Knowledge management developed in the last decades as a dynamic symbiosis between science and art with significant implications on business and business education. Knowledge management operates within the organizational management, but it focuses on intangible resources, which are distinguished from the tangible ones as a result of their abstraction, metaphorical semantic, and nonlinearity. The purpose of the present paper is to explore the impact of knowledge management on business education through the mediation of academic curriculum and the influence of the business environment. The methodology is based on both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The qualitative phase focuses on a critical literature search and a semantic analysis of the main concepts and ideas, which allowed us to construct the research model and design a questionnaire addressed to business students and professors. The quantitative approach uses the statistical software packages SPSS 26.0 version, including the PROCESS macro for SPSS version 3.5 and the known reliability, validation, and interpretation criteria. Findings show that knowledge management impacts business education through the mediation of the academic curriculum and the influence of the business environment. The originality of the present research comes from the dynamics between knowledge management and business education and the research model’s design.

Customer knowledge management (CKM) is a relatively new research domain, aiming at exploring the potential of customer knowledge for the open innovation process of companies. The present paper aims at performing a complex analysis of the serial mediation phenomenon of the impact of CKM on sustainable product innovation (SPI) by innovative work behavior (IWB). The dimensions considered for IWB in the present research are the following: idea exploration, idea generation, idea championing, and idea implementation. In the first phase of our research, we performed a semantic analysis of the main concepts, ideas, and theories, based on a critical literature review. Thus, we reached a deeper understanding of the complexity of the concept of knowledge by learning the theory of knowledge fields and knowledge dynamics. As a result of this conceptual phase, we designed the research model and a questionnaire to be addressed to managers from the business environment. In the quantitative phase of the present research, we used the statistical software packages, SPSS version 26.0, and the PROCESS macro for SPSS, version 3.5. We used well-known criteria for reliability, validation, and interpretation of the numerical results. The final results demonstrate a significant serial mediation phenomenon regarding the impact of CKM on SPI by the IWB. These results are important in developing the co-creation process of new products by using customer knowledge. The present research reveals some original ideas concerning the impact of CKM on SPI by using a serial mediation process performed by basic innovative work dimensions. The implications of the present research are significant for both academics and practitioners in designing open innovation in knowledge ecosystems.

PurposeThe purpose of the present research is to introduce a combined framework that integrates innovative work behavior, product innovation process and customer knowledge management; then, to explore the mediating effect of customer knowledge management in the relationship between innovative work behavior and the product innovation process.Design/methodology/approachThe basis for the present research is a cross-sectional design. Data collection from 154 employees occurred using the following structured questionnaires: Customer Knowledge Management (CKM), Innovative Work Behavior (IWB) and Product Innovation Process (PIP). Data processing used SPSS version 26.0, including the PROCESS (3.5) macro analysis.FindingsThe results show positive relationships between innovative work behavior and the product innovation process (r = 0.420, p < 0.01). Pearson's correlation shows a coefficient of 0.42, meaning that 42% of the variations in perceived product innovation are due to variations in innovative work behavior. The second condition of the mediation test involved testing the relationship between the independent variable (Innovative Work Behavior) and the mediating variable (Knowledge Management) and showed a significant relationship (r = 0.272, p < 0.01). The findings suggested that knowledge management that other determinants supported, such as collaboration in idea exploration, idea championing and encouragement of participation in idea implementation, significantly contributed to the product innovation process (r = 0.509, p < 0.01). The bootstrapping method confirmed that innovative work behavior supports product innovation through the mediation of customer knowledge management (z = 3.01, p = 0.002).Research limitations/implicationsThe cross-sectional design, along with the relatively low number of participants and the self-reporting nature of the questionnaires, represent the current study's main limitations. Developing the research model could integrate new variables, such as customer co-creation processes, performance-based compensation, employee citizenship activities and transformational leadership.Practical implicationsThis research has both theoretical and practical implications. These emphasize the importance of further investigation into the factors influencing companies' innovation processes. They also provide managers with a means of finding a fit between the deployment of customer knowledge mechanisms and the achievement of innovative workplace behavior, to improve innovation process efficiency.Originality/valueThe current study broadens the empirical research area of customer knowledge management and its impact on both innovative work behavior and the product innovation process, particularly in knowledge-intensive market scenarios that require organizations to be innovative.

The goal of this study is to examine knowledge management’s function as a mediator between academic management and business education. Knowledge management evolved in the last decades as an important component of the organizational management that focuses on intangible resources. In the knowledge economy, knowledge became a strategic resource and it needs a different type of management because it has different economic characteristics by comparison with tangible resources which are represented by physical objects. Knowledge management becomes dominant in the knowledge-intensive organizations, like universities, research centers, consulting companies, and those organizations where knowledge density and knowledge processes intensity determine the organizational performance. From this perspective, it is interesting to analyze the role played by knowledge management in mediating the complex correlation between academic management and business education. Academic management is considered an independent variable and business education the outcome of the whole management of the teaching and learning processes. Knowledge management is the mediator of the whole process. The present research is based on qualitative and quantitative analyses. Qualitative investigation consist in a critical analysis of the literature, and quantitative research is a survey based on a questionnaire addressed to students and professors involved in business education from two Romanian universities. Statistical processing was done with SPSS version 26.0 and the macro PROCESS version 3.5. The findings back up the basic hypothesis and support the research model.

Chestionarul Multifactorial de Leadership (MLQ), în versiunea sa cea mai recentă (Forma 5X) este un instrument complex, dezvoltat atât cu scopul de a oferi o dimensiune clară a componentelor transformaționale, tranzacționale si celor de tip pasiv/evitant ale leadershipului, cât si pentru a oferi un profil cât mai complet al performanțelor unui candidat si al potențialului său de leadership. MLQ este unul din instrumentele de leadership cel mai des folosite în cadrul cercetărilor de teren si de laborator, fiind un instrument adecvat si foarte util în activități de selecție, transfer, promovare, dezvoltare si consiliere individuală, de grup sau organizațională. Numeroase forme ale MLQ au fost folosite în peste 30 de țări în organizații industriale, spitale, instituții religioase, organizații militare, agenții guvernamentale, facultăți, scoli primare si gimnaziale. S-a demonstrat că MLQ este la fel de eficient, indiferent dacă leaderul este evaluat de superiori direcți, colegi, subordonați direcți sau colaboratori (inclusiv clienți). Un avantaj marcant al MLQ îl constituie faptul că poate fi administrat în forma 360°, pentru acest chestionar, existând forme paralele de auto-evaluare si de hetero-evaluare.   În România, adaptarea MLQ a început în anul 2005. Prezentul studiu este o pilotare a chestionarului în forma sa de auto-evaluare, pe un esantion pilot de 229 de participanți, cu funcții de conducere, plasați la nivel mediu si de top în corporații din Bucuresti. Sunt prezentate, comparativ cu aceleasi statistici raportate de autori pe esantioane din SUA, indicii statistici primari, caracteristicile de fidelitate ale scalelor, corelațiile interscale si analiza factorială a itemilor testului. Rezultatele acestei pilotări si cercetări preliminarii sunt încurajatoare, semnalând, în ciuda necesității clare de efort suplimentar dedicat adaptării finale a chestionarului în România, faptul că traducerea si adaptarea MLQ este până la acest moment un succes.