Knowledge Transfer and the Use of Social Networks

Many industry analysts consider that the pharmaceutical sector has not achieved its growth potential, in part due to the inherent organisational barriers to knowledge transfer. This thesis provides a critical review of the knowledge transfer literature; with particular reference to absorptive capacity, social capital and external knowledge transfer meta-routines. The research has identified routinized patterns of information seeking behaviour, reveals the micro-foundations of template use and provides insights into how scientists recognise value in the knowledge that they find. A model is proposed that suggests that recognising the value of new knowledge is a construct that is influenced by factors which affect the perceived information quality, the relative subjectivity of the solution and the source’s social-identity. This book is required reading for all those that have an interest in the micro-foundations of routinized behaviour in the transfer of external knowledge.