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Innovation in management consulting firms through informal knowledge sharing
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the main obstacles for innovation in Dutch consultancy firms by focusing on the strength of informal knowledge sharing as an avenue for innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is the result of an empirical study based on in‐depth interviews with 29 consultants in the Netherlands.
Findings
The process of innovation can be problematic in consultancy firms. Consultants do simply not find the time to innovate, since they are mainly rewarded for client related work (billable hours). In order to innovate consultants need to share knowledge with clients, colleague consultants and their experienced superiors. The knowledge sharing routes the consultant can use, as described in this paper, are: codified, formal knowledge and informal knowledge sharing. This paper claims that the most fruitful route to innovation is informal knowledge sharing.
Originality/value
The importance of informal knowledge is supported by Hofstede's description of the Dutch business culture as being feminine, cultivating low power distance (low degree of inequality) and being highly individualistic. However, despite the support of the Dutch cultural setting, which supports informal knowledge sharing, this research describes the lack of management support in the innovation process as one of the main barriers to innovation.
Supplementary resource (1)
... Together with creativity, knowledge sharing is also considered a prerequisite for innovation (Taminiau et al., 2009). In order to be able to have new ideas, likely to lead to novel and appropriate products or services, employees may need to rely on a combination of different insights from the field where they work, and from their coworkers as well. ...
... Knowledge sharing is critical for innovation. Therefore, managers must have a strategically clear orientation towards the activities likely to stimulate knowledge sharing, which often takes place via employee's participation in formal and informal networks (Taminiau et al., 2009). ...
... Leading HRM practices of staffing, job design, career management, training, teamwork, performance appraisal, compensation and incentives are here considered. In enabling work contexts, these practices may have a positive effect on individual creativity and on knowledge sharing, all of which are accepted preconditions for innovation (Amabile, 1997;Taminiau et al., 2009). ...
Innovation is fundamental to organization performance and survival in a continuously changing and highly competitive world. In organizations, innovation occurs primary and foremost through purposeful and discretionary actions of knowledgeable and motivated individuals. However, despite some insightful studies, studies addressing the role of HRM in promoting innovation are in short supply. An enabling work environment—resources, motivation, and management practices—may be crucial for creativity and thus innovation. HRM policies and interventions have the potential to promote trust, cooperation, and collective codes and language. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is twofold: 1) to review the role of creativity and knowledge sharing for innovation and 2) to review the role of HRM for stimulating innovation through creativity and knowledge sharing. In so doing, the authors seek to shed light on the conceptual and analytical connections between motivation, creativity, knowledge, innovation, and HRM.
... Om de leercultuur op de werkplek te versterken, is het belangrijk om meer interactie binnen en tussen groepen te stimuleren en doelgericht mogelijkheden te creëren waarbij collega's elkaar kunnen ontmoeten en kennis kunnen delen. Dit kunnen formele momenten zijn in het kader van werkoverleg of het gezamenlijk bespreken van relevante jurisprudentie, maar juist ook informele momenten waar medewerkers spontaan met elkaar in gesprek komen tijdens koffie, lunch of borrel (Cornelissen, 2011;Taminiau et al., 2009). Juist voor dat laatste ervaren professionals in de drukte van de Rechtspraak, die zich de laatste jaren meer is gaan richten op efficiëntie, effectiviteit en productie, minder ruimte (Commissie Visitatie Gerechten, 2019). ...
De Rechtspraak is een context waarin een leven lang ontwikkelen van groot belang is, niet alleen voor de deskundige professionals die erin werken, maar ook in bredere zin voor de kwaliteit van de rechtspraak in onze maatschappij. Zoals ook in andere beroepscontexten het geval is (SER, 2017), worstelt de Rechtspraak met het ontwikkelen van een leercultuur waarin men een leven lang ontwikkelen vanzelfsprekend vindt en stimuleert. In de eerste paragraaf van dit hoofdstuk kijk ik naar de rol die leren op dit moment in de Rechtspraak speelt, in het bijzonder voor rechters. De tweede paragraaf bevat aanbevelingen om in deze context verder te bewegen naar een krachtige leercultuur waarin medewerkers zichzelf en hun beroepspraktijk kunnen blijven ontwikkelen.
