Boundary spanners and networks off knowledge: Developing a knowledge creation and transfer model

Following a critical analysis of previous empirical research of organisational knowledge creation and knowledge transfer models, we develop an insightful model that organisations use often silently but in undocumented ways to identify, create and transfer knowledge both inside and between partner institutions. As we builds on the concept of knowledge gatekeepers (Allen and Cohen 1967) we argue that knowledge continues to be recognised as a primary resource of organisations and that knowledge is a company's only enduring source of advantage in an increasingly competitive world. We argue that knowledge creation, transfer, and exploitation will be increasingly critical to the survival and success of corporations and of societies but this raises the question about the way knowledge is created and how knowledge processes within and outside a company can be facilitated. Building on the understanding of cultural and identity issues, people act as boundary spanners to create a link inside and between organisations to facilitate the process of identification, codification and any subsequent knowledge transfer.