Integrating Knowledge in Organizations: A Lessons Learned Case Study

El paper del coneixement comú a les organitzacions (CKO, en la sigla en anglès) és creixent en la literatura com un tema important; tanmateix, la seva formalització és lenta. Aquesta tesi presenta un model de CKO que descriu la seva relació amb la capacitat organitzativa en el context de les teories de l’empresa. Disseny, metodologia i enfocament Tenint en compte l’estat no sistematitzat del coneixement a les organitzacions i els diversos enfocaments de què és objecte la capacitat organitzativa, en aquest treball s’analitzen textos de les teories del coneixement i de les teories de l’empresa, seguint mètodes de codificació de la grounded theory, amb vista a emmarcar un model per tal d’observar i avaluar casos de CKO que participen en la pràctica productiva. El component de recerca empírica d’aquesta tesi segueix l’estratègia de l’estudi del cas per a la recopilació de dades i de la grounded theory per a la seva anàlisi. El cas correspon a un programa de cooperació internacional interuniversitari, que va durar deu anys, en què s’integren els coneixements en forma de lliçons apreses. Les dades inclouen l’extensa documentació del programa, tres sèries d’enquestes, 16 entrevistes filmades i 36 històries. Aquí, la grounded theory segueix el concepte de sensibilització de Charmaz (2000)per guiar la codificació inicial utilitzant com a referència el marc conceptual desenvolupat. Conclusions El CKO es caracteritza per: a) la tensió en la integració dels coneixements en la pràctica productiva; b) la lògica d’instrumentalitzar eines organitzacionals (OT), y c) els processos pels quals es reconeixen els coneixedors. El CKO funciona com a mediador entre les OT (directives, plans, estructura, arquitectura i rutines) i l’eficiència de la capacitat organitzativa. El CKO apareix no com una eina organitzativa, sinó com els processos relacionats que els instrumentalitzen i per mitjà dels quals els coneixedors són reconeguts i donen forma al sistema interpretatiu de l’organització. Aquesta tesi ofereix criteris de gestió orientats a l’eficiència del CKO (sorgits d’aquesta concepció), amb vista a aplicar eines organitzatives que integren el coneixement en la pràctica productiva, i proposa: a) una visió organitzacional integral de les teories existents del saber; b) un model d’observació d’instàncies del saber a les organitzacions; c) un esquema per tal d’emmarcar les teories de l’empresa, i d) un model per entendre el rol del coneixement comú a les organitzacions.El papel del conocimiento común en las organizaciones (CKO por sus siglas en inglés) se acentúa en la literatura como un tema importante; sin embargo su formalización está rezagada. Esta tesis presenta un modelo de CKO que describe su relación con la capacidad organizacional en el contexto de las teorías de la firma. Diseño, metodología y enfoque: Teniendo en cuenta el estado no-operacionalizado del conocimiento en las organizaciones y los variados acercamientos a la capacidad organizacional, este trabajo entrevista textos de las teorías del conocimiento y de las teorías de la firma, siguiendo métodos de codificación de “grounded theory”, para enmarcar un modelo para observar y evaluar instancias de CKO que participan en la práctica productiva. El componente de investigación empírica de esta tesis sigue la estrategia de estudio de caso para la recopilación de datos, y “grounded theory” para su análisis. El caso corresponde a un programa de cooperación internacional Interuniversitario, que duró diez años, en el que se integra conocimientos en lecciones aprendidas. Los datos incluyen la extensa documentación del programa, 3 sets de encuestas, 16 entrevistas filmadas y 36 historias. Aquí, “grounded theory” sigue el concepto de sensibilización de Charmaz (2000) para guiar la codificación inicial utilizando como referencia el marco conceptual desarrollado. Hallazgos: CKO está caracterizado por la (a) tensión en la integración de conocimientos en la práctica productiva, (b) la lógica de instrumentalizar herramientas organizacionales (OT) y (c) los procesos por los cuales se reconocen a los conocedores. CKO funciona como mediador entre OT (directivas, planes, estructura, arquitectura y rutinas) y la eficiencia de la capacidad organizacional. CKO emerge, no como una herramienta organizacional, sino como los procesos relacionados que los instrumentalizan, y por medio de los cuales los conocedores son reconocidos y dan forma al sistema interpretativo organizacional. Esta disertación ofrece criterios de gestión orientados a la eficiencia (surgidos de esta concepción) de CKO) para aplicar herramientas organizacionales que integran el conocimiento en la práctica productiva, y propone (a) una visión organizacional integral de teorías existentes del saber, (b) un modelo de observación de instancias del saber en organizaciones, (c) un esquema para enmarcar teorías de la firma, y (d) un modelo para entender el rol del conocimiento común en las organizaciones.The role of common knowledge in organizations (CKO) is emphasized in literature as an important topic; however, its formalization has been neglected. This dissertation presents a model of CKO that depicts its relationship with the capability of the organization within the context of theories of the firm. Design/methodology/approach: Considering the un-operationalized status of knowledge in organizations and the several approaches to organizational capability, this work interviews text of the theories of knowing and the theories of the firm, following grounded theory coding methods, to frame a model to observe and assess CKO instances that participate in the productive practice. The research empirical component of this dissertation follows case study strategy for data collection and grounded theory for data analysis. The case corresponds to a ten-year International Inter-university Cooperation Program that integrates knowledge into lessons learned. Data include program extensive program documentation, 3 sets of surveys, 16 filmed interviews, and 36 stories. Grounded theory follows Charmaz (2000) sensitizing concept approach to guide initial coding using the developed framework. Findings: CKO is characterized by the (a) tension of integrating knowledge into the productive practice, (b) logic of instrumentalizing organizational tools (OT), and (c) processes by which knowers are recognized. CKO also operates as mediator between OT (directives, plans, structure, architecture and routines) and the efficiency of the organizational capability. CKO emerges, not as an organizational tool, but as the related processes that instrumentalize them, or by which knowers are recognized and shape the organizational interpretative system. Dissertation offers efficiency oriented managerial criteria (emerged from the CKO conception) for applying organizational tools to integrate knowledge into the productive practice, and proposes (a) an integrated organizational view of extant theories of knowing, (b) a model for observing knowing instances in organizations, (c) a scheme for framing theories of the firm, and (d) a model for understanding the role of common knowledge in organization

