Transfers of Knowledge are a critical instrument in fostering innovation in tourism education, particularly between and amongst providers of higher education. Limited attention has been paid to this specific industry and previous research has strongly indicated that Transfers of Knowledge, however, rewarding, are far from an easy process. In spite of this dilemma, there was a distinct lack of any formalised assessment system dedicated to education establishments, until recently. In 2014, a prototype of an assessment system was developed and introduced by the authors during EuroCHRIE 2014; the prototype evaluated facilitating and hampering factors during a successful transfer of innovation in order to measure how challenging the transfer was likely to be. This paper explores and presents further development of the assessment system through the undertaking, response and evaluation of in-depth research from the view of prospective users.

1. Manchester, 16th October, 2015
Further development of a prototype assessement system
INNOVATION FOR EDUCATION. TRANSFERS OF KNOWLEDGE.
Susan Moulding – Manchester Metropolitan University
Federica Montaguti – CISET
Theme:Education

2. WHAT ARETRANSFERS OF INNOVATION
Transfers of Knowledge are a
critical instrument in fostering
innovation in tourism education,
particularly between and amongst
providers of higher education

3. WHY DIDWE DEVELOPAN ASSESSMENT PROTOTYPE?
Both at MMU & CISET , our
experiences informed us
that International T:ransfers
of Knowledge & Innovation
were: -a positive, rewarding
experience
a difficult /stressful process
– often resulting in failure
Distinct lack of
development in terms of a
transfer assessment
system, particularly for
educational institutions
Even more so when
transferring the
complexity of
experiential
learning

4. HOW OUR RESEARCH BEGAN?
DIRECT OBSERVATION, EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
 more than 7 years transferring innovative teaching
approaches to higher education institutions
 5 European countries, 1 Global
 9 different universities
 more than 30 teachers

5. OUR RESEARCH BEGINNINGS
STUDIES ON INNOVATIONTRANSFER,
ANDTHEIRAPPLICATION
 Causes of “Stickiness” (Szulanski,
1996)
 kind of knowledge (Reed&DeFilippi,
1990; Simonin, 1999, etc.)
 organisational and cultural distance
(Choi&Lee, 1997; Hosftede, 1994, etc.)
Transfer of innovation
 Between division of the same business
 Between academy and business
 Within process engineering and
technology , services
We developed:
• OUR ASSESSMENT
SYSTEM SPECIFIC FOR
HIGHER EDUCATION AND
RESEARCH INSITITUTIONS

6. OUR INITIAL ADAPTATIONS– THE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
-> The original study (Moulding & Montaguti, 2011) explored both
facilitating and hampering factors involved within International
Transfers of Knowledge between higher education institutions.
->These transfers within the tourism education field have gained
in importance and relevance as levels of competitiveness within
European programmes have increased and necessitated the
transfer of relevant and up to date teaching and learning
methodologies.
-> Indeed the development of an assessment system specifically
for such transfers in education was lacking, however, the
authors extended the approach as far as possible from
frameworks used to assess and support knowledge exchange
amongst businesses (Szulanski, 2000; Cornican, et al, 2010; Ekl,
2012; Cummings & Teng, 2003; Goh, 2002).
-> The system developed was applied to 2 transfers of innovation
(Moulding & Montaguti, 2014)

7. WHY ITWORKED?
setting achievable objectives
assessing more efficient management of the transfer
preventing problems, not dealing with them all along the
waythe number of innovations that can be adapted in a given
time to complete transfer process
effective adaptation
reducing the failure risk complete transfer process
effective adaptation/reducing the failure rate

8. OUR SUBSEQUENT METHODOLOGY FORTHIS PAPER
(FURTHER RESEARCH)
explore and presents further development of the assessment
system through the undertaking, response and evaluation of in-
depth research from the view of prospective users.
the development of the prototype takes into account
qualitative 1-1 interviews using academics and researchers
with previous experience or who are about to be involved in a
transfer.
the research focuses upon the point of view of the potential
user of the assessment system.
The final version of the assessment prototype provides
support and guidance for higher education institutions
engaging in international transfers of knowledge in order to
preliminary evaluate how difficult the transfer is likely to be
and to plan and adjust the transfer accordingly.

