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The Impact of Process Automation on Manufacturers' Long-Term Knowledge
Abstract
The growing pressure on organizations to increase efficiency and quality intensifies process automation. Manufacturers have to manage knowledge consciously to understand processes and to transfer knowledge into automated machinery. Knowledge management in Information Systems research focuses on the effects of automation on operational knowledge in the short-term but not on in the long-term. We propose that by automating processes, less knowledge is required for manufacturing and that the knowledge will diminish in the long run, impacting an organization's innovation potential negatively. We refer to three scenarios: (1) manual manufacturing, (2) automated manufacturing, and (3) outsourced automation of manufacturing. We analyze the impact of process automation on the location of knowledge, the carrier of knowledge, knowledge base, and access to knowledge. Preliminary results show that automating manufacturing processes and especially outsourcing the automation requires high efforts for accessing knowledge.
Supplementary resource (1)
... Infolgedessen können Dritte diese Informationen für ihre eigenen Zwecke nutzen oder das gewonnene Wissen zur eigenen Wettbewerbsdifferenzierung nutzen. Die interorganisationale Zusammenarbeit mit Lieferanten und anderen Geschäftspartnern kann ebenfalls problematisch sein, da Dritte erworbenes Wissen verbreiten, wenn sie für Wettbewerber in der Branche arbeiten(Gernreich et al., 2018). Darüber hinaus können Partner in verschiedenen europäischen Ländern aufgrund kultureller und rechtlicher Unterschiede Informationssicherheit unterschiedlich auslegen(Custers et al., 2018).Allerdings lässt sich sagen, dass die Sicherheitsrisiken der Ausweitung der Sichtbarkeitslinie auf Dritte mit der wirtschaftlichen Abhängigkeit von ihren Auftragnehmern variieren. ...
Zusammenfassung
Während sich Unternehmen die Möglichkeiten der vernetzten Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie für die gemeinsame Entwicklung neuer Produkte zunutze machen, stellen sich gleichzeitig Fragen nach dem Schutz von vertraulichen Informationen und Wissen. Um ihre ungewollte Verbreitung zu vermeiden, benötigen Unternehmen in verschiedenen Branchen klare Strategien zur Risikominimierung. Durch den aktuellen Wandel hin zur Elektromobilität herrscht in der Automobilindustrie ein harter Wettbewerb und die Gefahr von Nachahmung ist groß. Wir präsentieren eine explorative Fallstudie in einem führenden europäischen Automobilunternehmen und untersuchen das Verhalten am Arbeitsplatz und die damit verbundenen Informationssicherheit bei der Entwicklung neuer Produkte. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Bewusstsein zum Schutz von Informationen in Organisationsroutinen verwurzelt ist und dass bestehende Sicherheitsmaßnahmen eine schwache Wirkung haben. Unpraktische formale Sicherheitsrichtlinien sowie hierarchische Spannungen und Zeitdruck führen zu riskanten Verhaltensweisen der Mitarbeiter. Unsere Ergebnisse weisen auf die Bedeutung von Transparenz und Flexibilität von Wissenssicherheitsrichtlinien hin. Darüber hinaus bieten wir eine neue Perspektive auf den Wissenstransfer, indem wir die sog. Sichtbarkeitslinie für Informationen einführen und einen Sicherheitsrahmen für die Praxis vorstellen.
Trust and trustworthiness are important in social relationships. Levels of trust and trustworthiness are likely to depend on “social” utility; the magnitude of which is influenced by the social context governing individual relationships. Social networks are an example of such a social context. This paper investigates how social networks influence trust and trustworthiness by blending social network analysis with experimental economics methodology in two separate experiments. We show that trust and trustworthiness are higher for individuals who are more closely connected; in both cases, this relationship tapers off beyond second degree friendships. We also find that people tend to trust more central (popular) individuals. However, being more central (popular) has little influence on one's levels of trust and trustworthiness. We find these effects on trust to be only partially driven by the expectation of trustworthiness. We thus document evidence of a bias toward more closely connected and more popular individuals.