AT THE TURN OF THE TIDE: A FRAMEWORK FOR A POLICY-ORIENTED INQUIRY INTO STRATEGIES FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTIVE PROCESS OF AUTHORITATIVE DECISION IN MEXICO

Articulating a contemporary narrative of constitutional change in Mexico has been my chief preoccupation over the last four years. The coexistence of a constitutional order based on a monistic democratic model in which normal politics are the exclusive track for constitutional-making and a strong symbolic power of the constitution, has resulted in a seemingly unassailable rampart against the more modern approaches of constitutionalism in which the People are increasingly claiming ownership of the constitution. Furthermore, enduring constitutional inheritances that are no longer suited to present practices, perspectives, expectations and demands muddle further meaningful constitutional change. Authoritarian inheritances coexist with pressing new demands for self-government. Over the last two decades, Mexico’s transition to democracy has been akin to a child learning to walk. A satisfactory democratic outcome has not been achieved, because the constitutive process of authoritative decision-making, a critical part of any transition, has not departed from the traditional Mexican decision-making process. This has been a process that supported an authoritarian regime in which a one-party elite monopolized the power of decision-making. At the center of the problem of transition in Mexico— and perhaps other similarly situated states— is (as we will see) the dichotomy between power and authority, as well as the identity of the effective participants in the constitutive process

Unruly clients : a study of how bureaucrats try and fail to transform gatekeepers, communists and preachers into ideal beneficiaries

