Intangible Knowledge The Culture of Knowledge within Organisations from the Perspective of the Sociological Systems Theory Tilia STINGL DE VASCONCELOS Academic and Business Consultant (original) (raw)
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This chapter is based on five examples from our research and consultancy experience in knowledge intensive organisations, both from the public and the private sector. We use these examples to illustrate a framework of Knowledge Management and Knowledge Culture. The framework is based on the theory of socio-technical systems. We applied this framework in the five examples to assess the problems related to Knowledge Management. For each example we discuss how the results of these analyses helped to develop and maintain a Knowledge Culture. We highlight the similarities and differences of the five examples. The chapter concludes with some thoughts on how organisations can assess, create and sustain a Knowledge Culture based on this socio-technical framework.
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Much of the literature on knowledge-based performance develops the theory of knowledge performance rather than that of the nature and behaviour of knowledge upon which the performance is based. Indeed, several HRM-knowledge-performance studies use organisational outcomes in knowledge-intensive environments as a proxy for knowledge-based performance. Although useful in developing our understanding of the links between HRM and performance the former approach does not advance our understanding of knowledge. Put differently, until we understand the nature of knowledge and develop a scale of knowledge in and of itself, we cannot advance our understanding of the HRM-knowledge-based performance linkages. A convincing understanding of knowledge is therefore a prerequisite of any attempt to examine knowledge-based performance in organisations. One such dimension would be to answer the question of 'how much is known?'
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Building on the success of the second edition, the third edition of Knowledge Management in Organizations presents a critical introduction to the subject. Adopting a multidisciplinary perspective, encompassing issues of strategy, structure, systems and human resource management, the text introduces the reader to the concept of knowledge before examining how, and whether, knowledge can be managed within the organizations in which we work. The third edition features a new section on intellectual capital accounting, increased discussion on the use of social networking technologies and significant updates to chapters on Knowledge Creation, Facilitating Knowledge Management via Culture Management, and Leadership, HRM and Knowledge Management. This accessible and engaging text provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject, and incorporates a wealth of in-text learning features and examples in every chapter. International case studies throughout the text, which have been fully updated to reflect changes in the economic and political landscape since the previous edition, as well as new and emerging trends in the field, further illustrate knowledge management theory in a real-world business context.
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This chapter considers how knowledge management (KM) and associated management systems impact on, and are impacted by, organisational culture. It considers the raison d’etre of knowledge management systems (KMS) and the components of organisational culture. We suggest that at the heart of KM is a culture of knowledge-sharing and so explore the cultural antecedents to this and the relationship between technology and culture. Based on a case study following an organisation’s implementation of a KMS, we examine in detail how it was used for performance management by gathering intelligence about the workforce through observation and managing targets and deadlines. In this context, we explore KM and the enactment of power. We conclude that although a KMS may be thought by managers potentially to leverage information to improve performance through efficiency, it can alternatively be seen as a way to monitor and control the workforce through data-driven sanctions and rewards that are more ...
From Tacit Knowledge to Knowledge Management: Leveraging Invisible Assets
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Within competitive advantage considerations, knowledge has emerged as one of the more strategic, although invisible, assets for organizations. This is notwithstanding a wider and specifically economistic and cognitive discounting of knowledge as a factor of production-largely ignoring the socially constructed and socially mediated nature of knowledge. Intellectual capabilities and knowledge/information transformations now have a central place within globalizing information economies. Constructing, transforming and commodifying knowledge and information require new organizational understandings and newer cognitive capabilities of strategic management praxis. Part of this cognitive awareness is a deliberate organizational designing for the role of symbolic analysts. As well, there is an emerging need for the Chief Knowledge Officer function going well beyond the Chief Information Officer requirements posited by an information technology-driven restructuring of routine processes, as compared with innovation creation capacities associated with critically non-routine functions within organizations discovered by Cranfield research. The paper considers neglected institutional and organizational dimensions to knowledge creation and knowledge conversion-it reviews the renewed importance of internal recruitment and socialization within institutions and details knowledge codification and application functions within knowledge-creating organizations. Knowledge management, as praxis, inevitably raises concerns about cognitive failure in leadership theory and praxis.
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The traditional realm of information systems has been the management of data and information. For the past few years information systems researchers and practitioners have been increasingly concerned with the management of knowledge. Knowledge management, however is not the sole concern of the information systems community but is also the concern of management and accounting researchers. According to much of the literature on knowledge management a conducive organisational culture is a prerequisite for the effective management of knowledge. In particular, organisations which emphasise the role and importance of the individual, often in a competitive arena, are less likely to foster sharing of knowledge.
Knowledge Management: A Social Perspective
Knowledge Management is interpreted through a social perspective, both in terms of the development of the concept, and in its major components. This perspective is demonstrated as an effective means of interpreting the confusion that surrounds the topic, and of exploring questions about its character, its genesis, the nature of its literature and its future development. There are also important social perspectives in the key issues of the subject itself, involving the concept of knowledge, the human and social dimensions, the role of technology, measurement, top management and the professions involved. Adaptation of the principles to other organisational and social contexts also needs consideration. Finally, the various social disciplines, in particular Information Sciences, have much to offer the field of Knowledge Management.