Implementing strategic renewal by collective organisational learning

Firms seek external knowledge because many important opportunities are available outside the firm. Such knowledge is an essential element for firms’ strategic renewal. Most studies on organisational learning focus on the firm-to-firm learning process. However, little effort has been dedicated to explore the organisational learning process between universities and firms. In this study, a framework for collective learning between a university and firm is developed and tested. Final results demonstrate that collective organisational learning between universities and firms is highly effective in the transfer of tacit knowledge between organisations. Such knowledge can be internalised to achieve strategic renewal when informal communication and continuous interaction are deployed, where both are important elements to build firms’ internal capacity to absorb new knowledge.