... It is the act of transferring the respective insights between workers (Hooff & De Ridder, 2004). It can be categorized as formal versus informal elements or donation versus collection of knowledge (Hooff & De Ridder, 2004;Taminiau, Smit, & Lange, 2009). Singh et al (2021) claims that organizations with strong knowledge sharing practices are more competent in chasing open innovation. ...
Projects have been increasingly used in the implementation of organizations' business operations. Knowledge sharing has been considered essential in project environment; therefore, the integration of knowledge management within project management becomes crucial for project success. The objective of this research is to study how knowledge sharing is integrated within the context of a project, and what the perception of project team members about it is. A study was carried out in a company within the financial sector, focused on a project team of the entity. The results revealed that project managers, other professionals in project management, and the organization itself are very aware of the importance of knowledge sharing. The results also emphasized that, regardless of the lack of incentives by top management, project team members consider that knowledge sharing highly contributes to a successful execution of projects.
... The definition of KS has evolved and Hansen, (1999) and L Jr., (1991) argued that the terms KS and KT have been used interchangeably however some argue that they are different. Taminiau, Smit and de Lange (2009) (Khan, 2014). ...
The paper investigates the ‘Knowledge sharing practices within academic libraries with specific reference to the Nigerian Defence Academy library. It has been observed that knowledge sharing in academic libraries is very paramount to the survival of the library. there are limitations in KS practices at the Nigerian Defence Academy library. The objectives of the study are; to investigate what the current knowledge sharing tools and practices are in library’, to identify to what extent the staff at the NDA library utilizes knowledge sharing tools, to identify the strengths and limitations in knowledge sharing practices etc. The research questions are; Does the library have a system in place that retains knowledge from experienced staff who either left or retired? Does the library have satisfactory ICT that can allow for capturing and storing explicit knowledge and subsequently allow it to be accessed by librarian (e.g database, repositories)? Do you feel that amongst colleagues there is hoarding of knowledge. The population of the study comprises of five (5) professional librarian in NDA Library. The instrument used for collecting data was questionnaire.
... Knowledge intensity poses problems to the long-term contractual relationship, resulting from the knowledge asymmetry between the service provider and less knowledgeable client. Most of the KIBS-related research concentrates on the topics inside the KIBS firm (Alvesson & Empson, 2008;Robertson & Hammersley, 2000;Starbuck, 1992;Swart & Kinnie, 2003;Taminiau et al., 2009), co-production and value cocreation during the relationship between the KIBS firms and their clients (Bettencourt et al., 2002;Ordanini & Pasini, 2008;Zięba & Kończyński, 2019), and agency problems resulting from knowledge-asymmetry (Mills & Moshavi, 1999;Sharma, 1997). ...
Background: This research aimed to examine the interrelations between ambiguity and knowledge asymmetry in Enterprise System implementation projects and determine how ambiguity and knowledge asymmetry affect the management of such projects. Enterprise System projects are a subgroup of knowledge-intensive business service projects. Literature regarding knowledge-intensive business service firms acknowledges ambiguity and knowledge asymmetry between the supplier and the client as essential characteristics of their relationship. However, insufficient empirically grounded research has been made to date to determine the interrelations between the two phenomena and their impact on the project management of knowledge-intensive projects.
... • Taminiau, Smit, and De Lange (2009) [13] speaks of "two forms of knowledge sharing: Formal knowledge sharing andInformal knowledge sharing" (as cited in Wabwezi, 2011, p. 15). ...
Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita communicates the characteristic of 'Jnana' (knowledge) to all the individual people of the world. In jñâna yoga one goes after knowledge for the reason for the knowledge only; in bhakti yoga one seeks knowledge for the reason of an affectionate association amid Almighty. Vidya Dhan (Knowledge Sharing) is considered as the most important aspect of a 'Jnani' (Knowledgeable Person) according to the Hindu Philosophy. Sharing of Knowledge is a commotion from beginning to end in which knowledge in the form of proficiency, facts and figures, skills etc) is interchanged between public, acquaintances, or companies. Companies have now understood to facilitate knowledge includes precious indefinable properties for creating and supporting aggressive rewards. Activities of sharing Knowledge are in general supported by systems of knowledge management. However, competence includes a lonely characteristic of the innumerable factors that manage the allocation of particulars in organizations, such as decision-making traditions, assurance, and incentives. The allotment of information constitutes a key confront in the argument of knowledge management since some employees are of a mind to decline to go to the length of distribution of their knowledge among the rest of the organization on the grounds that the thought that knowledge is assets; ownership, therefore, becomes very important. This paper makes a study on the factors which influence knowledge sharing in engineering education.