We argue that hardware modularity plays a key role in the convergence of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). We introduce a new approach for building robots that leads to more adaptable and capable machines. We present the concept of a self-adaptable robot that makes use of hardware modularity and AI techniques to reduce the effort and time required to be built. We demonstrate in simulation and with a real robot how, rather than programming, training produces behaviors in the robot that generalize fast and produce robust outputs in the presence of noise. In particular, we advocate for mammals.
This paper provides a survey of the main advanced control techniques currently adopted in factory automation. In particular, it focuses on five classes of control approaches, namely: model-based control, control based on computational intelligence, adaptive control, discrete event systems-based control and finally event-triggered and self-triggered control. A particular focus is put on the most significant and recent contributions in these areas with attention to their application in the factory automation domain. Finally, open issues, challenges and the requirements of further research efforts for each class are pointed out.
Over the past few decades, a considerable number of studies have been reported on assembly lines or less automated factories. Little attention has been given to implementing lean tools to a highly automated manufacturing environment. It is, therefore, necessary to make a more highly automated factory lean by considering both the manufacturing system variability and demand uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to propose an effective lean tool to help practical lean participants successfully implement lean practices in a highly automated manufacturing environment. This study presents an example of how lean standard work is implemented and the throughput of a pacemaker workstation is improved by solving the low work-in-process buffer problem. A practical case from a photovoltaic module process with a semi-automated production line is used to illustrate the proposed method. The implementation results are promising. They showed a 37.5% labour reduction prior to the pacemaker workstation and a 304.7% increase in the daily throughput at the bottleneck workstation.
Most research in evidence-based entrepreneurship builds on quantitative designs, which is unfortunate because qualitative studies provide a unique contribution to the domain of entrepreneurship. They look at distinctive phenomena in their specific time period and context in one way or another, and can help generate and test new theories. We, therefore, suggest using a systematic synthesis of case studies to aggregate the findings of qualitative research. Moreover, as a first step, we developed an example to demonstrate how this approach can advance evidence-based entrepreneurship. Specifically, we synthesized 13 cases to examine how business clusters increase the performance of firms within clusters.
Objective: We investigated how automation-induced human performance consequences depended on the degree of automation (DOA).
Background: Function allocation between human and automation can be represented in terms of the stages and levels taxonomy proposed by Parasuraman, Sheridan, and Wickens. Higher DOAs are achieved both by later stages and higher levels within stages.
Method: A meta-analysis based on data of 18 experiments examines the mediating effects of DOA on routine system performance, performance when the automation fails, workload, and situation awareness (SA). The effects of DOA on these measures are summarized by level of statistical significance.
Results: We found (a) a clear automation benefit for routine system performance with increasing DOA, (b) a similar but weaker pattern for workload when automation functioned properly, and (c) a negative impact of higher DOA on failure system performance and SA. Most interesting was the finding that negative consequences of automation seem to be most likely when DOA moved across a critical boundary, which was identified between automation supporting information analysis and automation supporting action selection.
Conclusion: Results support the proposed cost–benefit trade-off with regard to DOA. It seems that routine performance and workload on one hand, and the potential loss of SA and manual skills on the other hand, directly trade off and that appropriate function allocation can serve only one of the two aspects.
Application: Findings contribute to the body of research on adequate function allocation by providing an overall picture through quantitatively combining data from a variety of studies across varying domains.
Purpose
– This roadmap is primarily concerned with the adaptive assembly technology situation in Europe, a topic of particular interest as assembly is often the final process within manufacturing operations. Being the final set of operations on the product, and being traditionally labour‐intensive, assembly has been considerably affected by globalisation. Therefore, unlike most technology roadmaps, this report will not focus solely on particular technologies, but will strive to form a broader perspective on the conditions that may come to influence the opportunities, including political aspects and scientific paradigms. The purpose of this paper is to convey a complete view of the global mechanisms that may come to affect technological breakthroughs, and also present strategies that may better prepare for such a forecast.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper describes a technological roadmap.
