Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital

Knowledge Transfer in Romanian Universities
Simona Agoston, Ivona Orzea, Alina Mihaela Dima and Simona Vasilache
Academy <strong>of</strong> Economic Studies <strong>of</strong> Bucharest, Romania
Simona.agoston@ase.ro
Ivona.orzea@gmail.com
alinamihaeladima@yahoo.com
simona.vasilache@gmail.com
Abstract: Following <strong>the</strong> sharpening competition in <strong>the</strong> education market and <strong>the</strong> dynamics <strong>of</strong> social, economic
and political changes, educational institutions in general and universities in particular face new challenges
regarding <strong>the</strong> marketisation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir programs and attainment <strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> candidates, which is able to ensure
<strong>the</strong> sustainable development <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> respective institution. The present paper aims at investigating from different
perspectives <strong>the</strong> knowledge transfer activities in universities and <strong>the</strong> relation between <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> applications
at a university and <strong>the</strong> knowledge transfer between <strong>the</strong> university and its stakeholders. In general knowledge
transfer activities provide <strong>the</strong> university with positive publicity which consequently leads to a higher candidates’
awareness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> university and finally to a larger number <strong>of</strong> applications. Knowledge transfer activities can occur
in form <strong>of</strong> knowledge inflow and knowledge outflow. In <strong>the</strong> present paper, both streams have been taken into
consideration in <strong>the</strong> conceptual part as well as in <strong>the</strong> empirical one. From <strong>the</strong> perspective <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> university, <strong>the</strong>re
have been identified four categories <strong>of</strong> transfer partners: business environment, public bodies (universities,
international institutions etc.), current students and o<strong>the</strong>r third parties (alumni, society etc). Considering <strong>the</strong>se
categories, different types <strong>of</strong> knowledge transfer activities are ascertained and analyzed according to different
criteria, such as: periodicity, impact, results etc. After <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>oretical framework is established, <strong>the</strong> second part <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> study addresses mainly <strong>the</strong> relation between knowledge transfer activities and <strong>the</strong>ir influence on <strong>the</strong> number
<strong>of</strong> applications in a university. The empirical approach relies on <strong>the</strong> findings resulted from <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>oretical research
which was conducted previously. Making use <strong>of</strong> several qualitative and quantitative statistical tools, <strong>the</strong> empirical
study related to <strong>the</strong> aforementioned issue is carried out within <strong>the</strong> Academy <strong>of</strong> Economic Studies <strong>of</strong> Bucharest.
The methods used, in SPSS 19, include regression analysis, to highlight <strong>the</strong> relationship between <strong>the</strong> identified
types <strong>of</strong> knowledge transfer and <strong>the</strong> multi-annual evolution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> candidates in <strong>the</strong> entry examination.
The results reveal a unreckoned correlation between <strong>the</strong> dynamics <strong>of</strong> certain knowledge transfer areas and <strong>the</strong>
dynamics <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> university attractiveness on <strong>the</strong> academic market. The main limitations refer to choosing only one
university, and having a restrained time span <strong>of</strong> analysis. The conclusions will allow for an extension <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> study
in a comparative perspective, in similar universities, and on a larger time scale. Also <strong>the</strong>re have been identified
o<strong>the</strong>r highly important external factors such as demographic change, emigration etc., which should be considered
in a fur<strong>the</strong>r study, while trying to establish a relation between knowledge transfer in a university and <strong>the</strong> number
<strong>of</strong> candidates at that university.
Keywords: knowledge transfer, university, transfer partners, academy <strong>of</strong> economic studies <strong>of</strong> Bucharest
1. Introduction
In <strong>the</strong> last few decades <strong>the</strong> economies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> developed countries became knowledge dependent.
Knowledge turned into <strong>the</strong> key driver <strong>of</strong> sustainable economic growth and productivity. Therefore
economies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Western world are becoming increasingly dependent on knowledge producers. An
important amount <strong>of</strong> knowledge is created and provided by universities and research centers. In order
to benefit from this knowledge and to use it to increase <strong>the</strong> common welfare <strong>of</strong> citizens, <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong>
research need to be transferred from <strong>the</strong> university to its stakeholders (Vinig and Rijsbergen, 2008).
This process is known as knowledge transfer. Some authors use <strong>the</strong> terms “Knowledge Sharing” and
“Knowledge Exchange” as synonyms for “Knowledge Transfer”.
Several authors (Argote and Ingram, 2000; Duan et al., 2010; Hubig and Jonen, 2006) define <strong>the</strong>
knowledge transfer as a process by which one individual or organization transmits its experience to
ano<strong>the</strong>r and systematically organized information and skills are exchanged between entities. Authors
argue that <strong>the</strong>re are some factors which facilitate and some o<strong>the</strong>r factors which might hinder
knowledge transfer. In <strong>the</strong> category <strong>of</strong> facilitators can be included determinants such as: commercial
resources <strong>of</strong> a university, research and teaching experience, <strong>the</strong> stock <strong>of</strong> technology, whe<strong>the</strong>r it is
private or public university, <strong>the</strong> personnel’s background, organizational culture, effectiveness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
public relations activity, <strong>the</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> a business incubator and science park, agreements with
o<strong>the</strong>r universities, NGOs and private enterprises, membership in social networks, social
connectedness, etc. (Santoro and Bierly, 2006; Santoro and Gopalakrishnan, 2000; Vinig and
Rijsbergen, 2008). Among <strong>the</strong> hindrances we can mention <strong>the</strong> emotional issues, “academical
arrogance” (scientists’ attitude towards business partners, who are “too practice oriented” and
<strong>the</strong>refore might impair <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> research results), uncertainty <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> scientific outcome, a poor
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