In this article, the reader may discover more about how international research networks in the field of Management work. Insights on practices concerning intellectual capital valorization from various universities in Europe are presented. The first part of this study introduces an inventory of relevant academic perspectives on international research networks, focusing on the networks concerned with Management research. It has been shown that knowledge transfer is facilitated through global collaboration and that the strength of a research network is contended by the quality of its members and less on its scale. However, weak links or structural holes are to be avoided when fostering such a network. At times, academic research networks may also work as mediators, bridging the gaps between international entities.
The second part introduces some of the main results of survey-based research conducted in the summer of 2021. The respondents were members of the ERASMUS network of SNSPA, professors and researchers from SNSPA, and participants to STRATEGICA International Conference. Most of them are aged 30 to 55, have over 10 years of experience in academia, and are members of at least one research network in social sciences. They are based in Romania, Germany, Italy, Poland, Macedonia, Greece, Kenya, and Spain.
The responses suggest that the researchers who have an extended network feel connected to their peers, even on an emotional level. Moreover, they benefit from a wide array of opportunities, be it for publishing their work, receiving invitations to be visiting professors, attending international conferences, obtaining grants for research, receiving awards, accessing ERASMUS grants, or being offered promotions. However, over 50% of the respondents could not benefit from such development opportunities, which is primarily because their universities do not have Management research centers yet. Thus, the study concludes that educational systems are continuously evolving and that institutional support is needed for building and/or developing international research networks (click here for full study – in Romanian only).
On the author
Laurențiu Treapăt is University Lecturer and head of the master’s program in Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management, and Erasmus+ Coordinator at the Faculty of Management, SNSPA. He has an extensive experience in finance and banking. He teaches Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Finance and Managerial Economics. As a researcher, he is interested in topics related to finance and risk management. For more details on his research, please visit his Google Scholar profile.