Findings
– This paper provides a complete overview of all aspects that may come to affect assembly in Europe within the next 20 years.
Originality/value
– The paper gives an original Evolvable Ultra Precision Assembly Systems FP6 project result which will be of general interest for strategic R&D.
The complexity of skills and processes needed in the development of today's products and services requires that managers attend to the role of tacit knowledge during innovation. Knowledge held in people's bodies and heads, our unarticulated knowledge, is the very basis of creativity and is not easily captured nor codified. The process of innovation is both an exploration and synthesis. This article examines ways in which managers can begin to deal with tacit knowledge; how to create an environment for a divergent process that includes a wide and healthy proliferation of ideas and a successful convergent process in which options are narrowed and a solution is decided upon and implemented.
Given assumptions about the characteristics of knowledge and the knowledge requirements of production, the firm is conceptualized as an institution for integrating knowledge. The primary contribution of the paper is in exploring the coordination mechanisms through which firms integrate the specialist knowledge of their members. In contrast to earlier literature, knowledge is viewed as residing within the individual, and the primary role of the organization is knowledge application rather than knowledge creation. The resulting theory has implications for the basis of organizational capability, the principles of organization design (in particular, the analysis of hierarchy and the distribution of decision-making authority), and the determinants of the horizontal and vertical boundaries of the firm. More generally, the knowledge-based approach sheds new light upon current organizational innovations and trends and has far-reaching implications for management practice.
Knowledge Management is an expanding field of study. In this paper we clarify and explain some of the terms and concepts that underlie this field. In particular we discuss knowledge and its related philosophies; how the sociotechnical aspects of organizations can assist in knowledge management and how communities of practice can thus be supported; how knowledge can be valued in an organization; and the idea of intellectual capital. We conclude that knowledge management is not an easy 'fix' to an organisation's problems. Implemented well it can increase productivity, improve worker collaboration, and shorten product development times. Implemented badly it may incur significant costs without delivering these benefits. Keywords: knowledge management, communities of practice, intellectual capital Editor's Note: This article is intended as a basic primer for those who are not familiar with the ideas now being discussed in knowledge management. This academic field is not yet well established. It is an interdisciplinary topic with many writers and theories intersecting across organisational topic areas. This paper discusses the main areas that are currently under development and points to major resources that can be accessed for further research.
Knowledge is a broad and abstract notion that has defined epistemological debate in western philosophy since the classical Greek era. In the past few years, however, there has been a growing interest in treating knowledge as a significant organizational resource. Consistent with the interest in organizational knowledge and knowledge management (KM), IS researchers have begun promoting a class of information systems, referred to as knowledge management systems (KMS). The objective of KMS is to support creation, transfer, and application of knowledge in organizations. Knowledge and knowledge management are complex and multi-faceted concepts. Thus, effective development and implementation of KMS requires a foundation in several rich literatures. To be credible, KMS research and development should preserve and build upon the significant literature that exists in different but rzelated fields. This paper provides a review and interpretation of knowledge management literatures in different fields with an eye toward identifying the important areas for research. We present a detailed process view of organizational knowledge management with a focus on the potential role of information technology in this process. Drawing upon the literature review and analysis of knowledge management processes, we discuss several important research issues surrounding the knowledge management processes and the role of IT in support of these processes.
