Dr
Ana Cristina
Vasconcelos
BA (Lisboa, Portugal), PGDip (Lisboa, Portugal), PhD (Sheffield Hallam)
School of Information, Journalism and Communication
Senior Lecturer in Corporate Information Management
+44 114 222 2643
Full contact details
Room C230
The Wave
- Profile
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My research focuses on knowledge processes in organisational adaptation: how organisations create, share and integrate knowledge; how they navigate knowledge boundaries and power relations; and how these processes shape their ability to adapt, innovate and remain resilient.
My work has been funded by the European Commission and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). I was Principal Investigator for the Sheffield component of the EU-funded OrganiK project, which investigated new approaches to organisational knowledge management and developed tools to support knowledge sharing and collaboration in innovative European SMEs.
Achieving impact beyond academia is an important focus of my research. My work on organisational knowledge management contributed to a REF2014 impact case study, demonstrating how research-led approaches can improve knowledge sharing, collaboration and organisational practice. My current research examines how SMEs benefit from productivity interventions by exploring how they absorb new knowledge — acquiring and assimilating it, adapting it to their circumstances, and translating it into changes in organisational practice.
University/School responsibilities
- Lead, REF2029 Unit of Assessment 34: Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management (2025–present)
- Director of Research and Innovation (2021–2025)
- Pathway Director, ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership (2017–2020)
- Director of Postgraduate Research (2012–2016)
- Research interests
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My research focuses on the relationship between knowledge absorption and organisational adaptation: how organisations encounter and recognise potentially valuable knowledge, make sense of it and assimilate it, and put it to use. My work examines how these processes shape learning and the capacity to adapt and change.
Closely connected to this is my work on knowledge boundaries: how differences in knowledge, expertise and understanding are negotiated and bridged within and between organisations. I am particularly interested in the power relations involved: what forms of knowledge are recognised as legitimate, what knowledge and perspectives are marginalised or excluded, and how these dynamics shape shared understanding and collective action.
Complementing this central research trajectory are contributions to understanding how information and knowledge failures contribute to the emergence and escalation of man-made disasters, as well as work on digital identity.
My research is primarily qualitative, with a particular interest in approaches that enable close examination of knowledge processes and structures, interactions, and change over time. I draw on Arenas/Social Worlds Theory as a theoretical lens, alongside methodological approaches such as grounded theory, situational analysis and discourse analysis.
I have supervised 14 students to successful completion and welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students interested in knowledge sharing and absorption, knowledge boundaries, and organisational learning and adaptation.
- Publications
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- Research group
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Current PhD students
- Hooria Ali Hafedh: Knowledge transfer from the perspective of a “Quadruple Helix”: The banking sector in Bahrain
- Bekim Kasumi: Network management for innovation performance of Research Track 1: Enterprise Innovation and Development
- James Toner Understanding organisational learning and knowledge sharing in pursuit of organisational effectiveness: A multi-actor, international school perspective
- Naveendra Weerakoon: Service Innovation in Knowledge Intensive Business Services. Approach of Managing Knowledge Across Boundaries
Completed PhD students
- Shuyang Li:
- Dimitris Bibikas: Towards a holistic model of the third generation of enterprise knowledge management systems.
- Alice Schofield: Evaluating the intellectual assets of the scholarship and collections directorate at the British Library.
- Titima Thumbumrung: Knowledge sharing across boundaries in interdisciplinary scientific and technological research projects in Thailand.
- Cristian-Andrei Gherhes: Economic Resilience, Enterprise Growth and Entrepreneurial Activity.
- Ying Wang: Exploring how nascent digital enterprises develop relational capabilities with local businesses in a mutually reinforcing perspective.
- Alexander Schauer: A multi-cultural study on knowledge, individual, team, organisational and institutional factors affecting knowledge sharing willingness in the IT services industry.
- Inaam Idrees: Clique and Elite: Inter-Organisational Knowledge Sharing across Five Star Hotels in the Saudi Arabian Religious Tourism and Hospitality Industry - a Grounded Theory Study.
- Raid M. Al-Adaileh: Management styles and managers attitudes towards IT: a developing country case study.
- Grants
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Research Projects
OrganiK
European Commission Principal Investigator £115,296 17 November 2008 24 months MAIK
Higher Education Academy Investigator £2,858 2 January 2008 5 months An Inquiry-Based Model for Research Methods Training
Centre for Inquiry Based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences Investigator £9,395 1 September 2007 17 months The project aimed to develop and evaluate an inquiry-based model for research methods training of undergraduate and postgraduate students.
A Model for Research Methods Training for New Research Students in Libraries and Information Studies
Arts and Humanities Research Council Investigator £9,801 1 January 2007 The project aimed to develop a framework for research training and a series of joint seminars for Library and Information Science doctoral students.
- Teaching interests
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My teaching interests centre on information and knowledge management, with a particular focus on how organisations create, share and use knowledge. I am interested in helping students understand different perspectives on information and knowledge and their role in organisations, and in exploring topics including knowledge sharing, organisational learning, communities of practice, knowledge boundaries and absorptive capacity.
I see learning spaces as places where knowledge is co-constructed through interaction, discussion and the exchange of different experiences and perspectives. My teaching emphasises applying theory to organisational practice. I use case studies and examples from well-known organisations to encourage students to examine how information and knowledge management concepts can help them understand and address organisational problems.
- Teaching activities
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- IJC419 - Information and Knowledge Management (distance-learning)
- IJC470 - Research Methods and Dissertation Prep
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Evaluator, reviewer and panel rapporteur for European Commission research funding programmes (1992–present)
- Member, AHRC Peer Review College (2009–2013)
- Editorial Board member, Libri: International Journal of Libraries and Information Studies (2016–present)
- Member, ICKMR/IFLA Working Group on Global Knowledge Management Education (2023–present)
- External examiner: Loughborough University, Northumbria University, Robert Gordon University and Sheffield Hallam University Selected invited talks
- University of Cape Town–University of Sheffield, joint research seminar: Knowledge absorption, knowledge boundaries, and organisational adaptation (May 2025)
- University of Alberta, invited research seminar: Knowledge mobilisation in the community energy sector: a case study of Sheffield Renewables, with Dr Rob Marchand (May 2023), delivered as part of a collaboration between the Universities of Alberta and Sheffield on knowledge mobilisation and renewable energy transitions
- Special Libraries Association (SLA) – Arabian Gulf Chapter, invited keynote speaker:
- Integrating knowledge exploration and knowledge exploitation strategies: the contribution of social enterprise software, 17th Annual Conference, Manama, Bahrain (2011)
- Dilemmas in knowledge management, 13th Annual Conference, Manama, Bahrain (2007)