Towards Mode 2 knowledge production

Purpose Research in business processes has been developed around a disciplinary approach toward the production of traditional knowledge, known as Mode 1. The problems studied with this approach are solved in a context in which academic knowledge prevails, with no major concerns regarding its practical applicability. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to propose a structure for knowledge production based on Mode 2 for business process researches. Design/methodology/approach A bibliometric research was conducted to define and conceptualize the classes of disciplinary problems, by assessing the years 2007-2012 of the Business Process Management Journal publications. Findings A framework for the Mode 2 knowledge production was proposed in the development of research in business process and conceptualized classes of problems related to this issue. Research limitations/implications This work was carried out with specific focus on research in business process, so the defined classes of problems cannot be generalized. Originality/value The studies identified by this research are in the form of a disciplinary approach toward the production of traditional knowledge, known as Mode 1. This paper aims to fill the gap of a transdisciplinary production of knowledge and practical application, known as Mode 2 in the context of business process.

Mode 2 in Action: Working Across Sectors to Create a Center for Humanities and Technology

This article examines recent developments in Amsterdam to establish a Center for Humanities and Technology (CHAT). The project is a collaboration between public research institutions and a private partner. To date, a White Paper has been produced that sets out a shared research agenda addressing both humanities and computing challenges. The article begins with a brief summary of “Mode 2” knowledge production. After providing a fuller description of the White Paper, the extent to which CHAT can be considered an instance of Mode 2 is assessed. Some of the challenges in cross-sector and cross-disciplinary work are presented

The Scholarship of Knowledge in the Modernised University

This chapter investigates how the modernised university might be transformed by the wider adoption of Mode-2 knowledge production. Mode-2 knowledge production, production of dispersed, team-based knowledge, as distinct from the traditional discipline-based Mode-1 knowledge production, was first identified and discussed by Gibbons et al. in 1994. Since then, the terminology has found its way into more general discourse about research and teaching and learning, but in that discourse, Mode-2 knowledge production has struggled to find the legitimacy and acceptance accorded to Mode-1. This is in spite of the fact that knowledge today is most often produced in collaboration, is transmitted in multi-mediated modalities, and utilised in transformative ways very often not envisioned by the generators of that knowledge. It is argued that the reason for the lack of acceptance lies in the fact that a supporting epistemology for Mode-2 knowledge has not, to date, been adequately developed. Thus, the chapter proposes that an epistemology based in philosophical or “American” pragmatism founded by Charles Sanders Peirce can be adopted to provide an articulated and well-grounded epistemology to support Mode-2 as a legitimate form of knowledge production.