Configurable process models are integrated representations of multiple variants of a process model in a given domain, e.g. multiple variants of a shipment-to-delivery process in the logistics domain. Configurable process models provide a basis for managing variability and for enabling reuse of process models in Process-Aware Information Systems. Rather than designing process models from scratch, analysts can derive process models by configuring existing ones, thereby reusing proven practices. This thesis starts with the observation that existing approaches for capturing and managing configurable process models suffer from three shortcomings that affect their usability in practice. Firstly, configuration in existing approaches is performed manually and as such it is error-prone. In particular, analysts are left with the burden of ensuring the correctness of the individualized models. Secondly, existing approaches suffer from a lack of decision support for the selection of configuration alternatives. Consequently, stakeholders involved in the configuration of process models need to possess expertise both in the application domain and in the modeling language employed. This assumption represents an adoption obstacle in domains where users are unfamiliar with modeling notations. Finally, existing approaches for configurable process modeling are limited in scope to control-flow aspects, ignoring other equally important aspects of process models such as object flow and resource management. Following a design science research method, this thesis addresses the above shortcomings by proposing an integrated framework to manage the configuration of process models. The framework is grounded on three original and interrelated contributions: (i) a conceptual foundation for correctness-preserving configuration of process models; (ii) a questionnaire-driven approach for process model configuration, providing decision support and abstraction from modeling notations; (iii) a meta-model for configurable process models covering control-flow, data objects and resources. While the framework is language-independent, an embodiment of the framework in the context of a process modeling language used in practice is also developed in this thesis. The framework was formally defined and validated using four scenarios taken from different domains. Moreover, a comprehensive toolset was implemented to support the validation of the framework.
A number of recent high-profile studies of robotics and artificial intelligence (or AI) in economics and sociology have predicted that many jobs will soon disappear due to automation, with few new ones replacing them. While techno-optimists and techno-pessimists contest whether a jobless future is a positive development or not, this paper points to the elephant in the room. Despite successive waves of computerization (including advanced machine learning), jobs have not disappeared. And probably won’t in the near future. To explain why, some basic insights from organization studies can make a contribution. I propose the concept of ‘bounded automation’ to demonstrate how organizational forces mould the application of technology in the employment sector. If work does not vanish in the age of AI, then poorly paid jobs will most certainly proliferate, I argue. Finally, a case is made for the scholarly community to engage with wider social justice concerns. This I term public organization studies.
Internet of Things (loTs) is a popular term in the context of the emerging technology revolution that has created a highly connected world. The oil and gas (O&G) industry cannot remain immune to the impact of IoT. O&G industry has one of the most complex operations of any industry. A simple error in operations could be fatal in terms of human life; hence the industry focuses a lot of health, safety, and environment (HSE) metrics, and the higher safety score of HSE derives the business strategy and then the revenue and profits. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is the name for remote monitoring and controlling machines using coded signals over communication channels. It is a type of industrial control system (ICS). The traditional SCADA systems leverage extensively the human-machine interface (HCI) so that human operators can take appropriate actions needed to run smooth operations.
Rapid advances in digital technologies have profound implications for work. Many middle and low skill jobs have disappeared, contributing to increasing inequality, falling labor force participation and stagnating median incomes. We examine changes in the skill content of jobs from 2006-2014 using comprehensive data on occupational skill requirements of 674 occupations to understand the effects of recent changes in automation. We identify seven distinct skill categories empirically and explain over 62% of the variation in the data. Consistent with theory, we find a significant reduction in skills that compete with machines, an increase in skills that complement machines, and an increase in skills where machines (thus far) have not made great in-roads. Complementarity across skills has increased, boosting the need for worker flexibility. The remarkable scale and scope of occupational skill changes that we document just since 2006 portend even bigger changes in coming years.
For over a decade, empirical studies in the information technology (IT) value literature have examined the impact of technology investments on various measures of performance. However, the results of these studies, especially those examining the contribution of IT to productivity, have been mixed. One reason for these mixed empirical findings may be that these studies have not effectively accounted for the impact of technology investments that increase production efficiency and improve product quality on firm productivity. In particular, it is commonly assumed that such investments should lead to gains in both profits and productivity. However, using a closed-form analytical model we challenge this underlying assumption and demonstrate that investments in certain efficiency-enhancing technologies may be expected to decrease the productivity of profit-maximizing firms. More specifically, we demonstrate that investments in technologies that reduce the firm's fixed overhead costs do not affect the firm's product quality and pricing decisions but do increase profits and improve productivity. In addition, we demonstrate that investments in technologies that reduce the variable costs of designing, developing, and manufacturing a product encourage the firm to improve product quality and to charge a higher price. Although this adjustment helps the firm to capture higher profits, we show that it will also increase total production costs and will, under a range of conditions, decrease firm productivity. Finally, we show that the direction of firm productivity following such investments depends upon the relationship between the fixed costs of the firm and the size of the market.
The field of knowledge management focuses on how organizations can most effectively store, manage, retrieve, and enlarge their intellectual properties. The repository view of knowledge management emphasizes the gathering, providing, and filtering of explicit knowledge. The information in a repository has the advantage of being easily transferable and reusable. But it is not easy to use decontextualized information, and users often need access to human experts.This book describes a more recent approach to knowledge management, which the authors call "expertise sharing." Expertise sharing emphasizes the human aspects--cognitive, social, cultural, and organizational--of knowledge management, in addition to information storage and retrieval. Rather than focusing on the management level of an organization, expertise sharing focuses on the self-organized activities of the organization's members. The book addresses the concerns of both researchers and practitioners, describing current literature and research as well as offering information on implementing systems. It consists of three parts: an introduction to knowledge sharing in large organizations; empirical studies of expertise sharing in different types of settings; and detailed descriptions of computer systems that can route queries, assemble people and work, and augment naturally occurring social networks within organizations.
The most important contribution of management in the 20th century was to increase manual worker productivity fifty-fold. The most important contribution of management in the 21st century will be to increase knowledge worker productivity—hopefully by the same percentage. So far it is abysmally low and in many areas (hospital nurses, for instance, or design engineers in the automobile industry) actually lower than it was 70 years ago. So far, almost no one has addressed it. Yet we know how to increase—and rapidly—the productivity of knowledge workers. The methods, however, are totally different from those that increased the productivity of manual workers.
This paper names a pantheon of entrepreneurs and managers who have introduced a range of far-reaching productivity innovations throughout modern history. The thread tying together all of the innovations, in whatever sector of the economy one examines, is the theory of swift, even flow. The paper argues why swift, even flow explains the power and long-lasting nature of these innovations and why other factors thought by some to affect productivity fall short.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
For international companies based in countries with high wages and a limited national market, effective international relations are important. Two central dimensions of a working relation are effective communication and knowledge sharing. The purpose of this article is to study the perceived effects of intra-organizational knowledge sharing from combinations of communication channels and knowledge carriers in order to create high-quality knowledge sharing for companies. In order to reach the aim, a web-based questionnaire was sent out to 45 Swedish engineering companies operating in China. In total 32 companies (71%) answered the questionnaire with complete answers received from 18 companies (40%). Results from the study show that knowledge sharing still is manly performed by using physical knowledge carriers (such as drawings and prototypes) instead of digital ones. However, for the respondents who use digital knowledge carriers frequently (such as digital prototypes and common data bases), the perceived knowledge quality is higher than for those who don’t. The main barriers in knowledge sharing are perceived as knowledge, time restraints, and different knowledge levels between the knowledge-sharing parties. There is an indication that a more frequent use of communication channels has a negative effect on knowledge sharing at the same time as cooperation is improved. Possible explanations are that there is information overload, that the perceived low level of knowledge sharing has triggered an increase in communication, and that social communication increases the perceived quality of cooperation but not knowledge sharing.
Further investigations are necessary to clarify the causality. The main conclusions are: 1. Use of multiple communication channels improves the perceived quality of cooperation (but not knowledge sharing). 2. Use of IT-based knowledge carriers (digital prototypes, common databases and web-based solutions) enables both knowledge sharing and cooperation. However, IT-maturity and high acceptance of IT-based knowledge carriers need to be developed within the studied organizations. 3. Use of digital prototypes should be complemented with reports when IT-maturity is low. 4. Frequent face-to-face meetings are important since they break down communication barriers and enable sharing of tacit knowledge.
