IKON Research Unit
About IKON
IKON is a multidisciplinary research centre within Warwick Business School, established in 1997 to explore the interactions between innovation, knowledge, and organizational processes.
Our mission is to apply insights from social and organizational theory to empirical studies of how knowledge, evidence, and expertise are created, shared, and used. Through this work, we aim to support innovation, sustainability, and organizational transformation.
Research
IKON's key research themes are:
- Knowledge exploitation, integration and interactive innovation processes
- Networking and innovation
- Knowledge and learning in organizations
- Knowledge Management and
communities of practice - Evidence generation and use
- Managing knowledge work
- Expertise development and transfer
The IKON Network
IKON is comprised of a distributed network of researchers working in the area of innovation, knowledge and organizational networks.
Our WBS academics include:
- Professor Davide Nicolini, Director
- Professor Jacky Swan
- Dr Katharina Dittrich
- Dr Ila Bharatan
- Dr Mira SlavovaLink opens in a new window
- Professor Joe Nandhakumar
Latest publications
- Nicolini, D., Korica, M. and Bharatan, I., 2023. How insights from the field of information behavior can enrich understanding of knowledge mobilizationLink opens in a new window. Journal of Health Organization and Management.
- Dittrich, Katharina 2022. Scale in research on grand challenges. In Gümüşay, Marti, Trittin-Ulbrich, Wickert (Eds.): Organizing for societal grand challenges.Link opens in a new window Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol.79, 187-203
- Nicolini, Davide, Igor Pyrko, Omid Omidvar, and Agnessa Spanellis. "Understanding communities of practice: Taking stock and moving forwardLink opens in a new window." Academy of Management Annals 16, no. 2 (2022): 680-718.
Summer School 2026
The advancement of practice-based studies in organization, administrative and social studies.
Provisional title - 'Past present and future of situated learning in organisations'
University of Warwick, 30 June - 2 July 2026.