Abstract
This paper traces the origins of Knowledge Management as an academic area of inquiry and as a key managerial concern in contemporary organizations. This is based on an overview of related developments in a number of fields including Economics, Organisational Studies, and Information Systems as well as some of the important developments in the business environment in recent years. We proceed to analyse and critique the status of ‘organisational knowledge’ from both epistemological and pragmatic standpoints and to explore the challenges in designing processes and systems for sharing such knowledge in large organizations. We also discuss technology-enabled communities-of-practice and their critical role in knowledge management.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Antonelli, C. (1996), “Localized Knowledge Production Processes and Information Networks”, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 6, pp. 281–296
Antonelli, C. (1999), “The Evolution of the Industrial Organization of the Production of Knowledge”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 23, pp. 243–260
Argyris, A. and Schon, D. (1978), Organizational Learning, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
Arrow, K. (1962), “The Economic Implications of Learning-by-Doing”, Review of Economic Studies, 29, June, pp. l55–173
Arrow, K. (1969), “Classificatory Notes on the Production and Transmission of Technical Knowledge”, American Economic Review, 59, pp. 29–35
Arrow, K. (1994), “Methodological Individualism and Social Knowledge”, American Economic Review, 84, pp. 1–9
Ashton, W.B. and Stacey G.S.(1995), “Technical Intelligence in Business: Understanding Technology Threats and Opportunities”, Int. J. of Technology Management, 10(1)
Bartlett, A.B. and Ghoshal, S. (1989), Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press
Bobrow, D.G. and Whelan, J. (2002), Community Knowledge Sharing in Practice: the Eureka Story, Journal of the Society of Organizational Learning, MIT Press, 4(2), Winter
Bonifacio, M. and Molani, A. (2003), The Richness and Diversity in Knowledge Creation: An Interdisciplinary Overview, Journal of Universal Computer Science, 9(6), pp. 491–500
Brown, J.S. (1991), “Research that Reinvents the Corporation”, Harvard Business Review, Jan.–Feb
Brown J.S. and Duguid, P. (1991), “Organizational Learning and Communities of Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Organization”, Organization Science, 2(1), pp. 40–57
Brown S.L. and Eisenhardt K.M. (1995), “Product Development: Past Research, Present Findings, and Future Directions”, Academy of Management Review, 20(2), pp. 343–378.
Clark, K.B. and Fujimoto, T. (1991), Product Development Performance, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press
Cohendet, P., Kern, F., Mehmanpazir, B. and Munier, F. (1999), “Knowledge Coordination, Competence Creation, and Integrated Networks in Globalized Firms”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 23, pp. 223–241
Coyne, R. (1997), “Language, Space, and Information”, In Droege, P. (ed.), Intelligent Environments, Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 495–516
Culpan, R. (1983), Multinational Strategic Alliances, Binghampton, NY: Howarth Press Inc.
David, P.A. (1993), “Knowledge Property and the System Dynamics of Technological Change”, Proceedings of the World Bank Annual Conference on Development Economics, Washington DC: The World Bank
Davis, J., Subrahmanian, E. and Westerberg, A. (2004) The Global and the Local in Knowledge Management, Journal of Knowledge Management, Special Issue on Technology, to appear
Davenport, T.H., De Long D.H. and Beers, M.C. (1998), “Successful Knowledge Management Projects”, Sloan Management Review, 39(2), pp. 43–57
Davenport, T.H. and Prusak, L. (1998), Working Knowledge, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review Press
Dewey, J. (1929), The Quest for Certainty, New York: G. P. Putnam
Doz, Y. and Prahalad, C.K. (1991), “Managing MNCs: A Search for a New Paradigm”, Strategic Management Journal, 12(5), pp. 145–164
Dretske, F. (1981), Knowledge and the Flow of Information, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Edstrom, A. and Galbraith, J. (1977), “Transfer of Managers as a Coordination and Control Strategy in Multinational Organizations”, ASQ, 22(2), pp. 248–263
Eliasson, G., Foster, S., Lindberg, T., Pousette, T. and Taymaz, E. (1990), The Knowledge Based Information Economy, Stockholm: The Industrial Institute for Economic and Social Research
Galbraith, J.R. (1974), “Organization Design: An Information Processing View”, Interfaces, 4(3), pp. 30–36
Goldman, A.I. (1999), Knowledge in a Social World, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Grant, R.M. (1996), Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm, Strategic management Journal, 17, pp. 109–122
Jain, R.K. and Triandis, H.C. (1990), Management of R&D Organizations: Managing the Unmanageable, New York: Wiley and Sons
Jorde, T.M. and Teece, D.J. (1990), “Innovation and Cooperation: Implications for Anti-Trust”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4, pp. 75–96
Inkpen, A.C. (1998), “The Management of Knowledge in International Alliances: The Role of Collaborative Process”, Carnegie Bosch Institute Working Paper, available at http://cbi.gsia.cmu.edu/work/inkpen.htm
