Title of  the project: A study of practices and dynamics of knowledge in a strategic consultancy.

Name of the researcher: Elena Bou and Marta Maezo

Brief description of the project, objectives & findings: The objective of this thesis is to analyze the knowledge management process in a strategic consultancy company. This project attempts to find possible answers to the following questions: (i) to understand the practice of a strategic consultancy, (ii) to see what kinds of knowledge could be used in that practice and (iii) to discover what kind of knowledge dynamics are present in a determined practice.

Title of the Ph.D. project: A study of service innovations through the lens of organizational learning.

Name of the researcher:  Henning Droege

Supervisor: Miguel Angel Heras Forcada, Juan Ramis Pujol

Brief description of the project, objectives & findings: The objective of this thesis is to study the development of new services through the lens of organizational learning theory. In particular we are interested in illuminating which external and internal learning activities take place during the development of the innovation and how the organization approaches the need for balancing exploratory learning and exploitative learning dynamics within the innovation efforts.

Keywords: Service Innovation, Organizational Learning, Exploration, Exploitation

Expected end of the project: Winter 2009

Title of the project: Team learning in Innovation Projects

Name of the researcher: Dagmar Hildebrand

Supervisor: Alfons Sauquet

Brief description of the Ph.D. project, objectives: The objective of this research is to understand how teams explore new knowledge, and/or exploit existing knowledge, and what factors are important to success in each (or both). This research will pay particular attention to the role of leadership behavior, team climate, and identity on team learning.

Keywords: Team learning, Exploration, Exploitation, Leadership

Expected end of the project: Winter 2009

Title of the project: A longitudinal study on the implementation of quality accreditations in universities.

Name of the researcher: Jordi Trullen

Brief description of the project, objectives & findings: The objective of this research is to understand the cognitive and political dynamics involved in the implementation of a new system of quality accreditations in the university system. The research will pay particular attention to evaluation recipients such as faculty, who are both receivers and implementers of these changes. This research wants to contribute to existing theory on organizational change and cognition.

Keywords: Quality assessment, organizational change, cognition

Expected end of the project: The researcher has been awarded with a Marie Curie Fellowship for the duration of the project, which can span from 2 to 4 years

Title of Ph.D. project: Learning and Managing Citizenship: understanding the cases of participatory budget in Brazilian municipalities.

Name of the Researcher: Evandro Bocatto

Title of the Ph.D. project: The sustainability of Continous Process Improvement in Public Administration. A study in Spanish Municipalities.

Name of the researcher: Manuel Francisco Suárez Barraza

Supervisor: Juan Ramis Pujol

Brief description of the Ph.D. project, objectives & findings: The logic of updating and improving public management by applying Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) and other TQM techniques was acquired by certain Spanish city authorities in the late 80's and early 90's, all in order to enhace their public service and operating processes. The question rise of this is How can local governments sustain CPI? The findings of this thesis present that sustainability of the improvements can be achieved via a series of paths of sustainability. Each path to sustainability consists of a series of evolving phases developed by means of CPI improvement activities. Among other contributions.

Keywords: Sustainability, Continuous Process Improvement, Local Government, Spain

Expected end of the project: 2008