The story of a university knowledge exchange actor‐network told through the sociology of translation

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to tell the story of the evolution of knowledge exchange (KE) activity within a department in a university in the north west of England and to understand this activity through the lens of actor‐network theory.Design/methodology/approachApplying the sociology of translation to one qualitative interview shows how different actors were enrolled and mobilized into a KE actor‐network. The process of translation consists of four stages, problematisation, enrolment, interessement and mobilisation of allies which have been applied to the data to tell the story of the KE actor‐network. This is a cross‐disciplinary approach using a theoretical framework from sociology and applying it to a management/organizational context.FindingsThis framework brings fresh ways of looking at the importance of KE networks within universities. Although limited to one interview, the methodology allows for an in‐depth reading of the data and shows how resilient and flexible this actor‐network is to withstand and respond appropriately to shifts in policy and subsequent provisions for small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise business support.Originality/valueBuilding from one case, the paper concludes that this account adds to an historical understanding of how universities become involved with KE activities. The inclusion of non‐human actors allows for a deeper understanding of the actor‐network and shows the importance of actors such as White Papers, pots of funding and physical buildings to the role of KE within higher education.

Organizational learning, entrepreneurial orientation, and the role of university engagement in SMEs

“…As a result of the level of economic deprivation in this region, various economic development activities have been introduced. In particular, given that a flourishing small business sector is central to the vision of economic growth in the United Kingdom (Smith et al, 2010), institutions such as the former North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and the European Union via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) have provided funding to universities for business support programs targeted at SMEs in the region. The North West region provides an interesting context to understand issues relating to OL, EO, and the role of business/university engagement in SMEs.…”

“…Universities are viewed as core knowledge-producing entities for businesses and a new type of university has been identified, the 'engaged' university, which focuses upon knowledge transfer (Boucher et al, 2003;Huggins et al, 2008). This is an increasingly important activity within universities (Smith et al, 2010) with a growing acceptance of the economic value of knowledge as a source of discontinuous innovation and competitive advantage (Gustavs and Clegg, 2005). However, owner-managers of small businesses have to be 'incentivized' to attend formal programs of learning, by means of direct or indirect subsidies (Gibb, 2009: 209).…”

The long-term impact of engaged scholarship: How do SMEs capitalise on their engagement with academics to explore new opportunities?

“… 1. Interestingly, the process of creation of a knowledge exchange network involving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and academics has been described in detail, and with a longitudinal focus, by Smith et al (2010); however, the process is reconstructed from the perspective of the university department that is building the network, rather than from the perspective of the involved SMEs, which instead is the focus of this article. …”

Developing local entrepreneurial ecosystems through integrated learning initiatives: the Lancaster case

“…Following this theoretical foundation, we moved on to present some tangible examples of how learning can practically deliver benefits to a regional entrepreneurial ecosystem using the example of Lancaster University and the region of the North West of England, which is fairly well established in the literature as a salutary case regarding university-SME engagement (Cox and Taylor 2006;Smith et al 2010;Gordon and Jack 2010;Rose et al 2013;Dada et al 2016;Hamilton et al 2016;Schultz et al 2016;Pugh et al 2016Pugh et al , 2018. By doing so, our intention has been to link both the theoretical reasoning for nitrating learning, but also offer some practical solutions to elevate learning to the centre of EE development efforts.…”