Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

3.4 Practitioner knowledge market
Lorne Booker et al.
Many practitioners are engaged in knowledge creation and distribution. Their efforts emulate
academic knowledge dissemination processes. CBVs write articles on topics within <strong>the</strong>ir area <strong>of</strong>
expertise; <strong>the</strong>y publish <strong>the</strong>ir work for <strong>the</strong>ir peers in trade journals; trade journals subject <strong>the</strong>ir work to
peer review before it is published; and <strong>the</strong>y cite <strong>the</strong>ir non-academic sources. Examples <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se
outlets include <strong>the</strong> magazines associated with <strong>the</strong> Canadian Institute <strong>of</strong> Chartered Accountants (CA
Magazine) and <strong>the</strong> Canadian Institute <strong>of</strong> Chartered Business Valuators (Business Valuation Digest).
The main attributes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se publications are that <strong>the</strong>y are written by business valuation pr<strong>of</strong>essionals
for business valuation pr<strong>of</strong>essionals in a tone and style that is appropriate for this audience.
“People will start thinking about issues and <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> more senior practitioners in <strong>the</strong> field
will start thinking about <strong>the</strong>m, and <strong>the</strong>y will write what is <strong>the</strong> equivalent <strong>of</strong> an academic
paper with a lot <strong>of</strong> research in it, but <strong>the</strong>y’re not from academia per say.”
“So whe<strong>the</strong>r it’s Richard Wise, for instance, lots <strong>of</strong> articles – Howard Johnson, lots <strong>of</strong>
articles. So we kind <strong>of</strong> bypass academia. Does that mean that <strong>the</strong>re’s no relevance for it”
“I find articles from a practitioner much easier to read.”
3.5 Knowledge translation mechanisms
Although <strong>the</strong> term knowledge translation has not been authoritatively defined (Estabrooks Thompson
Lovely, and H<strong>of</strong>meyer 2006) it can be described as <strong>the</strong> process through which scientific evidence is
made more readily usable by practitioners. Since academic papers are not directly useful to
practitioners, <strong>the</strong>y have to be repackaged for fur<strong>the</strong>r use; <strong>the</strong> findings should be communicated and
contextualized differently.
From <strong>the</strong> knowledge market perspective, <strong>the</strong> knowledge translation mechanism can be viewed as
performing <strong>the</strong> wholesale function. Wholesalers facilitate buying and selling by buying in bulk,
repackaging goods, distributing goods to market, and managing information. Knowledge translation
mechanisms summarize accumulated scientific evidence, and convert it from abstract <strong>the</strong>oretical
notions or decontextualized facts to context-based information expressed in <strong>the</strong> language <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> end
user. In <strong>the</strong> paragraphs that follow, <strong>the</strong> translation mechanisms in <strong>the</strong> business valuation field are
explored.
The most commonly reported translation mechanism utilized by <strong>the</strong> CBVs was conferences. One
average, CBVs attend one conference per year. When asked how <strong>the</strong>y stay up-to-date, most
mentioned <strong>the</strong> CICBVs conference, which also hosts workshops throughout <strong>the</strong> year that some
interviewees attend on an ad hoc basis.
“For me personally, it would probably be more <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> conferences. So, I would become
aware <strong>of</strong> new knowledge through a conference ... as opposed to reviewing <strong>the</strong> academic
research.”
“That’s what I sometimes get out <strong>of</strong> conferences. Sometimes <strong>the</strong>re’s an academic,
whe<strong>the</strong>r it’s Shannon Pratt or whe<strong>the</strong>r it’s Damodaran who will speak and will try to
translate what <strong>the</strong> latest studies mean to us as, as practitioners.”
Pr<strong>of</strong>essional services are ano<strong>the</strong>r important source <strong>of</strong> academic knowledge. Pr<strong>of</strong>essional services
compile useful information about academic discoveries, legal rulings, and practice. Examples include
Done Deals, <strong>the</strong> Canadian Valuation Service, and Ibbotson, which charge an access fee.
“… <strong>the</strong>re are websites out <strong>the</strong>re, … and what you do is you become a member, and you
get to search <strong>the</strong>ir databases. And in those databases, <strong>the</strong>y’ve got articles by
practitioners or academic papers or even court cases in some.”
“Well less <strong>of</strong>ten journal articles <strong>the</strong>mselves. Usually we access <strong>the</strong>m through a
publication <strong>of</strong> some sort. For instance, we subscribe to <strong>the</strong> Canadian Valuation Service.”
The role that person-to-person communication or word-<strong>of</strong>-mouth plays in knowledge dissemination
depends on <strong>the</strong> preferences <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> practitioner, <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> practice and <strong>the</strong> type <strong>of</strong> conveyed
knowledge. In business valuation practices that have more than one CBV word-<strong>of</strong>-mouth plays a
larger role. Each CBV has his/her own practice within <strong>the</strong> firm but <strong>the</strong>y draw upon one ano<strong>the</strong>r’s
wisdom. Many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m call on <strong>the</strong>ir fellow CBVs for <strong>the</strong>ir insight or perspective. The word-<strong>of</strong>-mouth
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