9. OUR RESEARCH – BOTH IN UK AND ITALY
Content analysis of the qualitative feedback was undertaken in order
to identify any significant changes or improvements of both a positive
or negative nature and to highlight any likely impacts upon the
development process of the assessment system.
The qualitative feedback enabled the authors to observe any
emerging issues for future consideration and enabled an enrichment
of the findings with lively and detailed feedback.
In order to disseminate the findings, the grounded theory approach
together with emergent themes have been clustered together to
enable a greater perspective of shared meanings amongst those
interviewed.

10. COMMUNICATION (I)
S. Moulding, - F. Montaguti , 16th October, 2015
SPONTANEOUS SUGGESTIONS:
 LUNCH
 PROMOTION
 A MORE USER FRIENDLY
ACCESS
INTRODUCTION
GRID
GUIDELINES

11. COMMUNICATION (II)

12. THE REVISED SYSTEM (I)
AC1. Critical knowledge
8 indices
AC2. External communication
8 indices
AC3. Gatekeepers
7 indices
AC4. Expertise differentiation
5 indices
AC - ABSORPTIVE
CAPACITY INDEX
A1. Tacitness
5 indices
A2. Complexity
2 indices
A3. Specificity
4 indices
A4. Organisational distance
9 indices
A - CAUSAL
AMBIGUITY INDEX
A5. Cultural distance
8 indices
R1. Intimacy
5 indices
R2. Distance
2 indices
R- (ARDUOUS)
RELATIONSHIP
INDEX
TOTAL STICKINESS
INDEX
Mean of A, R and
converse of AC
AC5. Previous experience
2 indices
TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT INDEX
→ICT/DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT INDEX (easier to
find)
MEASURMENTS AND CALCULATIONS MORE
CLEARLY DEFINED
+ USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA WITHIN THE
ORGANISATION

13. THE RIVSIED SYSTEM (II)
EXPERTISE DIFFERENTIATION
General - n. of interdisciplinary schools and /or research centres
The higher the number the higher the value to be assigned in the Likert
scale
General - professors recruitment criteria: presence and weight of
extra- academic activities and contacts
e.g. extra academic activities have no weight = 1point on the Likert
scale
General - n. of projects funded by external bodies in the last 2 years
which included multi disciplinary teams
Specific for the unit involved in the transfer- differentiation of teaching
and research staff CVs - origin, study background, specialisation, work
experience
Difference of expertise : mean of the previous indices
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
General - presence and detail of a specific internal
communication procedure
General - use of an open extranet or other social
software for students and teachers
Specific - n. of team/unit meetings scheduled in 1
month
Internal communication: mean of the
previous indices
AC4 - BALANCE BETWEEN DIFF. OF EXPERTISE AND INTERNAL
COMMUNICATION
Mean of Diff. of expertise and Internal communication
AC4 BALANCE BETWEEN DIFF. OF EXPERTISE AND INTERNAL
COMMUNICATION
General - presence and level of use of policies aimed at rotating employees and teachers among
different departments/schools
General - teachers recruitment criteria: presence and weight of extra- academic activities and
contacts
General – n. of inter/multi-disciplinary schools or centres
General - n. of projects funded by external bodies which required multi disciplinary teams
Specific for the unit/s involved in the transfer – level of CVs ‘ differentiation (education, work
experience)
AC4 Balance between diff. of expertise and internal communication:
mean of the previous indices

14. Tourism innovation –our way forward!
Some pages of the CISET
website dedicated to the
assessment system to provide
potential users with qanswers to
FAQs, and guidelines on using
the system.
To be implemented within a
new Erasmus+ bid.
To highlight within Europe
and European bids.

15. s.moulding@mmu.co.uk
fedem@unive.it
Thank you!
www.unive.it/ciset
www.mmu.co.uk
@ilCISET
@F07Montaguti
@ManMetUni