Drawing from research on organizational learning culture, knowledge sharing, and job characteristics theory, this study investigates the mediating role of knowledge sharing (KS) in the link between organizational learning culture (OLC) and employee's innovative behavior (IB), as well as how this mediating effect might be moderated by job autonomy (JA). Data captured from 1,420 public employees of 33 local governments in South Korea shows that OLC affects employees’ IB, while the effect size is reduced when controlling for the role of KS. Further, JA moderates the positive relationship between KS and IB, such that the relationship becomes invigorated at higher levels of JA. The findings also reveal that the indirect effect of OLC on IB through KS is more pronounced at higher levels of JA, which offers evidence of moderated mediation. We discuss the significant implications of our findings for future research and practice. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This paper explores the challenges that consulting firms and client firms are facing in knowledge sharing in the context of the Arab management consulting industry, and how local culture works in solving these challenges. Taking knowledge sharing and the cultural embeddedness perspective as the theoretical lens, the study adopts a comparative case study design to explore how mechanisms of cultural contextualisation affect knowledge-sharing behaviours. The findings highlight the benefits of cultural embeddedness in knowledge sharing between consulting firms and client firms through identifying the importance of Wasta (a social network of interpersonal connections) in skill-set formation, follow-on consultancy, niche specialist cultivation, and the establishment of network consulting. Our study provides industry players with a holistic framework to leverage Wasta to achieve knowledge sharing, which sheds light on a neglected cultural aspect in the management consulting industry.
Knowledge Management (KM) is mainly about creating the precise knowledge resource including people and other sources and to make that knowledge accessible to the correct individuals at the correct time. Knowledge management initiatives are significant for educational sector especially so in technical education segment since engineering education is a knowledge incubator for industrial growth of any country. A country cannot have a rich industrial sector without having a large base of technically educated population in it. Therefore technical education and more so engineering education must have KM techniques embedded into it. Knowledge sharing conceivably is a main feature in this procedure because enormous mainstream of KM procedures depends on it. Sharing of knowledge is not smooth in any sector because it depends on the willingness and the habits of its employees and also on the culture, incentives, technology, infrastructure and the leadership of the organization. This paper makes an attempt to analyze the modus operandi of knowledge sharing between faculty members of individual engineering colleges and comparing the knowledge sharing techniques present in self-financing and Government-aided engineering colleges of Mysuru district, Karnataka state
Drucker’s knowledge-worker productivity theory and knowledge-based view of the firm theory are widely employed in many disciplines but there is little application of these theories in knowledge-based innovation among academic researchers. Therefore, this study intends to evaluate the effects of the knowledge management process on knowledge-based innovation alongside with mediating role of Malaysian academic researchers’ productivity during the Pandemic of COVID-19. Using a random sampling technique, data was collected from 382 academic researchers. Questionnaires were self-administered and data was analyzed via Smart PLS-SEM. Knowledge management process and knowledge workers’ productivity have a positive and significant relationship with the knowledge-based innovation among academic researchers during the Pandemic of COVID-19. In addition, knowledge workers’ productivity mediates the relationship between the knowledge management process (knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, and knowledge utilization) and knowledge-based innovation during the Pandemic of COVID-19. Results have also directed knowledge sharing as the key factor in knowledge-based innovation and a stimulating task for management discipline around the world during the Pandemic of COVID-19. This study provides interesting insights on Malaysian academic researchers’ productivity by evaluating the effects of knowledge creation, acquisition, sharing, and application on the knowledge-based innovation among academic researchers during the Pandemic of COVID-19. These useful insights would enable policymakers to develop more influential educational strategies. By assimilating the literature of defined variables, the main contribution of this study is the evaluation of knowledge creation, acquisition, sharing, and utilization into knowledge-based innovation alongside the mediating role of knowledge workers productivity in the higher education sector of Malaysia during the Pandemic of COVID-19.
