Knowledge transfer or knowledge exchange?

Citation

Davies, J. (2009), "Knowledge transfer or knowledge exchange?", The TQM Journal, Vol. 21 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/tqm.2009.10621eaa.001

Knowledge transfer or knowledge exchange?

Article Type: Viewpoint From: The TQM Journal, Volume 21, Issue 5

The readers of this journal are likely to be either academics carrying out research in quality management and working in higher education institutions, or quality professionals working in commercial, public sector or voluntary organisations striving to apply quality strategies and techniques in order to bring about organisational improvements. To what extent do these two types of professional engage with and learn from each other?

Recent years have seen governments around the world striving to increase “knowledge transfer” from universities to industry in order to secure economic and social benefits. For example, a recent report from the Council for Industry and Higher Education (2008) indicated that the UK Government is pushing universities to improve the transfer of research knowledge and innovation into the commercial world and that employers and universities would need to develop relationships in order to achieve this. The emphasis has often been on the so-called Ivory Tower passing on its expertise to the real world of organisations. I believe that these traditional views of knowledge transfer are limiting as they suggest one-way transfer from the academic to organisations. My experiences in knowledge transfer activities over many years have led me to believe that an emphasis on knowledge exchange provides for a more balanced dialogue and recognizes that knowledge is also transferred from organisations to the academic. This knowledge of practice then informs teaching, research and further knowledge exchange activities. It is encouraging to see that this more balanced view is starting to be promoted by the relevant bodies.

The UK Government for many years have funded Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs):

KTPs help businesses and organisations to improve their competitiveness and/or productivity through the use of the knowledge, technology and skills that reside within academic institutions.

At the same time, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships also help to increase the business relevance of knowledge base research and teaching (KTP, 2009).

This is a tacit acknowledgement that there is a two-way learning experience at work.

The Institute of Knowledge Transfer (IKT) was launched as recently as 2007. “The Institute of Knowledge Transfer exists for those who are professionally engaged in making the exchange of knowledge more effective […]” said Sir Brian Fender, President and Chairman of the IKT (2007). It is interesting to note that the IKT is emphasising the exchange of knowledge.

The professional body for quality, the Chartered Quality Institute (2009), names “Knowledge sharing with organisations” as one of its strategic agenda items. This again suggests a two-way rather than a one-way process.

I would suggest that both academics and practitioners adopt a knowledge exchange view of the process so that we might improve both the theory and practice of quality management. That way we might all learn.

John DaviesResearch Centre for Organisational Excellence, Salford Business School,University of Salford, Salford, UK