Search results
1 – 10 of over 25000Silvia Magnanini, Daniel Trabucchi, Tommaso Buganza and Roberto Verganti
This study aims to investigate how two collaborative methods – selection and synthesis – influence knowledge convergence when people articulate a new strategic direction driving…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how two collaborative methods – selection and synthesis – influence knowledge convergence when people articulate a new strategic direction driving transformation within the organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a longitudinal field experiment developed in four organizations involving 82 employees over a three-month process. Inspired by dynamics governing flocks as complex adaptive systems, selection and synthesis have been separately used in two sets of companies. Primary and secondary data have been largely collected and analyzed throughout the whole process.
Findings
This study describes how the two alternative methods differently influenced two kinds of knowledge convergence. While selection triggers a general and static knowledge convergence and the propagation of individual knowledge over time, synthesis fosters a local and dynamic knowledge convergence where individuals tend to propagate knowledge generated collectively.
Research limitations/implications
This research offers insights into understanding the influence of alternative collaborative methods on the creation and propagation of knowledge when people are converging toward a new strategic direction. From a theoretical perspective, it contributes to complex adaptive system theory, highlighting the role of knowledge convergence and emergence through collaboration.
Practical implications
This research offers insights to managers who deal with the complexity of the engagement of different stakeholders during collaborative processes, offering some actionable takeaways to foster knowledge convergence by alternatively employing selection and synthesis.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the management and social information processing literature emphasizing the role of knowledge convergence emerging from the complex interactions among multiple stakeholders.
Details
Keywords
Wenyue Cui, Jie Tang, Zhipeng Zhang and Xin Dai
Innovation convergence is critical to national or regional economic growth patterns. This article provides a systematic review of innovation convergence research through…
Abstract
Purpose
Innovation convergence is critical to national or regional economic growth patterns. This article provides a systematic review of innovation convergence research through qualitative discussions combined with bibliometric methods. Through this article, researchers interested in the field of innovation convergence can quickly understand the development of the field, quickly identify authors and publications with significant impact, and collaborative networks in the field.
Design/methodology/approach
This article is based on the relevant literature included in the WOS database from 1990 to 2021, using Citespace, Gephi and other software to conduct a systematic bibliometric analysis of the research in the new convergence field.
Findings
This research shows that the second half of the twentieth century was a boom period for research on economic convergence. 2. The subject foundation of innovation convergence research mainly includes mathematics, economics, political science and computational science. 3. The journals that publish research in this field are widely distributed, including the fields of economics, natural sciences and complex sciences. 4. The research in the field of innovation convergence is inseparable from the research in the field of economic growth.
Originality/value
This study may help others to understand the development history and research trends of the innovation convergence field, as well as the literature and cooperative scientific research institutions that have an important influence.
Details
Keywords
Xiaomi An, Hepu Deng, Lemen Chao and Wenlin Bai
This paper aims to investigate the role of knowledge management in collaborative innovation and identifies the knowledge management approaches for supporting collaborative…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the role of knowledge management in collaborative innovation and identifies the knowledge management approaches for supporting collaborative innovation community capacity building (CICCB) in organizations. The importance of collaborative innovation in developing organizational competitiveness is increasingly being recognized in both theory and practice worldwide. Collaborative innovation, however, is still under-explored from the trans-disciplinary perspective of knowledge management and community capacity building.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive review of the related literature in collaborative innovation and knowledge management is conducted. Three demands for CICCB, including trust building for enhancing the effectiveness, sustainability building for improving the efficiency and extensibility building for developing the competitiveness in organizations, are identified, which paves the way for the development of a holistic approach to effective CICCB.
Findings
Three roles of knowledge management in supporting CICCB are identified, including the reformation of knowledge management for convergence in collaboration, the remediation of knowledge activities for synergy in communication and the reconfiguration of knowledge artifacts for the integration of knowledge management activities in connectivity. A holistic approach is proposed for effective CICCB in organizations, including the multi-dimensional convergence for trust building in collaboration, the multi-directional synergy for sustainability building in communication and the multi-layer integration for extensibility building in connectivity.
Research limitations/implications
Insights about how organizations can better support CICCB through effective knowledge management for improving their competitiveness are provided based on the identification of the demand for CICCB and the role of knowledge management in collaborative innovation. The development of a holistic approach to effective CICCB can help organizations better utilize their limited resources for developing their competitiveness in today’s dynamic environment.
Originality/value
This paper is the first step of a comprehensive study on the role of knowledge management in supporting CICCB in organizations in today’s dynamic environment. It provides a solid foundation for the investigation of the models, approaches and mechanisms for effective CICCB through knowledge management in organizations.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to create and deploy new configurations of resources via understanding issues concerning generative knowledge integration (KI) to create a customer‐centric…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to create and deploy new configurations of resources via understanding issues concerning generative knowledge integration (KI) to create a customer‐centric relationship management system.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative case study of a public‐listed housing developer was conducted to analyze its main issues and conceptualize the underlying generative knowledge integration process.
Findings
Issues concerning generating KI were identified from the case study. The conceptualization of generative KI encompasses three main generative KI mechanisms, knowledge conceptualization, knowledge convergence, and knowledge assimilation, that are connected by three generative KI processes: accessing and exchanging knowledge, articulating and exchanging knowledge, and combining and exchanging knowledge.
Practical implications
The importance of understanding the concept of generative knowledge integration for practitioners is emphasized, and suggestions are given to promote the deployment of knowledge integration generation throughout system development.
Originality/value
The research conducted is unique in that a new model of generative knowledge integration is proposed, contributing to the knowledge integration literature in terms of the uncovering the three new generative KI mechanisms and processes.
Details
Keywords
William S. Kaplan and Anne F. Thomson Reed
This paper aims to impart how Acquisition Solutions, Inc. is moving knowledge management “from concept to theory to practice” through an ability to connect, collect, and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to impart how Acquisition Solutions, Inc. is moving knowledge management “from concept to theory to practice” through an ability to connect, collect, and collaborate at all levels “as part of the way we do business”. It demonstrates how the void that exists between the theories about “knowledge management” and the delivery of clear and specific knowledge management practices that “deliver on the promise of KM” is filled.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors provide brief company context and the knowledge challenges faced in considering future evolution and growth, such as improving the ability to leverage the hidden value of corporate knowledge in business development and new solution creation, strengthening the ability to learn from past challenges and successes in strategic decision making and client solution delivery, and creating value from knowledge, experience, and insight held by both employees and clients. The authors discuss a Knowledge Convergence© strategy, implementing framework and model and how to integrate these into consulting operations – employing an Applied Innovation Model© to continually improve solution delivery by integrating communities of practice, attention to business practice methodologies, and the development of competencies in the workforce.
Findings
The paper presents ten learnings, including the fundamental understandings that “it is not about knowledge management, it's about knowledge leadership” as well as “capture and reuse must be part of business operations and not something extra”.
Originality/value
This paper is written for practitioners who are focused on performing and learning to improve the performance of individuals, teams, and organizations.
Details
Keywords
Jocelyn Cranefield and Pak Yoong
This paper aims to investigate how online communities of practice facilitate the embedding of personal professional knowledge in a complex online environment.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how online communities of practice facilitate the embedding of personal professional knowledge in a complex online environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This research consisted of exploratory, interpretivist case research, using qualitative methods. Forty‐one individuals from five online communities in a national professional development programme were interviewed. Additional data were drawn from diverse online records. Data were coded via text analysis. A wiki was used for participant feedback.
Findings
Embedding of new knowledge was facilitated by individuals' crossings between different engagement spaces – communication and sense‐making contexts. Community members repeatedly crossed between online and offline, visible and invisible, formal and informal, and reflective and active engagement spaces as they sought to meet diverse needs. As they did this, they had to continually recontextualise knowledge, adapting, varying and personalising it to fit the function, genre and conventions of each engagement space. This promoted the embedding of professional knowledge. The complex online environment in which they operated can be seen as providing a situation of enhanced polycontextuality, within which multiple boundary crossings facilitated strong personalisation. At the community level, knowledge convergence was fostered by the recurrence of dominant, powerful mnemonic themes.
Research limitations/implications
An opportunity exists to investigate the applicability of these findings in other online professional contexts.
Originality/value
The paper extends the concept of boundary crossing to crossings in a polycontextual online environment. It updates literature on communities of practice by outlining the dynamics of a complex online community system. It provides an explanation for how personal knowledge evolves to fit emerging trends and considers how information systems can support deep knowledge transfer.
Details
Keywords
Miltiadis D. Lytras and Athanasia Pouloudi
The paper aims to discuss the critical issue of learning and knowledge convergence in knowledge‐intensive organizations, and to provide practical guidelines for effective…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to discuss the critical issue of learning and knowledge convergence in knowledge‐intensive organizations, and to provide practical guidelines for effective strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper brings together previous research in knowledge management and provides a critique for the lack of integration of previous studies with learning, a key process for efficient knowledge management. Stemming from this critique, an integrative framework for knowledge management support from a learning perspective is proposed.
