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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2018‒03‒26
six papers chosen by Laura Ştefănescu Centrul European de Studii Manageriale în Administrarea Afacerilor |
| By: | Simplice Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroun); Vanessa Tchamyou (Yaoundé/Cameroun) |
| Abstract: | This article compares African countries to South Korea in terms of knowledge economy (KE). Emphasis is laid on human capital, knowledge creation, knowledge diffusion, institutions and economic incentives. The analytical approach consists of providing knowledge economy catch-up strategies that can be understood within the context of country-specific gaps between the frontier country in KE and laggard African countries. The empirical evidence is based on sigma convergence with data for the period 1996-2010. Overall, a KE diagnosis is provided by assessing KE gaps (between South Korea and specific-African countries) and suggesting compelling catch-up strategies with which to reduce identified gaps. Contemporary and non-contemporary policies from South Korea and more contemporary policies based on challenges of globalisation are discussed. The policy relevance of this inquiry aligns with the scholarly perspective that catch-up between South Korea and more advanced economies was accelerated by the former adapting to and assimilating relatively obsolete technological know-how from more developed nations. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge economy; Benchmarks; Policy syndromes; Catch-up; Africa |
| JEL: | O10 O30 O38 O55 O57 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:18/008&r=knm |
| By: | Takaaki Morimoto (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University); Ken Tabata (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | Employing a two-period overlapping generations model of R&D-based growth with both product development and process innovation, this paper examines how a subsidy policy for encouraging more individuals to receive higher education affects the per capita GDP growth rate of the economy. We show that when the market structure adjusts partially in the short run, the effect of an education subsidy on economic growth is ambiguous and depends on the values of the parameters. However, when the market structure adjusts fully in the long run, the education subsidy expands the number of firms but reduces economic growth. These unfavorable predictions for the education subsidy on economic growth are partly consistent with empirical findings that mass higher education does not necessarily lead to higher economic growth. A higher education subsidy policy is perhaps inappropriate for the purpose of stimulating long-run economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, Occupational Choice, R&D, Product Development, Process Innovation |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:178&r=knm |
| By: | Reny Radkova (St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia) |
| Abstract: | The goal of this paper is to bring some insights and practical information to the intercultural and foreign teaching community on how coaching foreign language is a perfect combination of intercultural and linguistics training. The purpose of the scientific study is to examine this process in detail and to form a cultural understanding with mutual tolerance towards otherness, as well as to present a comparative study of both cultures in a specific cultural context. The progress of scientific research on the topic that helps analyze intercultural communicative competence and applied linguistics training is vital to understanding and developing an intercultural approach. It should accompany not only contemporary foreign language training, but also comprehensive training due to migration, emigration, and globalization processes. Teaching and obtaining cross-cultural awareness provides a journey of increasing self-knowledge as the first step to being open to further knowledge and understanding of others. Both intercultural trainers and foreign language teachers should have to be multilingual and very well prepared linguists. They should have been working or studied both in the field of Psychology and Intercultural Communication. The study focuses on the problems and opportunities for training in intercultural communication. The study was conducted among Bulgarian and American Fulbright community, part of it investigating multicultural classrooms and university auditoriums and extracurricular activities. The intercultural context in which foreign language learning takes place is an aspect through which both children, students and adults find themselves able to acquire a sense of their own and of different cultures, to communicate in the new situation, and to create a suitable "new" cultural environment by coming in contact with another culture. The presented survey related to Fulbright students and teachers aims to help with English language teaching by analyzing the process itself. The future belongs to multicultural organizations and societies. The way traditional organizations are structured hierarchically is no longer adequate for the challenges that the globalised economical society with its increasing pace places. Multicultural leaderships and teams, situational and contextual decision making by them as members of the multicultural community and consistent innovation developing through qualified peer-feedback are going to be key to a successful world economy in the upcoming decades. |
| Keywords: | cross-cultural awareness, intercultural trainers, foreign language teachers |
| JEL: | Y40 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:5908328&r=knm |
| By: | Daria Arkhipova (Dept. of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice); Giovanni Vaia (Dept. of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice) |
| Abstract: | We develop and empirically analyse a theoretical model that examines both the antecedents of digital maturity and the involvement of external third parties in companies undergoing digital transformation. We use structural equation modelling technique to test our propositions using the survey data from IT executives on self-reported importance scores they assign to different types of IT competences. We find that digitally mature companies are more likely to establish partnerships with the third parties with a purpose of jointly carrying out digital innovation projects. |
| Keywords: | digital transformation, digital maturity, sourcing decisions |
| JEL: | M40 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vnm:wpdman:151&r=knm |
| By: | LIVIA ANASTASIU (TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF CLUJ-NAPOCA ROMANIA); ALEXANDRA ANASTASIU (University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca Romania); MIHAELA DUMITRAN (TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF CLUJ-NAPOCA ROMANIA) |
| Abstract: | The present paper aims to identify whether the business environment is an important factor in the design of the university curricula because it is the place where the supply and demand of the workforce meet. The literature review revealed a gap between the competencies the graduates posess and the competencies the market demands. The surveys showed that the managers are interested both in the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the graduates in the employment process. Therefore, we proposed an interdisciplinary module system, where the practitioners coming from the companies involved in the study teach courses and applications in the domains where they have expertise. During the second phase of the experimental study, the students perform internships and apprenticeship in the organizations subjects of this research, after which they are evaluated and are given recommendation for their performance. We used the employability skills model to find that mix of competencies which will help the graduates meet the market demands. This innovative method serves universities, students and companies as well: the prestige of a university is quantified by the experts delivered to the labor market; companies will have well prepared employees in their specific area, with less costs; students will find jobs which will match their expectations, giving them motivation to perform. The limitation of the present research is that the study refers only to the Civil Engineering specialization of the Technical University Cluj-Napoca Romania. Further experiments will be focused on other specializations. |
| Keywords: | employability skills; performance; modular courses |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:5908176&r=knm |
| By: | Rotta, Tomás N.; Teixeira, Rodrigo A. |
| Abstract: | In this paper we present an analysis of the commodification of knowledge and information in contemporary capitalism. We provide a consistent account of how information as a commodity effects the workings of both capitalism and of Marxist theory. The first part of the paper critically revisits Marx’s own writings on the commodification of knowledge and how the immaterial labor hypothesis initially interpreted these writings. Based on the new categories knowledge-commodity and knowledge-rent, we then present our own approach in response to the challenges raised by the immaterial labor hypothesis. Lastly, we analyze the more recent contributions on the commodification of knowledge and information within the Marxist literature and present some empirical estimates of the magnitudes of knowledge-rents. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge-commodities; knowledge-rents; value theory; Marx; immaterial labor; |
| JEL: | B51 L00 O30 |
| Date: | 2018–03–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gpe:wpaper:19448&r=knm |