Knowledge-intensive firms: configuration or community?

2014

This paper presents the British Council's knowledge management strategy. It outlines how, as part of this strategy, the organisation attempted to engender communities of practice among a strategically significant group spread across the 110 countries in which the organisation operates. Using a case study of this group, the paper explores "degenerative structures" which impact on the ability to engender communities of practice and, through consideration of issues of individualisation and risk, highlights a series of paradoxes which inhibited this organisations attempt to move from a "hub-and-spoke" structure to become a networked organisation in which communties of practice flourish.

Management & Organizational History, 2014

The paper considers the proposition that recognising the mental model that is held of knowledge by the individuals of an organisation may help us to understand whether or not knowledge building potential can be effectively developed. It is argued that the potential for effective knowledge utilisation will be dependent upon the epistemological perspective held by organisational members. Processual and structural perspectives of knowledge are described and utilised here to discuss two identifiable mental models that exist in organisations. The notion that a perspective of knowledge will affect its management is not new, but the idea that organisations need to actively identify the epistemological foundations they are working with and may need to change them, is.

Information Systems Journal, 2007

This paper presents the British Council's knowledge management strategy. It outlines how, as part of this strategy, the organization attempted to engender communities of practice among a strategically significant group spread across the 110 countries in which the organization operates. Using a case study of this group, the paper explores 'degenerative structures' that impact on the ability to engender communities of practice and, through consideration of issues of individualization and risk, highlights a series of paradoxes that inhibited this organization's attempt to move from a 'hub-and-spoke' structure to become a networked organization in which communities of practice flourish.

2003

In our work a new approach, the Distributed Knowledge Management (DKM) approach, is used and organizations are seen as constellations of communities, which \own" local knowledge and exchange it through meaning negotiation coordination processes. In order to reify communities within a DKM system, the concept of Knowledge Node (KN) is used and then applied in a case study: a complex Italian national firm, the Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A. All communities of practices are un-veiled and rei ed as KNs within a high level architecture of a DKM system. In this paper it is argued that, even if knowledge has to be organized and made useful to the whole organization, there are types of knowledge that must be managed in an autonomous way, and the DKM approach is a good system which to deal with coordination/negotiation processes.

In this paper it is argued that the terms, knowledge work, knowledge workers, and knowledge intensive firms point to emerging social structures and processes in organisations. This focus allows us to analyse organisations in ways that differ from the notions involving less dynamic forms of organisational configurations. It is further argued that the emphasis on knowledge in organisations raises a fundamental question of learning, i. e. how knowledge workers acquire relevant competencies. However, the answer to this depends on how organisational life and work are understood and conceptualised. Three foci are suggested, organisations viewed through their use of technology, the division of labour, and the social interactions in organisations. These three foci relate to different understandings of learning, namely learning as cognition, as situated, and as the reconstruction of experiences. To illustrate both the emphasis on knowledge and the different perspectives on learning, a case s...

European Journal of Economic and Social Systems, 2000

In this article we present a relatively novel concept: the "ba". This concept was put forward by two authors, , who showed that the "ba" -a form of interaction "place" -was a foundation for the creation of knowledge in an organisation. We believe that this space plays a decisive role in the study and description of knowledge management in firms and that it can be used in many fields of research. Because it is a multi-organisational, multipurpose, etc. concept, its contribution is significant. Our presentation of this concept will be based on the works of Nonaka and Konno (1998), but we will also examine the main themes arising from the theoretical movements dealing with knowledge in organisations. Moreover, we are also putting forward a framework of study related to this concept, and a definition of the main possible forms of "ba".

2009

2007, xi + 277 pp., ISBN 1 0439 3407 9, £60.00.

Information Research, 2002

Examines critically the origins and basis of 'knowledge management', its components and its development as a field of consultancy practice. Problems in the distinction between 'knowledge' and 'information' are explored, as well as Polanyi's concept of 'tacit knowing'. The concept is examined in the journal literature, the Web sites of consultancy companies, and in the presentation of business schools. The conclusion is reached that 'knowledge management' is an umbrella term for a variety of organizational activities, none of which are concerned with the management of knowledge. Those activities that are not concerned with the management of information are concerned with the management of work practices, in the expectation that changes in such areas as communication practice will enable information sharing.

2003

In our work a new approach, the Distributed Knowledge Management (DKM) approach, is used and organizations are seen as constellations of communities, which "own" local knowledge and exchange it through meaning negotiation coordination processes. In order to reify communities within a DKM system, the concept of Knowledge Node (KN) is used and then applied in a case study: a complex Italian national firm, the Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A. All communities of practices are unveiled and reified as KNs within a high level architecture of a DKM system. In this paper it is argued that, even if knowledge has to be organized and made useful to the whole organization, there are types of knowledge that must be managed in an autonomous way, and the DKM approach is a good system which to deal with coordination/negotiation processes.

InImpact: The Journal of Innovation Impact, 2014

This paper reports a single case study of a knowledge transfer partnership in the construction industry, and suggests that the knowledge-based organisation has emerged as both a major contributing factor of the project's success and the product of the successful partnership. Components of the theoretical knowledge-based organisation are explored in light of the case observations; an example of the benefits of blending of theory and practice. Creating, capturing and sharing knowledge became a single process through the application of learning to learn, evidence-based management and communities of practice. Consequently, this study evaluates the efficacy of these educational interventions. The paper concludes that the tripartite Knowledge Transfer Partnership has evolved to a sustainable knowledge-based dyad.

Journal of Knowledge Management, 2014

Organization Studies, 2003

Alistair Mutch is Principal Lecturer in Information Management in Nottingham Business School at the Nottingham Trent University. He began academic life as a historian exploring rural life in Victorian England and then worked for British Telecommunications for ten years. He is interested in developing a critical realist perspective on the use of information, as well as in exploring the historical dimension of information use. He has published on, amongst other things, the current status and historical formation of welding, and the use of information by trades unions. He is currently working on a history of public house management in the United Kingdom, following a study of contemporary practices.

2006

This paper explores the contribution of communal structures such as Communities of Practice (CoPs) on intraorganizational Knowledge Management (KM). First, we look at intra organizational knowledge management and explore the role that information systems can play. We introduce the idea of "Systèmes d'Aide à la Gestion des Connaissances" SAGC (Systems to aid the Management of Knowledge) and then establish our theoretical foundations concerning communal KM, especially as it relates to the structural and functional characteristics of CoPs. The results of an exploratory qualitative survey involving Chief Knowledge Officers (CKOs) of large French businesses are presented which examine the contribution that communal structures such as CoPs can make to intraorganizational KM. The results highlight some of 'success factors' for the communal management of knowledge. Two types of factors in particular appear to encourage the sharing of knowledge: those related to (1) the characteristics of a CoP (2) the organizational context. The work indicates that, perhaps contrary to what might be expected, many of the key success factors are the same 'management' issues that can found in almost any IS project while some of the issues that the literature indicates are important, appear to be less so in practice.