Kerssens-Van Drongelen, I.C., de Weerde-Nederhof, P.C., Fissher, O.A.M. (1996), “Describing the Issues of Knowledge Management in R&D: Toward a Communications and Analysis Tool”, R&D Management, 26(3), pp. 213–230
Kleiner, A. and Roth, G. (1997), “How to Make Experience Your Company's Best Teacher”, HBR, Sept–Oct., p. 172–178
Kogut, B. and Zander, U. (1992a), Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology, Organizational Science, (3), pp. 383–397
Kogut, B. and Zander, U. (1992b), Knowledge of the Firm, Technology Transfer, and the Theory of the Multinational Corporation, Working Paper, Institute of International Business, Stockholm School of Economics, December
Kumar, K. (1990), “Post-Implementation Evaluation of Computer-Based Information Systems: Current Practices”, Communications of the ACM, 34(2)
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991), Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Machlup, F. (1980), Knowledge: Its Creation, Distribution, and Economic Significance, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
Manheim, M.L. (1992), “Global Information Technology: Issues and Opportunities”, International Information Systems, 1: pp. 38–67
March, J.G. and Simon, H.A. (1959), Organizations, New York: John Wiley
Markus, M.L., Manville, B. and Agres, E.C. (2000), “What Makes Virtual Organizations Work?” Sloan Management Review, 42(1), pp. 13–26
Nakakoji, K, Yamamoto, Y, Nishinaka, Y, Kishida, K. and Ye, Y. (2002) Evolution Patterns of Open Source Software Systems and Communities, Proceedings of the ACM IWPSE Conference, Orlando FL, pp. 76–85
Nelson R.R. and Winter S.G. (1982), An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Nonaka, I. (1991), “The Knowledge Creating Company”, HBR, Nov–Dec, pp. 96–104
Nonaka, I. (1994), “Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation”, Organization Science, 5(1), pp. 14–35
Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995), The Knowledge Creating Company, New York: Oxford University Press
Polanyi, M. (1967), The Tacit Dimension, Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor
Prokesch, S.E., “Unleashing the Power of Learning: An Interview with British Petroleum's John Browne”, HBR, Sept–Oct, pp. 146–172
Quine, W.O. (1953), “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”, in, From a Logical Point of View, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Raymond, E.S. (2001), The Cathdral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary, 2nd ed. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly
Reddy, M. (1979), “The Conduit Metaphor: A Case of Frame Conflict in our Language About Language”, In Ortony, A. (ed.), Metaphor and Thought, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 284–324
Romer, P. (1986), Increasing Returns and Long Run Growth, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 94, pp. 1002–1037
Romer, P. (1990), Endogenous Technological Change, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 98, pp. S71–S112
Romer, P. (1995), Beyond the Knowledge Worker, World Link, Jan–Feb
Ruggles, R. (1998), “The State of the Notion: Knowledge Management in Practice”, California Management Review, 40(3), pp. 80–89
Simon, H.A. (1977), The New Science of Management Decision (Revised ed.), Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Simon, H.A. (1996), “Knowledge and the Time to Attend to it”, Paper presented at the Carnegie Bosch Institute International Conference on High Performance Global Companies, April 21, 1996, Boca Raton, FL, available at http://cbi.gsia.cmu.edu/work/96-2.htm
Souder, W.E, Nashar, A.S. and Padmanabhan, V. (1990), ‘A Guide to the Best Technology Transfer Practices”, Technology Transfer, Winter–Spring
Takeuchi, H. and Nonaka, I. (1996), “The New Product Development Game”, HBR, Jan–Feb
Tsoukas, H. (2002), Do we Really Understand Tacit Knowledge? Paper presented to Knowledge Economy and Society Seminar, London School of Economics, 14 June 2002
van Fenema, P. (1997), “Management of Globally Distributed Projects: Experiences form the GOLDD Team”, Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems, Atlanta, GA, pp. 474–475
von Hippel, E. (2001), Innovation by User Communities: Learning from Open Source Software, Sloan Management Review, 42(4), pp. 82–86
Wenger, E. (1998), Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Wheelwright S.C. and Clark, K.B. (1992), Revolutionizing Product Development, New York: Free Press
Winter, S.G. (1993), On Coase, Competence, and the Corporation, The Nature of the Firm, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
Zeleny, M., Cornet, R.J. and Stoner, J.A.F. (1990), “Moving form the Age of Specialization to the Era of Integration”, Human Systems Management, Vol. 9, pp. 153–170
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Physica-Verlag Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Davis, J., Subrahmanian, E., Westerberg, A. (2005). Knowledge Management: Conceptual Foundations, Emerging Directions. In: Davis, J., Subrahmanian, E., Westerberg, A. (eds) Knowledge Management. Physica-Verlag HD. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-7908-1618-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-7908-1618-3_1
Publisher Name: Physica-Verlag HD
Print ISBN: 978-3-7908-0081-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-7908-1618-1
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)