**Conflict of interest**

*Current Issues in Knowledge Management*

*Knowledge transfer between district firms.*

of the role of knowledge transfer and sharing in the characteristics of the vertical relational system of this hub-and-spoke ID. The research is designed to elicit information on the mechanisms of knowledge transfer, whether tacit or explicit, including identification of how each company's degree of contractual power and position within the district might influence the relative mechanisms. Explicit knowledge transfer occurs primarily in the development of production processes along the companies of the district's value chain. In contrast, tacit knowledge transfer occurs primarily through the actions of individuals residing within the district. Human resources thus play an important role in knowledge transfer, through imitative behaviour, personal mobility mechanisms and social interaction (**Figure 11**). Unfortunately, from the investigation carried, we have not received specific numerical data about the activities that individual firms play in order to promote the knowledge transfer. However, in line with the literature has emerged the key

In carrying out our study, some research ideas are derived, consequently, from the structural peculiarity of the analyzed industrial district: the first one was to understand, or at least look for, the way in which the companies of the district are linked with one to the other in the value chain, with reference both to the position they occupy in the supply chain and to their "trading power", and the second, focused on understanding how (and if) the position of companies (along the chain), as well as their different trading power, influences the process of knowledge transfer within the district. Taking into account the reference literature on the "hub-and-spoke" morphology and the power relations that influence this district typology, attention was focused on the observation of knowledge transfer mechanisms—regardless of the tacit and/or explicit nature—for identifying the ways in which the trading power of companies and their position within the district influence the transmission of knowledge. From a technical point of view, the transfer of explicit knowledge is mainly linked to the development of the production process, along the entire district value chain; on the contrary, the transfer of tacit knowledge depends above all on the action of people within the district: human capital plays a very important role in the

transfer of knowledge through imitation, mobility and social interaction.

role that employees have in the transfer of district knowledge.

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**5. Conclusion**

**Figure 11.**

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.