In most technology-based markets, industry technical committees (TCs) that establish new technical standards and specifications have assumed importance for companies as a critical source of information on existing and emerging technologies. In this study, we investigate how the technological distance of a TC from the firm will shape the impact of TC participation on the firm's innovation performance. Specifically, we posit that participation in TCs that are central (low technological distance) to the company's existing product technologies and offerings will contribute to its competence-enhancing innovation whereas participation in TCs that are peripheral (high technological distance) to current technologies and offerings will contribute to its new-competence innovation. Given the need to interpret and apply the information internally, we also consider the moderating effects of the firm's absorptive capacity and knowledge integration mechanisms. The study hypotheses are validated by combining survey-based and archival data related to a sample of 168 US-based wireless telecommunication firms. The findings provide broad support for the study theses and imply the need for companies to carefully plan the nature of their TC participation so as to advance the desired type of innovation. Broader implications for future research on external knowledge sourcing and competence-based innovation are discussed.
Recent developments in information technology have inspired many companies to imagine a new way for staff to share knowledge and insights. Instead of storing documents in personal files and sharing personal insights with a small circle of colleagues, they can store documents in a common information base and use electronic networks to share insights with their whole community, even people scattered across the globe. However, most companies soon discover that leveraging knowledge is actually very hard and is more dependent on community building than information technology. This is not because people are reluctant to use information technology, rather it is because they often need to share knowledge that is neither obvious nor easy to document, knowledge that requires a human relationship to think about, understand, share, and appropriately apply. Ironically, while information technology has inspired the "knowledge revolution," it takes building human communities to realize it.
In this paper, different implementations of elastic joint models of industrial robots are described and compared established in ADAMS and SimMechanics. The models are intended to be used for path prediction under process force load due to Roboforming and high speed cutting, respectively. The computational results have been compared and showed good agreement. In experiments of robot forming and robot milling the measured and simulated path deviations according to the process force are compared. The experiments are descriped and the results are discussed within the paper as a basis of a next step model based compensation of the path deviation.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a study of knowledge management understanding and usage in small and medium knowledge-intensive enterprises. Design/methodology/approach – The study has taken an interpretitivist approach, using two knowledge-intensive South Yorkshire (England) companies as case studies, both of which are characterised by the need to process and use knowledge on a daily basis in order to remain competitive. The case studies were analysed using qualitative research methodology, composed of interviews and concept mapping, thus deriving a characterisation of understandings, perceptions and requirements of SMEs in relation to knowledge management. Findings – The study provides evidence that, while SMEs, including knowledge intensive ones, acknowledge that adequately capturing, storing, sharing and disseminating knowledge can lead to greater innovation and productivity, their managers are not prepared to invest the relatively high effort on long term knowledge management goals for which they have difficulty in establishing the added value. Thus, knowledge management activities within SMEs tend to happen in an informal way, rarely supported by purposely designed ICT systems. Research limitations/implications – This paper proposes that further studies in this field are required that focus on organisational and practical issues in order to close the gap between theoretical propositions and the reality of practice. Practical implications – The study suggests that in order to implement an appropriate knowledge management strategy in SMEs cultural, behavioural, and organisational issues need to be tackled before even considering technical issues. Originality/value – KM seems to have been successfully applied in large companies, but it is largely disregarded by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This has been attributed primarily to a lack of a formal approach to the sharing, recording, transferring, auditing and exploiting of organisational knowledge, together with a lack of utilisation of available information technologies. This paper debates these concepts from a research findings point of view.
In this chapter we will present a different perspective, by expanding out from this moment in time and embedding it within the other relevant stages of the creative process. When we look at the complete “life span” of a creative insight in our subjects’ experience, the moment of insight appears as but one short flash in a complex, time-consuming, fundamentally social process. It is true that the individuals we interviewed generally report their insights as occurring in solitary moments: during a walk, while taking a shower, or while lying in bed just after waking.
