Call for Papers 2017: Knowledge Transfer and/or/as Knowledge Communication - Promises and Pitfalls

2017-02-09

For the 2017 issue of JOOKC we are issuing a call for research articles focusing on knowledge transfer, i.e. “the movement of useful knowledge from one location to another” where it may be “re-used”. Knowledge Management literature is full of statements to the effect that knowledge transfer is a vital component of an organization’s survival and that a successful knowledge transfer strategy provides an organization with a competitive edge. And knowledge transfer is an alluring concept - however, also in many ways a highly problematic one. Some of the basic concerns are fundamental questions yet to be answered:

  • Can knowledge be transferred in the first place? Or is that a contradiction in terms? 
  • Can all knowledge be transferred? And in the same way? 
  • Are there certain situations, contexts, environments, media, etc. which either bar or promote knowledge transfer? 
  • Is successful knowledge transfer measurable? As organizational learning? As change? As profit? And what about un-successful knowledge transfer?
  • Is knowledge transfer just another name for knowledge communication? For Knowledge Management? Or is it a sub-domain of organizational communication? Of organizational learning and/or innovation? 
  • Can successful knowledge transfer be taught? If so: how? If not: why not? 

We, the editors, invite scholars with an interest in the topic of knowledge transfer to submit papers in which conceptualizations of knowledge transfer, as well as the organizational practices they give rise to, are critically examined. We welcome papers with both a theoretical and/or an empirical focus. The extended version of the call for papers for JOOKC # 4 may be found here. Scholars interested in the topic may find their first inspiration in the questions listed above.

Important dates:

  • Deadline for submission: 30 June 2017
  • Feedback from reviewers: 31 August 2017
  • Deadline for re-submission: 13 November 2017
  • Publication date: 18 December 2017