Knowledge transfer between R and D projects and commercial projects: A conceptual framework

Organizations increasingly invest in research and development (R and D) in order to remain competitive. To ensure that they retain both explicit and tacit knowledge and thus translating into commercial benefits, these organizations are leaning towards keeping their R&D operations in-house. One of the in-house R&D approaches that is gaining traction is the embedded R&D where the organization's staff undertake R&D activities in parallel with their primary role within the organization. Despite the value in allowing their project based staff to also undertake research, there are few tools available to them that can optimize the value of this approach. The primary aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that can enable successful knowledge transfer between R&D projects and commercial projects. Specifically, this paper examines the importance of structural embeddedness and cognitive embeddedness for successful knowledge transfer between R&D and commercial projects. The framework can provide guidance to organizations in its ability to consume knowledge and thus influence their ability to apply the knowledge in a commercial situation and hence better design their R&D activities.