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Transfer research

2023-04-03

Industrielle Beziehungen 2/2023

Analysis of industrial relations

In issue 2/2022 "Industrielle Beziehungen - Forschungsmethoden im Feld der Industriellen Beziehungen", Manfred Wannöffel, Marvin Schäfer and Alfredo Virgillito participated with a contribution on transfer research as a methodological concept for the analysis of industrial relations. In dealing with the challenges of the progressive digitalisation of products and services - especially the mastering of complexity and the handling of imponderables - the experiential knowledge of employees is seen as a very significant immaterial resource. At the same time, it is often not possible to transfer the results of work-oriented research projects into company practice in a promising way, as the research processes are often decoupled from the social practice of the company actors. This problem is addressed by the concept of transfer research, which takes up central criteria of transdisciplinary research and expands them to include the question of how knowledge transfer can be integrated as a constitutive component in the research process. Similarities with and differences from existing concepts in labour and co-determination research are shown. On the basis of three research projects carried out under the banner of transfer research, potential obstacles to successful project implementation are illustrated and, finally, possible approaches to solutions are presented. Further information on their contribution and the issue 2/2022 can be found here.

Industrielle Beziehungen 2/2023
© Verlag Barbara Budrich

Analysis of industrial relations

In issue 2/2022 "Industrielle Beziehungen - Forschungsmethoden im Feld der Industriellen Beziehungen", Manfred Wannöffel, Marvin Schäfer and Alfredo Virgillito participated with a contribution on transfer research as a methodological concept for the analysis of industrial relations. In dealing with the challenges of the progressive digitalisation of products and services - especially the mastering of complexity and the handling of imponderables - the experiential knowledge of employees is seen as a very significant immaterial resource. At the same time, it is often not possible to transfer the results of work-oriented research projects into company practice in a promising way, as the research processes are often decoupled from the social practice of the company actors. This problem is addressed by the concept of transfer research, which takes up central criteria of transdisciplinary research and expands them to include the question of how knowledge transfer can be integrated as a constitutive component in the research process. Similarities with and differences from existing concepts in labour and co-determination research are shown. On the basis of three research projects carried out under the banner of transfer research, potential obstacles to successful project implementation are illustrated and, finally, possible approaches to solutions are presented. Further information on their contribution and the issue 2/2022 can be found here.