This research study discusses the role of knowledge management (KM) in facilitating the composition and development of higher education (HE) partnerships. The paper identifies and discusses the KM behavioural constructs, in other words, the fundamental elements that indicate the behaviour of higher education institutions (HEIs) and that impact the development of a partnership. Furthermore, this work explores institutional and partnership factors that affect the development of partnerships and compiles a list of KM activities deemed necessary to assist HEIs in exchanging knowledge in a partnership setting. The proposed conceptual framework can serve as a diagnostic instrument, assisting HE executives, managers, practitioners and researchers in being able to assess institutional capabilities for collaborative undertakings. The work presented in this paper aims to encourage further academic discussions as to how KM concepts can be used to assist HEIs in working together and overcoming challenges for sustainable development in the digital era.
Purpose Higher education institutions possess a plethora of knowledge at the institutional, departmental and individual levels. Therefore, knowledge management plays a vital role in assisting partnerships to synergise knowledge and strengthen market competitiveness when working collaboratively. The purpose of this study is to identify and critically discuss the role of knowledge management concepts that support development of UK higher education partnerships. This knowledge management research was undertaken with the purpose of exploring components of behavioural constructs in assisting the development of successful partnerships between higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach This research embraces a qualitative methodology and makes use of an expert panel method to gather field data and assess the relevance, robustness and applicability of a conceptual model developed in the context of higher education partnerships. Guided by two research questions, the researchers elicited knowledge from eight experts, academics and practitioners, who had initiated and led partnership development between UK higher education institutions. The experts were invited and selected to attend the panel using the criteria of “Years of Experience in the Higher Education sector”, “Job Positions and Experiences” and the “Partnership Scope and Impact”. Findings Depicting in a tree analogy, the conceptual model indicates that effective knowledge management will require higher education executives, managers and practitioners to centre on nurturing “tree roots” presented as behavioural knowledge management constructs and include institutional culture, trust, absorptive capacities and communication channels. The research findings elaborate on previous research and provide a categorisation of partnership outcomes between higher education institutions, explaining that partnership outcomes can be of an “Academic”, “Marketing and Finance” or “Managerial” nature. Importantly, practical use of the model could be implemented using audit methods or benchmarking methods, whereby the categorised elements of the model are used as a criterion of assessment for audit teams. Originality/value The conclusion extracted experiential insights to provide guidance as to how higher education executives, managers and practitioners can make use of knowledge management behavioural constructs and activities to assist collaborative undertakings in the higher education sector. This paper provided a new, modified, knowledge management higher education partnership tree, thus giving researchers and academic practitioners a holistic viewpoint of important partnership knowledge management factors.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the need for universities to develop an entrepreneurial culture and assess higher education practitioners’ opinions of the culture of the university they are working in. Design/methodology/approach The research provides empirical data collected through a survey instrument originally used for a PhD research study; however, this paper focuses on the question set related to culture, which was based on the organisational culture model presented by Quinn in 1988. Findings The findings indicate that a number of respondents reported from a heterogeneous population of higher education institutes predominantly responded they were working within a hierarchy cultural type with many reporting a market cultural type. While respondents from a homogeneous group from a single university reported in the main they were working in a market-driven cultural type with the next main category being a clan culture. Research limitations/implications The study population reported in the main that there is predominantly a market culture in UK universities. However, this research has focussed entirely on respondents working within the UK HE sector, thus, has ignored potential differences that could be present within the global HE emerging markets. Originality/value The paper strengthens understanding of the critical importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in universities. Students, scholars, HE policy makers and HE practitioners can gather a range of insights pointed at university culture and rest assured in the main they are market focussed.
The purpose of this research is to encourage higher education institutions working in partnerships to evaluate the development of partnerships not only on the basis of financial indicators but take into consideration the newly created knowledge as a result of social capital, monitoring and reviewing and continuing professional development of staff. The empirical data were collected through a survey instrument originally used for a PhD study. This research study provides a better understanding of the knowledge management evaluation stage of partnership development. Findings point out that although embedded knowledge management practices support social capital development, it is expected that higher education institutions could exploit their available knowledge to a greater extent in order to improve their impact on social capital in the context of partnership development. Research findings suggest that evaluation frameworks implemented and controlled by higher education institutions regulatory and governing bodies would benefit from particular inclusion within “assessment of performance” of Higher Education partnerships that specifically consider the social impact of partnership ventures. Knowledge management is a developing theme within academia, and findings imply that executives within higher education are committed to include knowledge management training in CPD strategies, as this not only benefits higher education institutions but will also benefit higher education partnership development. In terms of originality and value, this paper straightens the critical importance of knowledge management evaluation as part of the last stage of partnership development in order to advance in the understanding of the benefits deriving from higher education institutions partnerships. Students, scholars and practitioners of knowledge management can gather a range of insights pointed at performance and knowledge creation within a partnership context.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.