A plethora of definitions for innovation types has resulted in an ambiguity in the way the terms 'innovation' and 'innovativeness' are operationalized and utilized in the new product development literature. The terms radical, really-new, incremental and discontinuous are used ubiquitously to identify innovations. One must question, what is the difference between these different classifications? To date consistent definitions for these innovation types have not emerged from the new product research community. A review of the literature from the marketing, engineering, and new product development disciplines attempts to put some clarity and continuity to the use of these terms. This review shows that it is important to consider both a marketing and technological perspective as well as a macrolevel and microlevel perspective when identifying innovations. Additionally, it is shown when strict classifications from the extant literature are applied, a significant shortfall appears in empirical work directed toward radical and really new innovations. A method for classifying innovations is suggested so that practitioners and academics can talk with a common understanding of how a specific innovation type is identified and how the innovation process may be unique for that particular innovation type. A recommended list of measures based on extant literature is provided for future empirical research concerning technological innovations and innovativeness.
The authors used measures of leadership, locus of control, and support for innovation to predict the consolidated-unit performance of 78 managers. Results revealed that 3 transformational-leadership measures were associated with a higher internal locus of control and significantly and positively predicted business-unit performance over a 1-year interval. Transactional measures of leadership, including contingent reward and management by exception (active and passive), were each negatively related to business-unit performance. Causal relationships between the transformational-leadership behaviors and unit performance were moderated by the level of support for innovation in the business unit.
This paper starts with a critical assessment of the recent paper by Cowan, Foray and David. It also provides the authors' own assessment of why the tacit-codified distinction is important in relation to economic analysis and knowledge management practice. The criticism of Cowan, Foray and David centres on three points. Firstly, it is argued that the discussion on codification must make the fundamental distinction between knowledge about the world (know-what) and knowledge in the form of skills and competence (know-how). Secondly, it is argued that the dichotomy between codifiable and non-codifiable knowledge is problematic since it is rare that a body of knowledge can be completely transformed into codified form without losing some of its original characteristics and that most forms of relevant knowledge are mixed in these respects. Thirdly, we contest their implicit assumption that codification always represents progress. We conclude that for these reasons their intellectual exercise of extending definitions of what is codified and possible to codify, while in principle addressing very important issues related to innovation policy and knowledge management, ends up having limited practical implications for these areas. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
An account is given on the issue of how a company learns through investigation of the pathways by which people convey information. A structured interview process elicit the avenues by which R&D personnel in top America companies find and transmit knowledge. Significant new dimensions of needs beyond the company boundaries are detailed. Further, the concept of the tacit and informal nature of core competencies is considered.
This article examines the nature and the generation, dissemination and translation of knowledge in large, global management consulting organizations. The knowledge system in consulting organizations is modelled as consisting of three interacting knowledge elements: methods and tools, providing a common language and knowledge structure; cases, carrying knowledge in a narrative form; and the experience of individual consultants that is essential for the adaptation of methods, tools and cases to the specific consulting project.
A number of recent studies have characterized knowledge-management strategies as focusing on either articulate knowledge or tacit knowledge. We argue that a fruitful understanding of knowledge management in management consulting requires attention to the relations between the different elements that represent different kinds of knowledge. Based on case studies in Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Ernst & Young Management Consulting (now Cap Gemini Ernst & Young) these knowledge elements and the interplay between them are identified and analysed.
The main role of articulate knowledge is not to replace experience, but rather to support the generation, dissemination and use of it. A number of consequences of this conceptualization of the knowledge system are discussed in terms of the ability of the knowledge system to generate different types of learning and the complementarity of structural and individual knowledge.
The dynamic capabilities framework analyzes the sources and methods of wealth creation and capture by private enterprise firms operating in environments of rapid technological change. The competitive advantage of firms is seen as resting on distinctive processes (ways of coordinating and combining), shaped by the firm's (specific) asset positions (such as the firm's portfolio of difftcult-to- trade knowledge assets and complementary assets), and the evolution path(s) it has aflopted or inherited. The importance of path dependencies is amplified where conditions of increasing retums exist. Whether and how a firm's competitive advantage is eroded depends on the stability of market demand, and the ease of replicability (expanding intemally) and imitatability (replication by competitors). If correct, the framework suggests that private wealth creation in regimes of rapid technological change depends in large measure on honing intemal technological, organizational, and managerial processes inside the firm. In short, identifying new opportunities and organizing effectively and efficiently to embrace them are generally more fundamental to private wealth creation than is strategizing, if by strategizing one means engaging in business conduct that keeps competitors off balance, raises rival's costs, and excludes new entrants. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.