An investigation of knowledge protection practices in inter-organisational collaboration: protecting specialised engineering knowledge with a practice based on grey-box modelling
VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems
ISSN: 2059-5891
Article publication date: 24 July 2020
Issue publication date: 11 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report an interview study investigating knowledge protection practices in a collaborative research and innovation project centred around the semi-conductor industry. The authors explore which and how knowledge protection practices are applied and zoom in on a particular one to investigate the perspective of three stakeholders which collaborate: the SUPPLIER of a specialised machine, the APPLIER of this machine and a SCHOLAR who collaborates with both, in an effort to develop a grey-box model of the machine and its operation.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 33 interviews have been conducted in two rounds: 30 interviews explore knowledge protection practices applied across a large project. Qualitative content analysis is applied to determine practices not well covered by the research community. A total of three follow-up interviews inspect one specific collaboration case of three partners. Quotes from all interviews are used to illustrate the participants’ viewpoints and motivation.
Findings
SCHOLAR and APPLIER communicate using a data-centric knowledge protection practice, in that concrete parameter values are sensitive and hidden by communicating data within a wider parameter range. This practice balances the benefit that all three stakeholders have from communicating about specifics of machine design and operations. The grey-box model combines engineering knowledge of both SUPPLIER and APPLIER.
Practical implications
The line of thought described in this study is applicable to comparable collaboration constellations of a SUPPLIER of a machine, an APPLIER of a machine and a SCHOLAR who analyses and draws insights out of data.
Originality/value
The paper fills a research gap by reporting on applied knowledge protection practices and characterising a data-centric knowledge protection practice around a grey-box model.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all project partners, especially the colleagues who actively participated in the interview study.
Funding: The work has been performed in the project Power Semiconductor and Electronics Manufacturing 4.0 (SemI40), under grant agreement No 692466. The project is co-funded by grants from Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal and Electronic Component Systems for European Leadership Joint Undertaking (ECSEL JU).
The Know-Center is funded within the Austrian COMET Program – Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies – under the auspices of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth and by the State of Styria. COMET is managed by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG.
Citation
Kaiser, R., Thalmann, S. and Pammer-Schindler, V. (2021), "An investigation of knowledge protection practices in inter-organisational collaboration: protecting specialised engineering knowledge with a practice based on grey-box modelling", VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, Vol. 51 No. 5, pp. 713-731. https://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-11-2019-0180
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited