To read this content please select one of the options below:

Computer-Mediated Knowledge Systems in Consultancy Firms: Do they work?

Professional Service Firms

ISBN: 978-0-76231-302-0, eISBN: 978-1-84950-407-2

Publication date: 26 June 2006

Abstract

Computer-mediated knowledge transfer has been at the forefront of consultancy research. The underlying idea is that individual knowledge can be externalized into disembodied symbols and codes, which can then be disseminated and accessed electronically within and across organizations. Although the process of externalization and transfer of knowledge has been investigated from various theoretical perspectives (positivism, social constructionism, pluralism), little research has addressed the role of cognition in computer-mediated knowledge transfer. Based on a case study within an international technical consulting firm, we argue that the success or failure of computer-mediated knowledge transfer is influenced to a large degree by embodied mental frames, social networks, and individuals’ creative and explanatory use of artifacts in real-world situations.

Citation

Reihlen, M. and Ringberg, T. (2006), "Computer-Mediated Knowledge Systems in Consultancy Firms: Do they work?", Greenwood, R. and Suddaby, R. (Ed.) Professional Service Firms (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 24), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 307-336. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0733-558X(06)24012-6

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited