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This chapter offers a re-description of knowledge organization in light of genre and activity theory. Knowledge organization needs a new description in order to account for those activities and practices constituting and causing concrete knowledge organization activity. Genre and activity theory is put forward as a framework for situating such a re-description.

By means of genre and activity theory, the chapters argues that understanding the genre and activity systems, in which every form of knowledge organization is embedded, makes us capable of seeing how knowledge organization, as a genre, both can be a tool and an object in genred human activities.

In contrast to much research into knowledge organization, this chapter does not emphasize techniques, standards, or rules to be the sole object of study. Instead, an emphasis is put on the genre and activity systems informing and shaping concrete forms of knowledge organization activity. With this, we are able to understand how knowledge organization activity also contributes to construct genre and activity systems and not only aid them.

The purpose of this paper is to provide the results from empirically testing the effects of different combinations of organizational forms and combinative capabilities on the efficiency, scope and flexibility of firm‐level knowledge integration, given the influence of knowledge types and forms.

The research is based on a case‐study methodology employed to collect data from ten firms of low, medium and high knowledge complexity environs; manual and automated data mining techniques were employed.

The findings suggest that organizational form and combinative capabilities explain the effects of efficiency, scope and flexibility on firm‐level knowledge integration. In turn, differences in knowledge types and forms necessitate the use of secondary combinative capabilities.

While the study provides a coherent and detailed understanding of firm‐level knowledge integration and explain the development of a firm's knowledge architecture through organizational structures and synthesize existing literature contributing to an emergent understanding of the ambiguities surrounding combinative capabilities, further research identifying the effects of and relationship with the deep knowledge in combinative capabilities on strategic capabilities and a firm's knowledge vision would be beneficial.

Of practical relevance is the strategic and operational management implications detailing the specific organizational structures to achieve desired firm‐level knowledge integration capacity and manage particular integration efficiency, scope and flexibility requirements to enhance the development of architectural knowledge and, thus, firm capabilities.

The original contribution of this paper is reflected in providing empiric and theoretic insights, which directly address the specific combinations of organizational structures that influence integration process characteristics and thus accommodate differences in knowledge types and forms.

The purpose of the article is to aid the reader in understanding the knowledge claims in different forms of action research and to see what kind of “turn to practice” is required in research on organising, organisational learning, and management.

A conceptual framework extracted from the philosophy of Aristotle is presented for understanding the knowledge claims of action research in relation to other approaches.

Some form of action research should be pursued, but action research is a label covering many different approaches suggesting different ways of relating knowledge and action.

In order to provide valid, practicable knowledge both action research and mainstream research need to reconfigure and sort things better. The call is for doing more organizational research as “praxis research” as part of late modern, socially distributed knowledge production modes.

The required reconfiguration of organizational research also requires systematic organizational learning in work organizations.

Providing a conceptual framework that is able to grasp the different knowledge forms operating under socially distributed “mode 2” conditions, and to point out required implications for both research and practice, is new.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

During hyper‐competition, disruptive technological innovations germinate causing significant changes in software development organizations' (SDOs) knowledge. The scope and flexibility of the SDO's knowledge base increases; its volatility and the demand for efficiency grows. This creates germane needs to translate abstract knowledge into workable knowledge fast while delivering solutions. The aim of this article is to examine SDOs' responses to such learning challenges through an inductive, theory‐generating study which addresses the question: how did some SDOs successfully learn under these circumstances?

The article takes the form of an exploratory, theory‐building case study investigating seven SDOs' web‐development activities and associated changes in their learning routines during the dot‐com boom.

The SDOs increased their ability to learn broadly, deeply, and quickly – a learning contingency referred as “hyper‐learning” – by inventing, selecting and configuring learning routines. Two sets of learning routines enabled broad and flexible exploratory‐knowledge identification and exploratory‐knowledge assimilation: distributed gate‐keeping; and brokering of external knowledge. Likewise, two sets of learning routines enabled fast and efficient exploitative‐knowledge transformation and exploitation: simple design rules; and peer networks. The authors further observed that SDOs created systemic connections between these routines allowing for fast switching and dynamic interlacing concurrently within the same organizational sub‐units. The authors refer to this previously unidentified form of organizational learning as parallel ambidexterity.

The study contributes to organizational learning theories as applied to SDOs by recognizing a condition where knowledge scope, flexibility, efficiency and volatility increase. It also argues a new form of ambidexterity, parallel ambidexterity, was created and implemented in response to this set of requirements. Parallel ambidexterity differs from traditional exploitative forms where SDOs focus on improving and formalizing their operational knowledge and improving efficiency. It also differs from traditional explorative forms where SDOs focus on identifying and grafting and distributing external abstract knowledge by expanding knowledge scope, flexibility. Most importantly, parallel ambidexterity differs from the widely recognized forms of sequential and structural ambidexterity because exploration and exploitation take place at the same time within the same unit in holographic ways to address volatility. Here learning outcome are applied directly and fast to the tasks for which the learning was initiated.

This research identifies the forms of tacit knowledge frequently requested in the job descriptions of knowledge workers in a multinational automotive manufacturer's product development department. It then explores how and why the most requested forms of tacit knowledge are used in practice to achieve organizational goals.

This study follows a sequential mixed-methods approach to quantify the most frequently requested forms of tacit knowledge within internal job descriptions and then explores how and why this tacit knowledge is used. The first stage applies manifest content analysis to internal job descriptions to highlight the epitomes of tacit knowledge to identify the most frequently requested forms of tacit knowledge. The second stage employs semi-structured interviews to explore the use of the most frequently requested forms of tacit knowledge in practice.

The research indicated that the organization most frequently requested tacit knowledge in the form of skills and experience in the job descriptions of knowledge workers in the product development department. When the use and application of tacit knowledge in the form of skills were further explored in practice, it was found that tacit knowledge-based socially-focused skills were used, which was underpinned by the need to bring people together and align them towards a common goal to make things work; by enabling people to work together as a team; by developing and using networks; and acting as a required resource to support the development and integration in product development. Tacit knowledge in the form of experience was applied through the application of personally obtained experience to enhance development work by acting as a pacemaker for increasing efficiency and a sense of upcoming issues.

This work addresses the paucity of studies identifying tacit knowledge in large organizations and meets calls to investigate the processes and activities related to tacit knowledge in specific contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to present how in a virtual setting a cooperating group of individuals could transform their tacit knowledge, and what is the necessary infrastructure needed for such transformation.

The paper highlights the different perspectives on knowledge as well as its classification and perception by researcher's to‐date. It also examines current theoretical questions of knowledge management and knowledge transformation. Opinions and ideas are introduced as the easier parts of tacit knowledge that can be transformed into explicit form. The paper also introduces a knowledge management definition, which presents three phases for managing knowledge among virtually cooperating group members.

The paper has the following items as vital for knowledge transformation among virtual group members: a definition for knowledge management among group members; adoption of classification of knowledge as explicit, embodied, and not‐yet‐embodied (Scharmer); and opinions and ideas as the parts of tacit knowledge which could be easily transformed.

Knowledge management and knowledge transformation have been addressed in the literature at the organizational level. The paper addresses these issues from a group level and introduces definition, concepts, and ideas that form the backbone of such management and transformation. The points raised are expected to be of interest to researchers working on knowledge management and transformation among virtually cooperating group members.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical-conceptual model supporting the analysis of the effects of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) networks on knowledge management (KM) and intellectual capital (IC).

The paper reviews literature on KM, IC and networks theories. The role of SMEs networks on KM and IC was discussed, analysing previous studies that supported the proposition of the model in question. In such model SMEs networks are seen as knowledge networks which are analysed in terms of the network formation process, the context, the strategy, the organisational culture and the stimuli for the sharing of knowledge. KM is observed in terms of knowledge creation, systematisation and sharing. Finally, IC encompasses human capital, structural capital and relational capital. It is noteworthy that KM and IC were considered deeply and closely related.

The conclusions obtained help to fill an important gap in the management, accounting, KM and IC literature, showing that the processes of creating, acquiring, maintaining, systematising and sharing information and knowledge and IC generation in SMEs networks can be influenced by the network formation process, by the organisational context, as well as by the strategy, organisational culture and stimuli to sharing knowledge.

The paper provides a theoretical contribution by increasing understanding of the effect of SMEs networks on KM and IC practices – an understanding still at the early stages in the literature. Moreover, the originality of the model proposed extends the relevance of this research, as the literature does not contain a sufficiently established and tested approach that simultaneously provides a clear view of the relations between SMEs, networks, KM and IC, highlighting how SMEs can use networks as a strategy to achieve a more effective management of the knowledge assets forming IC. So, the paper offers several avenues for future research.

Based on previous empirical research, it was perceived that the original model presented in this paper is consistent, collaborating to improve management practice, providing a competitive benchmarking process. This can allow analysts, managers and other decision makers, by using SMEs networks to improve organisational performance, innovation, sustainability, competitiveness and value.

The paper presents an innovative theoretical-conceptual model focussed on the role of SMEs networks on KM and IC, indicating a strong link between the former and the latter in such enterprises in terms of performance, innovation, sustainability, competitiveness and value, an issue whose understanding, although quite relevant, is still incipient in the literature.

This article introduces a model of knowledge creation in consciousness, the creation of explicit knowledge in six forms and its register and organisation in documents.

Assuming the premise of three realms of reference to knowledge and two forms of reference to entities, this article, through a phenomenological perspective, deduces a model of the creation of knowledge in consciousness and the creation of explicit knowledge in six forms and its register in documents.

Two basic types of knowledge are introduced: situated knowledge and theoretical/normative knowledge. Considering three realms of reference of knowledge – the space–time realm, subjectivity realm and linguistic realm – six general types of knowledge are deduced. Finally, three layers of knowledge organisation are presented: classification and mapping documents, theoretical/normative documents and documents of situations.

This article can contribute to the development of more efficient forms of creation of explicit knowledge, its register in documents and the development of more efficient knowledge organisation and management systems.

Relying on established perspectives of the realms where subjectivity is immersed, this article discusses how knowledge is created in consciousness and registered in documents. It also presents a novel perspective of types of knowledge through the combination of dimensions, realms of reference and forms of reference to entities.

Some problems have been pointed out in the literature, regarding how the various critical approaches to pedagogy have failed to properly promote autonomy of thinking and to prevent the imposition of knowledge. The criticisms include the incapacity of some approaches to highlight and question subtle or tacit forms of knowledge, and the implicit active imposition of knowledge by some others. With the possible use of critical systems thinking in pedagogy in mind, here we examine how the forms of critique used by three different approaches within this strand can deal with these criticisms. We will argue that, as presently conceived, the critical use of the system idea is susceptible of being criticised in the same way.