Knowledge mediation and overlapping in interfirm networks

Examining knowledge transfer and networks: an overview of the last twenty years

Purpose

Knowledge transfer (KT) has been attracting significant attention from the scientific community. The need to establish collaborative network relationships to achieve effective KT has led to a large volume of studies that attempt to identify how collaborative networks influence KT processes. However, papers, which link KT and networks have not been systematised. This study aims to provide an overview of this academic field and sets an agenda for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses method to conduct a systematic review of the literature published in 2000–2020. The authors sourced the sample from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The authors screened the references under the management and business categories that were published in the first two quartiles of the Journal Citation Report. This search returned 190 impactful papers across the 53 journals that were analysed.

Findings

The authors present the main results in two sections. First, this paper elaborates a conceptual model of the field; second, the authors review KT between firms and other agents, which allows us to identify KT flows within and between companies, universities and public institutions.

Originality/value

This paper provides the first systematic review of collaborative networks and KT. Five areas of action are identified for future research and are specified in several research questions. The authors also provide several practical implications. In a world in which more and more dynamic agents coexist, it is important to be aware of the needs of organisations that create and disseminate specific knowledge.

The importance of intellectual capital in networks formed by start-ups

Purpose

This study aims to analyse the importance of intellectual capital (IC) in networks formed by start-ups, with a view to obtaining resources that individually they would be unable to acquire.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve this aim, a qualitative approach was adopted, and within this, the case study method was used. The data-collecting instrument was the semi-structured interview, held with the business-people/managers of five start-ups present in an incubator (Startup Rém) based in Portugal, and with the person in charge of this incubator, together with observation and documentary analysis.

Findings

From content analysis, the results suggest that the business people recognise the presence of IC at the moment of creating their business and that this is a means to attain sustainability and, consequently, business survival. The results also show that in the absence of network formation, the relation between the incubator and the incubated firms can be affected and limited, interfering directly with firms’ use of IC.

Practical implications

This research aimed to highlight the importance of IC as an essential resource for business survival and sustainability and to encourage start-ups to regard networks as a way to share and convey knowledge. This study also intends to help firms understand the role of cooperation and mutual assistance in seeking sustainability and economic growth.

Originality/value

This study is innovative because it has filled the gaps identified in the literature, particularly the absence of studies on the importance of IC in networks formed by start-ups, and the study of the impact of IC on firms focussing on cooperation networks.