Reviews the available literature on intuition and related concepts, including tacit knowledge, insight, and creativity. Definitions of intuition are discussed, and attempts have been made to distinguish among intuition, insight, and creativity. Relationships between intuition and tacit knowledge, and intuition and creativity are explored. Types of intuition as proposed by F. E. Vaughan (1979) and P. Goldberg (1989) are described, as are hypotheses about how intuition works. Available empirical research is presented, along with a number of possible avenues for other research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The efficient achievements management is much significance for the development of basic scientific research, and so all of the knowledge resources of achievements should be managed. In order to integrate the different types of knowledge resources of basic research achievements, this paper proposes a supernetwork model of knowledge resources. First, the person network, the material network and the knowledge network are respectively built by the appropriate types of data, and the supernetwork model is established by these networks and their relations. Second, the characteristics of supernetwork are obtained by the quantitative analysis. Finally, we use the achievement files of management science department in National Nature Science Foundation of China to construct an actual supernetwork model, and some applications and cases based on the supernetwork are given to illustrate the model and method. In the supernetwork model, the knowledge of an achievement can be represented by the relations between the knowledge network and the person network, and all knowledge of achievements can be classified by these relations.
Nonaka's paper [1994. A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organ. Sci.5(1) 14--37] contributed to the concepts of “tacit knowledge” and “knowledge conversion” in organization science. We present work that shaped the development of organizational knowledge creation theory and identify two premises upon which more than 15 years of extensive academic work has been conducted: (1) tacit and explicit knowledge can be conceptually distinguished along a continuum; (2) knowledge conversion explains, theoretically and empirically, the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge. Recently, scholars have raised several issues regarding the understanding of tacit knowledge as well as the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge in the theory. The purpose of this article is to introduce and comment on the debate about organizational knowledge creation theory. We aim to help scholars make sense of this debate by synthesizing six fundamental questions on organizational knowledge creation theory. Next, we seek to elaborate and advance the theory by responding to questions and incorporating new research. Finally, we discuss implications of our endeavor for organization science.
Knowledge management systems designed to facilitate the storage and distribution of codified knowledge affect the distribution of power within organizations. Drawing on the literature that describes the impact of information technology on power and control, this article proposes two principal outcomes of the implementation and use of such knowledge repositories. The use of knowledge repositories by employees who are net re-users of knowledge-based work products is expected to increase the extent to which these employees are interchangeable while reducing the level of skill they need to carry out their work. For employees who are net contributors to knowledge-based work products, the use of knowledge repositories produces the opposite effect. When managers choose to capitalize on these effects to increase their control, employees in the former group may find their power position eroded over time.
This article discusses the conduct and evaluation of interpretive research in information systems. While the conventions for evaluating information systems case studies conducted according to the natural science model of social science are now widely accepted, this is not the case for interpre- tive field studies. A set of principles for the con- duct and evaluation of interpretive field research in information systems is proposed, along with their philosophical rationale. The usefulness of the principles is illustrated by evaluating three published interpretive field studies drawn from the IS research literature. The intention of the
Japanese companies have become successful because of their skill and expertise at creating organizational knowledge. Organizational knowledge is not only the creation of new knowledge, but also disseminating it throughout the organization, and embodying it in products, services, and systems. Knowledge is the new competitive resource, and its creation and utilization is a dynamic, interactive process. Knowledge is used as the basic unit of analysis to explain firm behavior; a business creates and processes knowledge. Knowledge may be explicit or tacit; this study treats them as complements that form a dynamic relationship. The individual interacts with the organization through knowledge; knowledge creation occurs at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The forms of knowledge interaction (between tacit and explicit, and between individual and firm) produce four major processes of knowledge conversion: from tacit to explicit, explicit to explicit, explicit to tacit, and tacit to tacit. Japanese companies create new knowledge by converting tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. The book has three goals: to formalize a generic model of organizational knowledge creation, explain why certain Japanese companies have been continuously successful in innovation, and develop a universal model of company management based on convergence of knowledge practices in Japan and the world. First presents a philosophical exposition of knowledge and its application to managemen, then the core concepts of knowledge creation, with four modes of knowledge conversion. The Matsushita company is used to illustrate the process model of organization knowledge creation. The two traditional styles of management (top-down and bottom-up) are shown not to be effective in fostering the dynamic necessary to create organizational knowledge, and a new organization structure considered most conducive to knowledge creation is proposed. (TNM)