Findings
The major contribution is the framework for knowledge management support from a learning perspective, which can guide strategies of effective knowledge and learning management. This framework initiates an interesting discussion of technological issues that can enhance current knowledge management practices.
Research limitations/implications
The taxonomy of knowledge management systems provides the basis for an extensive specification of knowledge management strategies. Further research could focus on an instrumental approach to the integrative framework suggested in this paper, to illustrate how it can be used to enhance the integration of learning processes and products in the knowledge management process.
Practical implications
The paper is a very useful source of information and impartial advice for strategists, knowledge management officers and people interested in implementing learning and knowledge management in a knowledge‐intensive organization.
Originality/value
This paper presents a novel taxonomy of knowledge management systems from a learning perspective. Unlike previous literature on knowledge management, this paper makes an explicit claim for integrating knowledge management and learning activities and illustrates how the two can be jointly supported by various knowledge management systems.
Details
Keywords
Karen Lee Bar-Sinai, Tom Shaked and Aaron Sprecher
The purpose of the paper is to advance remote robotic fabrication through an iterative and pedagogical protocol for shaping architectural grounds. Advancements in autonomous…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to advance remote robotic fabrication through an iterative and pedagogical protocol for shaping architectural grounds. Advancements in autonomous robotic tools enable to reach increasingly larger scales of architectural and landscape construction and operate in remote and inaccessible sites. In parallel, the relation of architecture to its environment is significantly reconsidered, as the building industry's contribution to the environmental stress increases. In response, new practices emerge, addressing the reshaping and modulation of environments using digital tools. The context of extra-terrestrial architecture provides a ground for exploring these issues, as future practice in this domain relies on the use of remote autonomous means for repurposing local matter. As a result, the novelty in robotic construction laboratories is tied to innovation in architectural pedagogy.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper puts forth a pedagogical protocol and iterative framework for digital groundscaping using robotic tools. The framework is demonstrated through an intensive workshop led by the authors. To situate the discussion, digital groundscaping is linked to several conditions that characterize practice and relate to pedagogy. These conditions include the experimental dimension of knowledge in digital fabrication, the convergence of knowledge as part of the blur between the fields of architecture and landscape architecture and the bridging of heterogeneous knowledge sets (virtual and physical), which robotic fabrication on natural terrains entails.
Findings
The outcomes of the workshop indicate that iterative processes can assist in applying autonomous design protocols on remote grounds. The protocols were assessed in light of the roles of technological tools, design iterations and material agency in the robotic fabrication.
Originality/value
The paper concludes with observations linking the iterative protocol to new avenues in architectural pedagogy as means of advancing the capacity to digitally design, modulate and transform natural grounds.
Details
Keywords
Miltiadis D. Lytras and Athanasia Pouloudi
The digital economy is based on knowledge and the ultimate objective is the reinforcement of performance. The business strategy has been shifted from the management of tangible…
Abstract
The digital economy is based on knowledge and the ultimate objective is the reinforcement of performance. The business strategy has been shifted from the management of tangible assets to intangible resources and the traditional competitive position of business units is based on their capacity for effective action. The main conclusion is that a knowledge and learning management infrastructure is required in order to realize every knowledge organization as a learning organization capable of exploiting the organizational knowledge wealth.
Details
Keywords
Songyi Yan, Claudia Elisabeth Henninger, Celina Jones and Helen McCormick
This research investigates sustainable knowledge from a consumer perspective, thereby focussing on the issue of microfibre pollution (MFP) within the context of the athleisure…
Abstract
Purpose
This research investigates sustainable knowledge from a consumer perspective, thereby focussing on the issue of microfibre pollution (MFP) within the context of the athleisure wear industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is exploratory in nature and supports its findings with 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with consumers who have an invested interest in athleisure wear and have either a fashion or a textile science background.
Findings
The results provide an insight into how different types of knowledge influence one another and which ones can act as barriers to acting more sustainably and more specifically in reducing MFP.
Research limitations/implications
Although the sample size is relatively small, participants were selected carefully to have different backgrounds and lifestyles, thus, providing valuable insights that can be explored further in the future.
Practical implications
Communication is a key issue that has been identified and which needs to be carefully addressed by providing both quantity and quality.
Originality/value
This research identifies interlinks between different knowledge types and potential barriers that need to be overcome in order to act more sustainably.
Details