The Organisational Embedding Of Expertise
- Centres of excellence are institutions (within the hierarchy of a firm or the national system of research and education) that concentrate expertise and/or train the top experts. We find “centres of excellence”, for instance, within universities, governmental institutions or teaching hospitals. To date, research on centres of excellence has focused on multinational companies and hospitals. This paper introduces research on embedded expertise in the case of centres of excellence; it integrates and generalisesfindings from research on excellence within three domains: (1) elite sport; (2) the institutionalisation of environmental science expertise in Switzerland; (3) top inventors. The core part of the paper is conceptual, defining institutional levels of embedded expertise (individuals, teams, organisations, and society) and different logics for the selection of excellence (market, hierarchy, and network). From this empirical and conceptual base, the paper draws lessons for centres of excellence (e.g., take into account individual lifeCentres of excellence are institutions (within the hierarchy of a firm or the national system of research and education) that concentrate expertise and/or train the top experts. We find “centres of excellence”, for instance, within universities, governmental institutions or teaching hospitals. To date, research on centres of excellence has focused on multinational companies and hospitals. This paper introduces research on embedded expertise in the case of centres of excellence; it integrates and generalisesfindings from research on excellence within three domains: (1) elite sport; (2) the institutionalisation of environmental science expertise in Switzerland; (3) top inventors. The core part of the paper is conceptual, defining institutional levels of embedded expertise (individuals, teams, organisations, and society) and different logics for the selection of excellence (market, hierarchy, and network). From this empirical and conceptual base, the paper draws lessons for centres of excellence (e.g., take into account individual life plans; include options for excellence through transfer) and reviews their various strategies (from exclusivity to talent recycling). The discussion deals with the labelling of centres of excellence. Centres of excellence are not only organisational forms of embedded expertise: in many cases, they have to signal their “excellence” to their environments or audiences.…
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