PhD: Interorganizational learning and knowledge exchange in Smart Industry

VU Hoofdgebouw

Amsterdam

1 / 1

School of Business and Economics

PhD

MSc

Closes on

31-10-2024

Publishing date

24-09-2024

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Passionate about improving collaboration, learning, and innovation through cutting-edge research? Looking for an independent and challenging role? Join our dynamic team and contribute to the Smart Skills@Scale project!

Your function

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 However, finding qualified employees is challenging, and skills quickly become outdated due to fast-developing technologies (AI, VR, robots).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 1^st 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).

Your duties
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”).

Your profile

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.

What do we offer?

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

a salary of € 2.872,00 (PhD) and maximum € 3.670,00 (PhD) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment
an employment contract of initially 1 year. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. Some examples:

A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
solid pension scheme (ABP)
contribution to commuting expenses
optional model for designing a personalized benefits package

About us

School of Business and Economics
We at the School of Business and Economics (SBE) at VU Amsterdam bring together socially relevant teaching and research in the areas of business administration and economics. We focus on real-life issues that have a huge impact on society, economics and ecology: from robotics to big data, and from job market participation to change management.

Collaboration and cooperation, transparency and social responsibility are four keywords that embody our approach. Students, researchers and staff at SBE share real-world knowledge in order to devise solutions together to global economic and social challenges. In order to make a positive impact on the world, society and the lives of others.

Are you interested in joining SBE? You will work in a stimulating, dynamic and international environment with motivated colleagues dedicated to helping society make informed choices. SBE employs roughly 600 staff, with 7,250 students enrolled in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes and 1,700 executive students.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.

Interested

Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit your application.

The first round of interviews will be held mid November. Depending on number of applicants, there might be a second round of interviews. The preferred starting date is February 1^st 2025.

Applications in one bundled .pdf should include:

a curriculum vitae;
a letter of motivation;
your master’s thesis;
your master’s degree and list with courses and course grades.
2 contact details of references

Submitting a diploma and a reference check are part of the application process.

Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.