Collaborative knowledge production model in the field of organizational development

The paper proposes a framework for collaborative knowledge production in order to enhance the amount and quality of knowledge in the field of organizational development (OD). We distinguish three types of actors that offer development services for work organizations: academic R&D units, training and educational institutes and management consultancies. It is argued that by reflecting on and interlinking the different types of knowledge, a number of benefits can be created through both clients and experts, and hence more broadly related to society as a whole. The data is based on the self‐assessment of 223 expert organizations engaged in OD in Finland. The results show that a collaborative model represents an opportunity to create six types of improvements in research activity: financing; expertise and social contacts; production of services; education and regional development; and customer outcomes.

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