Politics of Knowledge
Mental Models, Resource-based View and Competitive Advantage
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Andrija Sabol
Mental models shape strategic thinking by simplifying the world and forming assumptions about how it works. They develop throughout life under the influence of society, culture, education, and experience. Knowledge derived from mental models can be categorized as known (what we know), uncertain (what we know we don’t know), and unknowable (what we don’t know we don’t know). The resource-based view of strategy design relies on two key assumptions: firms within an industry differ in their resources (heterogeneity), and this heterogeneity persists due to resource immobility and difficulty in imitation. These unique resources, capabilities, and competencies create competitive advantages. Resource theory explains firm performance through the efficiency of resources and competencies in strategy implementation. This study explores the role of knowledge in sustaining competitive advantage. Strategy literature recognizes the resource-based view as central to strategy design due to the increasing complexity of managing external environments. It also emphasizes the need for holistic management, integrating analytical and intuitive decision-making. Management competencies involve knowledge, skills, and experience in maximizing a company’s value, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods. The resource-based view highlights firm-specific competencies and competitive advantages, with strategy defined by the organization’s level of knowledge.
Intercultural Leadership and the Politics of Knowledge: Teaching Religion in an Era of Global Complexity
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Sherie Gayle
In an era of global complexity, religious education exists at the intersection of knowledge production, intercultural leadership, and political tension. This paper examines how universities navigate the politics of religious knowledge, focusing on interfaith pedagogy, faculty anxieties, and student engagement in a globalized educational setting. As a pre-doctoral fellow at Georgetown University’s Qatar campus, I investigate how majority-Muslim students engage with Jewish, Christian, and Islamic texts while grappling with geopolitical, cultural, and theological tensions. Drawing from my course, Bodies on the Margins in Abrahamic Religious Texts and Contexts, I explore how adaptive pedagogies—comparative theology, game-based learning, and religious deidentification—reshape interreligious education amid institutional constraints. A key paradox emerges: while faculty exercise caution in addressing controversial religious topics, students seek deeper engagement with identity-laden religious questions, challenging traditional top-down models of knowledge dissemination. By analyzing classroom discussions, faculty strategies, and student responses, this study reveals how universities function as sites of religious knowledge negotiation in an era where religion remains a powerful but contested force. Ultimately, this research contributes to broader conversations on intercultural leadership, the evolving role of religious studies, and the politics of knowledge in higher education.
Transformations in the 21st-Century University : The Purpose of Academia from a Neoliberal Perspective
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Mario Marcello Pasco-Dalla-Porta
In the post-war period, university education became a crucial driver of economic and social development. This led to the massification of higher education and the emergence of what is now referred to as the knowledge society. This expansion broadened the range of purposes associated with the academic world. Thus, the classical and modern traditions that emphasized that the role of education and knowledge is the creation of better societies, the development of human potential, and the understanding of the surrounding world, were complemented by approaches that highlight their instrumental contribution to the economic system. The neoliberal shift has entailed the radicalization and hegemony of this latter perspective. Along these lines, administrative teams in many universities have adopted a managerial approach based on subordinating educational and research processes to efficiency and profitability metrics. Furthermore, an increasing number of universities perceive students as consumers who must be continuously stimulated and gratified (overlooking the fact that education is not a commodity), impose international accreditation processes that enforce the application of foreign practices (paying limited attention to local particularities), and require researchers to publish in a small selection of high-impact journals (compelling the adoption of research agendas dominated by the Global North). These transformations call into question the very idea of the university as a pluralistic space for the collective construction of knowledge.