This paper develops a resource-based--knowledge-based-theory of the firm. Its thesis is that the organizational mode through which individuals cooperate affects the knowledge they apply to business activity. We focus on the polar cases of organization within a firm as compared to market contracting. There will be a difference in the knowledge that is brought to bear, and hence in joint productivity, under the two options. Thus, as compared to opportunism-based, transaction-cost theory, we advance a separate (yet complementary) answer to the question: why do firms exist? Our aim is to develop an empirically relevant and complementary theory of why firms are formed: a theory based on irreducible knowledge differences between individuals rather than the threat of purposeful cheating or withholding of information. We assume limited cognitive abilities on the part of individuals (bounded rationality), and assume that opportunistic behavior will not occur. The latter allows us to determine whether resource-based theory has independent force, as compared to the opportunism-based, transaction-cost approach. The paper predicts choice of organizational mode, identifying whether firm organization or market contracting will result in the more valuable knowledge being applied to business activity. The resource-based predictions of organizational mode are compared and contrasted with corresponding opportunism-based, transaction-cost ones. A principal point is that knowledge-based considerations can outweigh opportunism-related ones. The paper also establishes the relation of a theory of the firm to a theory of performance differences between competing firms.
We report a short-term longitudinal investigation of how parents of kindergartners select an educational option for their child. Our focus was on the educational options parents actively considered and the criteria they used to evaluate these options. Parents actively considered about 3 of the available 8 or more educational options and reported considering an average of 5 criteria to evaluate these options. Over a 6-month period, parents changed about one third of the options on their short list and half the criteria they reported using. Parents' holistic appraisals of options were moderately calibrated with predictions of linear models. Although parents' self-reports suggested that they used a variety of decision-making styles, analyses indicated few performance differences as a function of their self-reported style.
Zugl.: Darmstadt, Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 1999.
This article examines the nature of Knowledge Management—how it differs from Data Management and Information Management, and its relationship to the development of Expert Systems and Decision Support Systems. It also examines the importance of Communities of Practice and Tacit Knowledge for Knowledge Management. The discussion is organized around five explicit questions. One: What is “knowledge”? Two: Why are people, especially managers, thinking about Knowledge Management? Three: What are the enabling technologies for Knowledge Management? Four: What are the prerequisites for Knowledge Management? Five: What are the major challenges for Knowledge Management? Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/35289/1/10113_ftp.pdf
This paper illustrates how a learning-curve model can be generalized to investigate potential explanations of organizational learning. The paper examines the hypothesis that knowledge acquired through by learning by doing is embodied in an organization's technology by analyzing the amount of transfer that occurs across shifts within a plant. If knowledge becomes completely embodied in technology, transfer across shifts should be complete since both shifts use the same technology. Methods that can be used for studying intra-plant transfer of knowledge are presented. The methods are illustrated by analyzing data from a plant that began production with one shift and then added a second shift several months into the production program. Three aspects of transfer are analyzed: (1) carry forward of knowledge when the plant makes the transition from one to two shifts, (2) transfer across shifts after both shifts are operating, and (3) transfer across time. Results indicate that substantial, but less than complete, transfer of knowledge occurred when the second shift was introduced. Once both shifts were operating, partial transfer across them occurred. Implications of the results for a theory of organizational learning and practical applications are discussed.
IRONIES OF AUTOMATION," in Analysis, Design and Evaluation of Man-Machine Systems
- L Bainbridge
Bainbridge, L. 1983. "IRONIES OF AUTOMATION," in Analysis, Design and Evaluation of Man-Machine
Systems, Elsevier, pp. 129-135. (https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-029348-6.50026-9).
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