State-peasant relations in this book are studied by focussing on the strategies which farmers and bureaucrats deploy in a colonisation area of the Atlantic zone of Costa Rica in order to deal with forms of state intervention which include programmes, projects and other instruments of state policy. Existing studies of state intervention can be divided in two categories. First, there are works that view intervention as a policy activity and that pay little attention to the political role of intervention as an arena in which farmers and bureaucrats interact. And, second, there are studies which view state intervention as an instrument in the service of capitalist expansion, thus operating at the cost of the autonomy of smallholders.My approach differs from these works inasmuch as it attempts to study intervention by focussing on the negotiation practices of bureaucrats and farmers. Central in the analysis, then, are not the formal intentions of a project or a programme. Neither are efforts made to uncover the 'hidden objectives' of intervention. Instead, I have undertaken a detailed analysis of how bureaucrats develop 'practices of intervention' including the labelling and classification of farmers, and of how farmers appropriate the resources and meanings of intervention in their dealings with state institutions. State intervention, in this perspective, has different consequences for different social actors, and pressuposes the existence of conflicting interests.The question which this dissertation addresses can be phrased as follows: What kinds of intervention practices do exist, and what can we say about the role of the state bureaucracy in agrarian development? And, on the other hand, how does state intervention shape the strategies farmers deploy in order to deal with the state bureaucracy?The research addresses these issues by studying attempts by bureaucrats to transform farmers into clients in two settlements in the 'frontier'. 'Development' was defined by programme planners in a technical and apolitical way. The attempted transformation of farmers/settlers into clients went together with different kinds of labelling and classification practices which had effect in the administrative domain, but not in the process of service delivery. It appeared, then, that farmers developed strategies in order to appropriate, resist or manipulate intervention.The findings of this research are of interest for students of intervention as well as for practitioners involved in development projects. It is argued that more attention should be payed to the politics of intervention. Notions of success and failure, therefore, should be viewed within the context of the interests, commitments and aspirations of a variety of actors such as policymakers, front-line workers and farmers

Governing the Mexican drug war : a political geography of public security and the organisation of everyday violence

PhD ThesisTo make a contribution to the literature on governmentality and space, this thesis asks how does the War on Drugs (WoD) in Mexico produce spaces within which individual subjects are formed and controlled? More specifically, it demonstrates how the spatial organization of the northern border city of Tijuana and the aims of the WoD constitute distinctive identity formations and policing practices. Thus, the thesis advances the understanding of how urban space in Mexico has been imagined as a battlefield, shaping the territorial deployment of federal security personnel, and the military policing of strategic urban centres. To make this contribution, the thesis focuses on three concepts that are at the core of the analysis of governmentality: government, power, and space. Drawing on Foucauldian discourse analysis and four months of ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico, the everyday intimate spaces of the WoD ground the analysis of key geographical imaginaries and the spatial practices of security personnel and ordinary residents of Tijuana. Overall, the thesis underscores the centrality of controlling urban spaces for the WoD, showing how this has been achieved from individual households to the streets. In drawing attention to the spatiality of the WoD, the thesis thus offers a critical account of how entire territories and groups of people in Mexico, irrespective of their social class or ethnicity, have become subjects of an overarching project to discipline and kill.Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologí

The presence of absence: indigenous migration, a ghost town, and the remaking of gendered communal systems in Oaxaca, Mexico

The rise in international labor migration between the sending countries of the Global South and the receiving countries of the Global North has led to the creation of what scholars call transnational lives. In the case of U.S./Mexican migration, it is widely recognized that migrant laborers attempt to maintain personal and communal connections with their friends, family, and social structures back home. This is done through regular communication and travel, the sending of remittances, and the creation of hometown organizations in migrant destinations. However, the rising participation of indigenous people these processes is opening up new avenues for exploring migration as a multi-ethnic process and for assessing the political and economic effects of migration both at home and abroad. In particular, the growing migration of indigenous peoples brings to the forefront the reformulation of indigenous communities via transnational processes. While indigenous communities are not in any way homogenous entities within Mexico, many, especially in the Northern mountains of the state of Oaxaca, are constituted through what scholars refer to as communal systems. These systems, created through historical legacies of colonial and post-colonial struggle, represent important and unique forms of social organization whose practices are often antithetical to liberal capitalism. The absence of migrants from these systems challenges many of their foundations, especially, as this dissertation argues, the way they engage with alternative formulations of value in which life, land, and labor are key elements to be maintained and recreated. In particular, this work focuses on a ghost town an indigenous Zapotec town that has experienced massive population loss due to extensive emigration. It explores how this ghost town has adapted to the challenges of migration and the subsequent new relationship with capitalism that migration brings. In particular, it focuses on the way that the town has reformulated notions of gender, labor, and belonging and the way it has incorporated the presence of absence into its daily structure. This ghost town's struggle to maintain communal life thus demonstrates not only contemporary attempts to formulate transnational connections, but also the continuity of other forms of social organization and value in the world.Doctor of Philosoph