Knowledge Management and New Organization Forms

Abstract

The concept of knowledge management is not new in information systems practice and research. However, radical changes in the business environment have suggested limitations of the traditional information-processing view of knowledge management. Specifically, it is being realized that the programmed nature of heuristics underlying such systems may be inadequate for coping with the demands imposed by the new business environments. New business environments are characterized not only by rapid pace of change but also discontinuous nature of such change. The new business environment, characterized by dynamically discontinuous change, requires a re-conceptualization of knowledge management as it has been understood in information systems practice and research. One such conceptualization is proposed in the form of a sense-making model of knowledge management for new business environments. Application of this framework will facilitate business model innovation necessary for sustainable competitive advantage in the new business environment characterized by dynamic, discontinuous and radical pace of change.

Explicating the business model from a knowledge-based view: nature, structure, imitability and competitive advantage erosion

“…The ASP highlights the explicit parts of a BM and casts a shadow over the implicit parts. While it is widely acknowledged that a BM has its implicit parts (Malhotra, 2000;Teece, 2010;Zott et al, 2011), the uncodified and/or un-coded parts of a BM, such as managerial experience, skills and meaning, cannot be incorporated into the ASP framework.…”

“…Thus, while explicit knowledge can be transmitted in a variety of ways, implicit knowledge is usually learned through shared experience which requires extended social interactivity (Nonaka and Toyama, 2003) such as apprenticeships and "learning by doing." Some examples of implicit components in a BM are managerial experiences, practical skills (Hau and Evangelista, 2007), mental maps and schemas (Leonard and Sensiper, 1998), emerging meanings (Strombach, 1986) and sense-making processes (Malhotra, 2000).…”

“…Therefore, the core of services must be highly situational and dynamic, enabling them to perfectly match the customers' preferences. These experiences (labeled "know-how," see Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) arise from daily interactions and sense-making processes (Malhotra, 2000) between waiters/waitresses and customers, which vary as per the region, time and subjects. The highly situational experience relies on "mentorship" to inherit and diffuse, thus forming an implicit knowledge cluster highly embedded in the organization structure.…”

“…This article introduces a knowledge-based view (KBV) to explore the nature and strategic value of a BM. Drawing on this view, we see the BM as a structured knowledge cluster which contains not only explicit parts such as organizational activity patterns (Brousseau and Penard, 2007), customer value propositions (Afuah and Tucci, 2001;Weill and Vitale, 2001;Chesbrough and Rosenbloom, 2002), a revenue model (Linder and Cantrell, 2000;Petrovic et al, 2001) and key resources and processes (Johnson et al, 2008), but also implicit parts such as practical skills (Hau and Evangelista, 2007), mental maps and schemas (Leonard and Sensiper, 1998), emerging meanings (Strombach, 1986) and sense-making processes (Malhotra, 2000). Within this framework, imitation of BMs is regarded as a process of knowledge diffusion across firm boundaries, and its imitability is proposed to be related to the erosion of its adopter's competitive advantage.…”

Public Sector Entrepreneurship and the Integration of Innovative Business Models

“…Thus, on the customer's side are the jobs, pains and gains related to doing the jobs. Especially adoption factors and change methodologies of business models (Pateli & Giaglis, 2004;Scott, 2015) justified the need and pointed some directions very relevant for further exploration, such as, among others, sustainable and circular business models (Jong, Engelaer, & Mendoza, 2015;Joustra, de Jong, & Engelaer, 2013;Roome & Louche, 2015;Stubbs & Cocklin, 2008) and business model innovation (Amit & Zott, 2012;Gambardella & McGahan, 2010;Gauthier & Gilomen, 2015;Malhotra, 2000;Mentink, 2014).…”