a research network within a state government organisation in Australia. The aim of the network was to improve the adoption of research knowledge into management of the alpine region in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Social Network Analysis (SNA) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of forming a research network, given it was a costly, time-consuming and challenging method for the organisation. SNA was used to visualise social connections and measure changes during the planning phase of the research network over 12 months, when scope of the alpine research program was being identified and priorities determined. The analysis revealed individuals in the network grew social connections over time (total ties, average degree and density increased) which is likely to lead to better knowledge sharing. The SNA also identified individuals with knowledge brokerage roles (betweenness scores) and those with the greatest reach and potential influence in the network (key players) who were targeted for future roles in the network. The majority of alpine information was sought from and shared with staff within the network, particularly those in two Groups/ Divisions, which may limit the innovation by the network. The results provided insight to the government research network that is invaluable in its transition from the planning phase to implementation of research priorities and adaptive management. Our approach provides evidence for the value of building social connections and knowledge brokerage to improve environmental outcomes.

Brokerage at the science–policy interface: from conceptual framework to practical guidance

This article analyses the conceptual framework of brokerage at the science–policy interface as an important boundary function to support trusted and transparent government decision-making. Policymaking involves a broad range of considerations, but science advice and evidence is critical to help inform decisions. However, mechanisms for requesting and receiving advice from the scientific community are not straightforward, considering that the knowledge needed generally spans multiple disciplines of the natural and social sciences. Once evidence has been appropriately synthesized, there remains the need to ensure an effective and unbiased translation to the policy and political community. The concept of knowledge brokerage revolves around an understanding of the ontologies, cultures and languages of both the policy community and the science community, in order to effectively link the two bidirectionally. In practical terms, this means ensuring that the information needs of the former are understood, and that the type and form of information offered by the latter aligns with those needs. Ideally, knowledge brokers act at the interface between researchers/experts and decision-makers to present evidence in a way that informs policy options but does not determine policy development. Conceptually, negotiating this interface involves acknowledging that values are embedded in the scientific process and evidentiary synthesis, and in particular, in considering the inferential risks inherent in making evidence claims. Brokers are faced with navigating complex policy dynamics and balancing information asymmetries between research providers and users. Building on the conceptual analysis and examination of the nuances of brokerage observed in practice, we propose a set of guidelines to translate the concepts of brokerage to practical application.

Understanding knowledge brokerage and its transformative potential: a Bourdieusian perspective

Background: Knowledge brokering is promoted as a means of enabling exchange between fields and closer collaboration across institutional boundaries. Yet examples of its success in fostering collaboration and reconfiguring boundaries remain few.Aims and objectives: We consider the introduction of a dedicated knowledge-brokering role in a partnership across healthcare research and practice, with a view to examining the interaction between knowledge brokers’ location and attributes and the characteristics of the fields across which they work.Methods: We use qualitative data from a four-year ethnographic study, including observations, interviews, focus groups, reflective diaries and other documentary sources. Our analysis draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptual framework.Findings: In efforts to transform the boundaries between related but disjointed fields, a feature posited as advantageous – knowledge brokers’ liminality – may in practice work to their disadvantage. An unequal partnership between two fields, where the capitals (the resources, relationships, markers of prestige and forms of knowledge) valued in one are privileged over the other, left knowledge brokers without a prior affiliation to either field adrift between the two.Discussion and conclusions: Lacking legitimacy to act across fields and bridge the gap between them, knowledge brokers are likely to seek to develop their skills on one side of the boundary, focusing on more limited and conservative activities, rather than advance the value of a distinctive array of capitals in mediating between fields. We identify implications for the construction and deployment of knowledge-brokering interventions towards collaborative objectives.<br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>Knowledge brokers are vaunted as a means of translating knowledge and removing barriers between fields;</li><br /><li>Their position ‘in between’ fields is important, but their influence in those fields may be limited;</li><br /><li>Lacking the resources and relationships to work across fields, they may align with only one;</li><br /><li>Both the structure of fields and the prior knowledge and habitus of brokers will influence knowledge brokerage’s success.</li></ul>