PhD: Interorganizational learning and knowledge exchange in Smart Industry

at  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Dutch industry needs a skilled workforce to keep up with and contribute to digital and green transitions. However, finding qualified employees is challenging, and skills quickly become outdated due to fast-developing technologies (AI, VR, robots). Currently, most Smart Industry companies lack human capital and knowledge to achieve their maximum potential. Keeping up with smart breakthrough technologies involves many complex interorganisational activities, cooperation, and knowledge sharing that go beyond the capabilities of single organisations. Therefore, many Smart Industry organisations perform these complex organisational challenges in networks of
organisations: Smart Industry communities. This project seeks to understand how knowledge exchange within the communities can be optimized.
The NWO-funded project Smart Skills@Scale connects 5 universities, 3 universities of applied sciences, eleven Smart Industry communities, 450 SMEs, and several sector organisations and educational partners in an eight-year program to realize a major breakthrough aimed towards creating a sustainably employable workforce. In a total of four work packages, we stimulate the development of human-centric production systems, smart workplaces, jobs and careers, and (regional) partnerships. With this integrated approach, we want to empower production employees and organizations to achieve a human-centric, resilient, and sustainable Smart Industry sector. We invite enthusiastic researchers to join our team and to work on the creation of resourceful workplaces in the Smart Industry in which production workers are stimulated to continuously update and renew their skills to keep up and contribute to quickly changing technology. This PhD position is embedded in the fourth work package.
The preferred starting date is February 1st 2025.
You will be supervised by Dr. Roy B.L. Sijbom (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Prof. dr. ir. Fleur Deken (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), and Dr. Menno W. Vos (Windesheim University of Applied Sciences).

REQUIREMENTS

To be considered for this position, we are looking for a candidate that:

• is motivated to conduct high-quality research with the aim of publishing top-level articles;
• has (or is within 3 months of obtaining) a university Research Master’s or MSc degree in business administration, organizational studies, psychology, or a related field;
• is enthusiastic, motivated, driven, conscientious, and independent;
• has knowledge and expertise of quantitative or qualitative empirical research and affinity with multi-methods research
• has excellent (quantitative and/or qualitative) methodological and statistical skills;
• has excellent oral and written communication skills in Dutch and English;
• is interested in topics about interorganizational collaboration, collaborative innovation, and lifelong learning;
• likes to work in a team, has outstanding organizational skills, and knows how to manage interests of different stakeholders
• has a passion for applied research and the translation of research findings into practice.

As a PhD-student in this project, you will work on the intersection of science and practice and both contribute to the understanding of how the exchange of information and absorptive capacity (i.e., the ability to recognise the value of external knowledge, assimilate it, and effectively use it in organisational routines and processes) of participating organisations can be optimized. You will conduct systematic literature review identifying key building blocks of inter-organisational collaboration. Also, you will set up an intensive longitudinal.study and systematic network analysis in which you follow the exchange of information within Smart Industry communities. In addition, you will also develop tools to provide actionable feedback and insights to Smart Industry communities to enhance knowledge exchange and improve their absorptive capacity.
You will work independently on your research while maintaining close connections with other researchers in the project team, as well as with Smart Industry communities and stakeholders from small and medium-sized enterprises. You will be expected to report and present your findings for both scientific and non-scientific audiences, such as at scientific conferences, in journal publications, and during meetings with Smart Industry communities.
In this project, we embrace team science. Your homebase for your research is at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, but you are also part of a larger research team of other PhD-students, post-doc researchers, and senior researchers from multiple Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences. Also, our research team involves experts that help disseminate findings, coordinate with our partners from practice, and build tools. You will have ample opportunities for knowledge exchange with them too. Additionally, eight world-renowned researchers - part of our international scientific committee- will provide feedback on your work and offer you international experience.
You will develop a thorough understanding of advanced quantitative research methods, qualitative research methods, and the psychological and organizational literature on interorganizational collaboration, collaborative innovation, and knowledge sharing within and between organizations. This development will be facilitated by the PhD training program of ABRI (Amsterdam Business Research Institute). PhD candidates will give a modest contribution to the department’s teaching program (max. 20%), with the opportunity to obtain a basic qualification teaching certificate (“BKO”).