Enabling Distributed Knowledge Management: Managerial and Technological Implications

In this paper we show that the typical architecture of current KM systems re.ects an objectivistic epistemology and a traditional managerial control paradigm. We argue that such an objectivistic epistemology is inconsistent with many theories on the nature of knowledge, in which subjectivity and sociality are taken as essential features of knowledge creation and sharing. We show that adopting such a new epistemological view has dramatic consequences at an architectural, managerial and technological level

A Peer-to-Peer Architecture for Distributed Knowledge Management.

Most of the knowledge management systems of complex organizations are based on technological architectures that are in contradiction with the social processes of knowledge creation. In particular, centralized architectures are adopted to manage a process that is intrinsically distributed. In this paper, assuming a Distributed approach to Knowledge Management (DKM), is proposed that technological and social architectures must be reciprocally consistent. Moreover, in the domain of Knowledge Management, technological architectures should be designed in order to support the interplay between two qualitatively different processes: the autonomous management of knowledge of individuals and groups - here called Knowledge Nodes (KNs) -, and the coordination required in order to exchange knowledge among them. Finally a peer to peer architecture to support knowledge exchange across distributed and autonomous KNs is presented

Knowledge Diffusion, Supplier's Technological Effort and Technology Transfer via Vertical Relationships

This paper studies the effect of knowledge diffusion on the incentives for developed countries(DC)' firms to undertake costly technology transfer to their developing countries(LDC)' suppliers whose cost of production varies inversely with their technological effort. When the incumbent supplier's cost of improving efficiency is high, upstream (or, respectively, downstream) diffusion of knowledge to potential input (final output) producers encourages (discourages) technology transfer as it increases upstream (downstream) competition. However, and in sharp contrast to existing literature, when technological effort is less costly, upstream (downstream) knowledge diffusion discourages (encourages) technology transfer by reducing (increasing) the incumbent supplier's technological effort.technology transfer; technological effort; developing countries; knowledge diffusion; buyer-supplier

Patent Races with Dynamic Complementarity

Recent models of multi-stage R&D have shown that a system of weak intellectual property rights may lead to faster innovation by inducing firms to share intermediate technological knowledge. In this article I introduce a distinction between plain and sophisticated technological knowledge, which has not been noticed so far but plays a crucial role in determining how different appropriability rules affect the incentives to innovate. I argue that the positive effect of weak intellectual property regimes on the sharing of intermediate technological knowledge vanishes when technological knowledge is sophisticated, as is likely to be the case in many high tech industries.

Technological learning: towards an integrated model

The acquisition and growth of technological knowledge is fundamental to competitive advantage in the emerging knowledge economy. This article explores the notion of technological learning as a means of developing the capabilities that underpin long term sustainable innovation. The research project was designed to identify new ways of understanding learning in the context of technology-driven SMEs, so the methods employed were essentially inductive in nature. This has resulted in the development of a comprehensive framework comprising four inter-related knowledge categories (Identity, Direction, Capability, and Relationship), each of which has an associated learning process (learning by reflecting, learning by strategising, learning by doing, and learning by interacting). We argue that it is the interaction between these knowledge categories that generates the new insights that are essential to technological learning

Technological Progress under Learning by Imitation

We analyse technological progress when knowledge has a large tacit component so that transmission of knowledge takes place through direct personal imitation. It is shown that the rate of technological progress depends on the number of innovators in the same knowledge network. Assuming the diffusion of knowledge to mirror the geographical pattern of trade - the greater the trade between two sites, the greater the probability that technical knowledge flows between them - we show that a gradual expansion of trade causes a sudden rise in the rate of technological progress.

Recombinant Knowledge and Growth: The Case of ICTs

The economics of recombinant knowledge is a promising field of investigation. New technological systems emerge when strong cores of complementary knowledge consolidate and feed an array of coherent applications and implementations. However, diminishing returns to recombination eventually emerge, and the rates of growth of technological systems gradually decline. Empirical evidence based on analysis of the co-occurrence of technological classes within two or more patent applications, allows the identification and measurement of the dynamics of knowledge recombination. Our analysis focus on patent applications to the European Patent Office, in the period 1981-2003, and provides empirical evidence on the emergence of the new technological system based upon information and communication technologies (ICTs) and their wide scope of applications as the result of a process of knowledge recombination. The empirical investigation confirms that the recombination process has been more effective in countries characterized by higher levels of coherence and specialization of their knowledge space. Countries better able to master the recombinant generation of new technological knowledge have experienced higher rates of increase of national multifactor productivity growth.

Long-Run Growth and the Evolution of Technological Knowledge

The long-run evolution of per-capita income exhibits a structural break often associated with the Industrial Revolution. We follow Mokyr (2002) and embed the idea that this structural break reflects a regime switch in the evolution of technological knowledge into a dynamic framework, using Airy differential equations to describe this evolution. We show that under a non-monotonous income-population equation, the economy evolves from a Malthusian to a Post-Malthusian Regime, with rising per-capita income and a growing population. The switch is brought about by an acceleration in the growth of technological knowledge. The demographic transition marks the switch into the Modern Growth Regime, with higher levels of per-capita income and declining population growth.crisis Industrial Revolution, Technological Change, Malthus, Demographic Transition