Knowledge management in entrepreneurial universities

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and critique the knowledge management (KM) literature within Entrepreneurial universities, providing an overview of the state of research and outlining a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach In a systematic literature review, 1106 articles indexed at Scopus were initially submitted to a bibliometric analysis. Finally, 150 papers published in a variety of academic journals specializing in the field of Entrepreneurship, KM and Higher Education were analyzed through a content and a bibliometric analysis to minimize mistakes in interpreting findings of collected studies. Findings KM within entrepreneurial university is a research area of growing importance. Findings show that literature on KM models and tools in the entrepreneurial university is fragmented and dominated by unrelated research. Content analysis shows heterogeneous literature, but four major research streams emerge: knowledge transfer in university–industry collaboration; knowledge creation in entrepreneurship education; KM processes for university spin-offs; entrepreneurial university to support knowledge-based regional development. The results show a failure to address the implications of findings for policy makers, which risks making KM in entrepreneurial universities research irrelevant. Research limitations/implications Although different structured literature reviews (SLRs) exist separately in the field of KM and entrepreneurial universities, to the authors’ best knowledge, no studies exist in the intersection between the two fields. Originality/value The paper presents the first attempt to provide a comprehensive SLR of the articles dealing with models and processes of KM in the entrepreneurial university. Despite the increasing literature, this research area is still fragmented and undertheorized, thus requiring more systematic and holistic studies, considering both the economic and the social aspects of KM within universities. The paper’s findings can offer insights into future research avenues.

Insights for the future of health system partnerships in low- and middle-income countries

“…The studies by Newell et al [65] and Lei et al [63] Development of research has been fragmentary; many articles stand alone and there are no scholars who emerge as working particularly in this field over the timeframe. This yields the insight that there is no "superstar effect" [36], an effect which occurs when there is extreme specialisation of a small number of influential authors delivering the majority of studies. This research field appears to have no high barriers hindering entry, and holds high potential for further study.…”

“…As noted by Secundo et al [36] and Christoffersen [37], content analysis is a method of examining research topics in order to deliver insights and critiques. VOSviewer, a software for visualising networks and clusters was used [38].…”

“…There is an issue linked to the lag time between articles published at different times, which may impact on the significance of their influence, even when the number of citations is significant. Figure 3B attempts to resolve the issue of lag time by reporting the CPY [36,40]. It shows the values of the CPY calculated considering the breadth of the timeframe.…”

Strategic knowledge management models and tools for entrepreneurial universities

“…The first paper of the special issue presents a literature review to define the state-of-the-art. Secundo et al (2019) in "Knowledge Management in Entrepreneurial Universities: A Structured Literature Review and Avenue for future Research Agenda" provide a review and critique about the KM literature within Entrepreneurial universities. A systematic literature review was conducted, in which 1106 articles indexed at Scopus were initially submitted to bibliometric analysis.…”

Knowledge Input or Not in the Dynamic Cooperation Behavior of Top Management Teams? From the Perspective of Knowledge Flow

“…At present, scholars have carried out some researches on the relationship among the cooperation, innovation, and knowledge flow. Jiang et al [19] proposed that partner trustworthiness had a positive role in the knowledge acquisitioncan and had different effects on the knowledge leakage under different alliance regimes; Cheong et al [20] researched the relationship between knowledge flow and the purpose of expatriate assignments and found that different enterprises had different knowledge flow strategies; Gaur et al [21] explored the cross-border flow of knowledge and proposed a comprehensive knowledge management framework; Christian and Uschi [22] explored the occurrence of superior in-cremental innovation performance based on the a knowledge creation (KC) system which was integrated by knowledge stock and flow; Lo [23] used a multidimensional knowledgeflow model to explore the knowledge flow across different stakeholders in an organization; Zhao et al [24] established a dynamic system evolution model and analyzed the relationship between knowledge absorption capacity, knowledge potential, and knowledge transfer capacity under different incentives intensities, they found that incentive mechanism could promote the evolution of strategic alliance innovation; Li et al [25] explored the relationship among knowledge flow of multimedia information, alliances and clusters, they found that similarity, complementarity and spillage of knowledge were conducive to the formation of the alliance; Zhou and Wu [26] used the dynamic model of knowledge flow in a complex network to explore the transmission rate of the knowledge in the network, they considered that the average degree of the network, the number of enterprises involved in the transfer, and the effective transmission rate of the knowledge had significant influences on the efficiency of the knowledge flow; in addition, other scholars explored the knowledge flow in teams [27], workplace [28,29], citations of articles [30], universities [31] and supply chain [32]. Above existing studies explored the knowledge flow from different perspectives and levels based on the static perspective mostly, few scholars explore the phenomenon of knowledge flow in the process of senior executives' cooperation.…”