Organizational knowledge creation

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the state-ofthe- art in organizational knowledge creation, a field of research that is expanding almost exponentially. Knowledge creation is a dynamic capability that enables firms to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage on the market. Our purpose is to critically analyze the most significant ideas published in this field, and especially to present the most important models elaborated for organizational knowledge creation: Nonaka’s model, Nissen’s model, Boisot’s model, and the EO_SECI model. Also, we would like to identify the main determinants of the knowledge creation process.Ba, competitive advantage, knowledge, knowledge creation, SECI.

Discussion paper: Disability and poverty reduction strategies: How to ensure that access of persons with disabilities to decent and productive work is part of the PRSP process

[Excerpt] In 1999, the IMF and the World Bank launched the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approach to poverty reduction in low-income countries in order to ensure that concessional funding through the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and the World Bank Group’s IDA, as well as debt relief under the HIPC (Highly Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative address poverty reduction more effectively. At present, nearly 70 low income countries are engaged in the formulation of national PRSPs that, once approved by the World Bank and IMF Boards, become the basis of concessional assistance from the two institutions

Communities, Knowledge Creation, and Information Diffusion

In this paper, we examine how patterns of scientific collaboration contribute to knowledge creation. Recent studies have shown that scientists can benefit from their position within collaborative networks by being able to receive more information of better quality in a timely fashion, and by presiding over communication between collaborators. Here we focus on the tendency of scientists to cluster into tightly-knit communities, and discuss the implications of this tendency for scientific performance. We begin by reviewing a new method for finding communities, and we then assess its benefits in terms of computation time and accuracy. While communities often serve as a taxonomic scheme to map knowledge domains, they also affect how successfully scientists engage in the creation of new knowledge. By drawing on the longstanding debate on the relative benefits of social cohesion and brokerage, we discuss the conditions that facilitate collaborations among scientists within or across communities. We show that successful scientific production occurs within communities when scientists have cohesive collaborations with others from the same knowledge domain, and across communities when scientists intermediate among otherwise disconnected collaborators from different knowledge domains. We also discuss the implications of communities for information diffusion, and show how traditional epidemiological approaches need to be refined to take knowledge heterogeneity into account and preserve the system's ability to promote creative processes of novel recombinations of idea

Policies for capacity development

No description supplie

Clusters and Knowledge Local Buzz, Global Pipelines and the Process of Knowledge Creation

The paper is concerned with spatial clustering of economic activity and its relation to the spatiality of knowledge creation in various sorts of interactive learning processes. It questions the merit of the prevailing explanatory model where the realm of tacit knowledge transfer is confined to local milieus whereas codified knowledge may roam the globe almost frictionless. When doing so the paper highlights the conditions under which both tacit and codified knowledge can be exchanged locally and globally. A distinction is made between, on the one hand, the learning processes taking place among actors embedded in a community by just being there - dubbed buzz - and, on the other, the knowledge attained by investing in building channels of communication - called pipelines - to selected providers located outside the local milieu. It is argued, that the co-existence of high levels of buzz and many pipelines may provide firms located in outward looking and lively clusters with a string of particular advantages not available to outsiders. Finally, some prescriptive elements, stemming from the argument, are identified.knowledge creation, clusters, buzz, pipelines, absorptive capacity

Knowledge creation through diverse knowledge networks

Inter-organizational knowledge networks have been considered vital for the knowledge economy, particularly for small and medium size enterprises in knowledge-based industries, since knowledge creation often happens within those networks. Hence an interesting question to explore is: how do knowledge networks serve to contribute to knowledge creation? Beyond the role of network structure, which has dominated the knowledge network literature, our research highlights the need for the consideration of other factors like knowledge content. First by reviewing the literature, we propose a hypothesis that predicts a positive association of content and knowledge creation. Then, focusing on patent co-authorship networks of the biotechnology industry in Victoria, this research used an explanatory multiple case study approach to test the formulated hypothesis. By introducing new emergent constructs, the results provide more insight on the positive association of knowledge content and knowledge creation. Based on the emergent constructs, rival hypotheses are also developed for further researc

The impact of distance (external) and organizational factors (internal) on the knowledge chain of multinational corporations: South Africa as a host country

Purpose – The geographic dispersion of MNCs implies that whilst it gives them access to new and different knowledge from diverse localities it also adds to the costs and complexities of managing that knowledge and its effective dispersal across geographies. The purpose of this paper is to examine how knowledge is transferred within MNCs and provide a framework for this process particularly focusing on the role that distance (external) and organizational factors (internal) plays therein. Methodology – A qualitative study is utilized focusing on two technology companies from different cultural home countries and the technology transfer process with their South African subsidiaries. Findings –We find that the standardization of knowledge impacts the creation and diffusion of knowledge, expatriates impact on the creation, diffusion and adoption, and finally relevance and localization impact on the adoption and utilization of knowledge. Contribution – We present a conceptual framework around trust and rationalization as regards transferring knowledge within MNCs and find some evidence of the impact of distance, particularly cultural, on the methods employed in this transfer. The paper illustrates the practical ways in which MNCs organize their internal resources and overcome various dimensions of distance in ensuring knowledge transfers. By choosing companies from such divergent home countries (one industrialized and one newly industrialized, with very different cultural settings) and examining their knowledge transfers with their South African subsidiaries we are able to unpack various dimensions of distance and how organizational mechanisms affect this process