Espoused versus realized knowledge management tool usage in knowledge intensive organizations

Many knowledge intensive organizations (KIOs) have invested in tools and policies to enhance knowledge-sharing and application as this is crucial for their growth. The implementation of these tools results in multiple approaches for knowledge-sharing being available. This article reports on an empirical study of five global management consultancies investigating how consultants choose between these knowledge-sharing alternatives and the factors driving this choice. Our findings indicate that consultants base their decisions on both judging the anticipated benefits of the knowledge content and the associated process costs. Importantly, the criteria employed to assess these knowledge-sharing alternatives was different to that of the leadership. The use of different criteria resulted in the leadership championing tools and policies that the consultants did not perceive as valuable. The study contributes to the human resource management and knowledge management literature, not only by surfacing criteria, yet to be discussed in the literature, used by the leadership and consultants of KIOs in determining which knowledge-sharing approach to use, but also by highlighting that when considering KM tools it was critical to take a multi-level approach as there may be some differences in rationales as to why some systems are used or not

Exploring Value as the Foundation of Value Proposition Design

  Purpose: Business models define the activity system that an organization employs to create and capture value. As such, business models are essentially the application of strategic management. The term business model, however, suffers from definitional ambiguity which makes the construction of effective business models problematic. We argue that this ambiguity is largely due to a lack of clarity around value. This paper seeks to provide clarity around value and in doing so aid in the development of effective business models. Design: Theoretical paper that deconstructs value into use value and exchange value and develops these concepts. Findings: We deconstruct value into use value and exchange value to explain the micro-conditions of value creation and capture. In doing so, we also provide an explanation of how VRIN and non-VRIN resources can be traded for gain as well as opening up greater strategic options for managers in their development of business models. Originality / Value: Against the background of the study’s focus on BMI, its comparably broad literature basis, and its quantitative and qualitative analysis approach, which provides straightforward recommendations for future research, the study caters an original contribution to the field

Performance enhancement: The practice of organizational knowledge sharing

An organization’s capacity to share knowledge among its individuals and apply that shared knowledge to enhance performance is seen as a vital source of competitive advantage. A growing body of research, under the knowledge-based view banner, has begun to examine knowledge as a key organizational resource. While this research has examined forms of knowledge sharing, it has generally done so via focussing on a single approach. In contrast the research presented in this paper, based on 42 interviews across 5 management consultancies, develops a typology of knowledge sharing and analyses the performance of each from a practice perspective. Findings indicate distinct performance profiles for each knowledge sharing approach. Performance trade-offs made by practitioners highlight the value placed on different performance characteristics as well as highlight scope for improving knowledge sharing overall