Increasing Expertise and Sharing Knowledge in the Business Service Team of an Expert Organization

Abstract

LAB University of Applied Sciences is a Finnish university of applied sciences operating in Lahti, Lappeenranta, and online learning environments. Established in 2020 through the merger of two universities of applied sciences, LAB is one of the largest institutions in its sector in Finland and has a statutory responsibility to promote regional development and impact through education, research, development, and innovation activities. As part of LAB, the Business Mill incubator operates as a regional business development platform supporting companies and entrepreneurship in South Karelia. Business Mill traditionally functions with a small expert team whose responsibilities are distributed based on individual strengths. However, increasing complexity in client needs and ongoing changes in the Finnish higher education sector have highlighted the need for more systematic approaches to expertise management, internal knowledge sharing, and the development of tacit knowledge within the incubator team. Strengthening these practices is considered essential for responding to future business needs and increasing student entrepreneurship. This study presented a descriptive case study examining how the expertise and tacit knowledge of the Business Mill incubator team were systematically developed, shared, and managed through a dialogue-based knowledge management approach. The empirical data consisted of internal team dialogue sessions conducted in February 2026, complemented by materials and methods used during the incubator’s development days. The study was guided by the research question of how organizational practices and knowledge-sharing mechanisms can be used to strengthen the incubator’s contribution to LAB’s regional development mission. The findings indicated that a structured knowledge management model supported the identification, articulation, and collective use of tacit expertise within the team. The study proposed a practical and transferable model that can be applied to the management of Business Mill operations and adapted to other business support functions within universities of applied sciences to enhance the impact on regional development.