Role of knowledge management in developing higher education partnerships: Towards a conceptual framework

Abstract

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.

Knowledge management initiatives for achieving sustainable development goal 4.7: higher education institutions’ stakeholder perspectives

“…Through organizational activities, HEIs have to build partnerships with stakeholders and society to create a knowledge community where teachers, students, researchers, leaders, unions and employees work together to discover, share and manipulate knowledge and interact with similar other knowledge communities (Thomas et al, 2001;Grybauskien _ e et al, 2019). Elezi (2021) suggests a conceptual framework for the development of HEI partnerships for knowledge development to play civic roles comprising five categories:…”

“…The application of KM initiatives in HEIs not only supports their mission and objectives but also significantly contributes to achieving civic goals through education and research (Laal, 2011). The civic role of HEIs is greatly related to the development of societies and economies and to preparing individuals for changes in the future (Elezi, 2021). Nevertheless, despite the growing interest of researchers in the field of associating HEIs’ KM role in addressing sustainable issues, research in this area is at a rudimentary stage (Quarchioni et al , 2020).…”

“…Through organizational activities, HEIs have to build partnerships with stakeholders and society to create a knowledge community where teachers, students, researchers, leaders, unions and employees work together to discover, share and manipulate knowledge and interact with similar other knowledge communities (Thomas et al , 2001; Grybauskienė et al , 2019). Elezi (2021) suggests a conceptual framework for the development of HEI partnerships for knowledge development to play civic roles comprising five categories: behavioural constructs of KM such as culture, trust, absorptive capacities and communication; individual institutional constructs to enable HEIs to join the partnership and perform at the highest level; partnership factors to be considered at a strategic level to ensure collaboration with the partners; knowledge activities set to support knowledge transfer across the partners; and contextual factors such as economic, social and political situations that have a possible influence on knowledge creation and dissemination. …”

Experiential examination of higher education partnerships in the UK: a knowledge management perspective

“…The purpose of this research is to discuss the relevance and applicability of a conceptual model (Elezi, 2020), designed as a result of a critical review of literature in KM in the context of sustainable partnerships within the UK HE sector, and be able to enhance the robustness of the model by incorporating experts' insights and constructive criticism (Figure 1).…”

“…The conceptual model presented in Figure 1 from Elezi, 2020, constructed as result of a previous critical literature review (Altbach, 1998;Altbach and Knight, 2007;Ray, 2017a, 2017b;Robson and Wihlborg, 2019;Racko et al, 2019;Altbach et al, 2019;Elezi, 2020) was presented to the group of experts to elicit knowledge and expertise from individuals who have been leading, managing or participating in the UK and international partnerships. Panellists whose experience and expertise rely on educational partnerships at leadership, managerial and academic levels explained the partnership scope of their experiences by grouping their collaborative endeavours in projects, joint ventures and franchises.…”