How Organizations Remember (eBook)

Paddy O'Toole is a Senior Lecturer at Flinders University, South Australia.

Acknowledgments 6
Contents 8
List of Figures 10
List of Tables 12
Chapter 1: Introduction 14
Introduction 14
Knowledge Retention in Organizations Past and Present 15
An Organization Called “XME” 17
The Structure of This Book 18
Chapter 2: Knowing About Knowledge 20
Introduction 20
The Nature of Knowledge: Bedrock or Swamp? 21
Knowledge as an Individual Construction 22
Different Aspects of Knowledge 24
Tacit Knowledge and Explicit Knowledge 25
Individual and Collective Knowledge 28
Declarative and Procedural Knowledge 29
The Semantic Knowledge Retention System 29
The Episodic Knowledge Retention System 30
Schemas 31
The Procedural Knowledge Retention System 31
Data, Information, and Knowledge 33
Unlearning Knowledge 35
The Status of Knowledge 37
Knowledge as a Commodity 38
Knowledge Management 39
The Commodification of Knowledge 41
Knowledge as Part of Action and Knowing 42
Conclusion: How Does the Nature of Knowledge Affect Knowledge Retention? 44
Chapter 3: Developing Knowledge Retention Structures 46
Introduction 46
XME Australia: the Development Site 47
The Development of the Organizational KnowledgeRetention Structures 50
The Historical Emphasis on R& D: “I was REALLY hit by the strong R&
An Accounting Focus: “We tend to be disciplined because we need to be” 52
Rapid Growth of the Company: “It’s a growing company…” 54
Various Legal and Other Requirements: “For instance, when the GST came in, all businesses had to learn new ways of doing thing 54
The Dominant Knowledge Retention Structures 55
The ICT Network 56
Paper Records and Documents 56
Printouts of Electronic Records 56
Personal Notes and Logbooks 57
Routines, Processes and Procedures 57
The Individual as a Knowledge Retention Structure 60
The Situating of the Work Environment 60
The Contribution of Previous Experience 62
Heuristic Ways of Working 62
The Influences on XME Australia’s KnowledgeRetention Structures 63
XME Ireland: the Production Site 65
The Development of Knowledge Retention Structures 66
The Australian Influence: “there was a lot of administrative workin sending everything to Australia” 67
The ICT Applications 67
Reporting to Australia 68
The Nature of Production 69
The Dominant Knowledge Retention Structures 69
The Physical Environment 70
Explicit Knowledge Retention 70
Procedures and Processes 71
The Role of the Individual in XME Ireland 72
XME Ireland’s Knowledge Retention Structures 73
XME USA: A Site for Selling 75
The Development of Knowledge Retention Structures 75
ICT Documents 76
The Structure 76
The Dominant Knowledge Retention Structures 77
The Influence of the Physical Environment: “it gives a very organized feel to the place” 77
Paper Documents 78
Creating and Using Processes: “someone new would not know to pack the part” 79
The Place of Individuals Within the XME USA KnowledgeRetention Structures 80
XME USA’s Knowledge Retention Structures 80
Conclusions 81
Chapter 4: Retaining Knowledge Through Communication 85
Introduction 85
Communication in XME Australia: “you have to do the walking” 86
Communication and Organizational Structure 87
The Physical Environment 88
Proximity and Accessibility 88
Visibility 89
Audibility 90
Interaction and Communities of Practice 91
Sociability 93
Banter 94
Conclusions Concerning the Communication of Knowledge in XME Australia 96
Communication in XME Ireland: “Management doesn’t tell us much” 97
Communicating Knowledge: XME USA 99
Stories: “He makes up a story about how the new CEO’scar sticks out …” 101
Stories That Communicate the Endorsed Culture 102
Stories Counter to the Endorsed Culture 103
The Communication of Knowledge Across Sites: “they don’t think the same way we do” 105
Connecting via Information and Communications Technology (ICT) 107
Using Email 107
International Processes 108
Sociocultural Relationships with Other Operations 109
Feedback Mechanisms Across the Sites 111
Conclusions 113
Chapter 5: Managing Knowledge Retention Structures 115
Introduction 115
A Model of Knowledge Retention Structures 116
The Tacit Knowledge Retention Structures of the Individual 120
Procedural Knowledge Retention Structures: Automatic Action 123
Episodic Knowledge Retention Structures: The Subjective Past 125
Semantic Knowledge Retention Structures: The Factsand Figures 127
The Protection of Explicit Knowledge Retention Structures 128
The Protection of Tacit Knowledge Retention Structures 130
Communicating and Learning: “let’s just do it!” 130
Meetings: “Well, we won’t see you again this week” 132
Blocking the Retention of New Knowledge 135
Dispositional Factors 136
Political Factors 137
Economic Factors 138
Core Competencies and Rigidities in XME Australia 138
Conclusion 140
Chapter 6: How Organizations Retain Knowledge 142
Introduction 142
How Do Knowledge Retention Structures Develop? 143
The Culture and Occupational Subcultures 143
The Demands of External Entities 143
The Decisions and Actions of the Organization’s Leaders 144
Past Experience of the Staff 145
The Individual as an Organizational Knowledge Retention Structure 146
The Individual and Their Work Environment 147
The Individual as Part of a Process 148
Knowledge Retained in the Physical Environment 149
Retaining Knowledge Through Communication 151
Proximity and Distance 151
The Face-to-Face Interaction of Individuals 152
Stories 153
The Knowledge of Difference Retained in Subcultures 154
Communicating Across National Cultures 154
Mechanisms That Overcome the Effects of Distance 156
Formal Processes 157
Common ICT Systems 157
The Advantage of Multiple Sites 158
Protecting Knowledge Retention Structures 159
Changing Knowledge Retention Structures 159
Organizational Strategies for Protecting Knowledge 161
Preventing Knowledge Rigidities 162
Auditing Knowledge Retention Structures 163
Conclusion 164
Chapter 7: Theory and Implications 166
Introduction 166
The Development of Knowledge Retention Structures in Organizations 166
Proposition 1 166
Implication 167
Proposition 1.1 167
Implication 168
Proposition 1.2 168
Implication 168
Proposition 1.3 169
Implication 169
Proposition 1.4 169
Implication 170
Proposition 2 170
Implication 170
Proposition 2.1 170
Implication 171
Proposition 2.2 171
Implication 171
Proposition 2.3 171
Implication 172
Proposition 3 172
Proposition 3.1 172
Implication 173
Proposition 3.2 173
Implication 173
Proposition 4 173
Implication 174
Proposition 5 174
Implication 175
Retaining Knowledge Through Communication 175
Proposition 6 175
Proposition 6.1 175
Implication 175
Proposition 6.2 176
Implication 176
Proposition 7 176
Proposition 7.1 177
Implication 177
Proposition 7.2 177
Implication 178
Proposition 7.3 178
Implication 178
Proposition 8 178
Implication 179
Proposition 8.1 179
Implication 179
Proposition 8.2 179
Proposition 9 180
Implication 180
Proposition 9.1 180
Implication 180
Proposition 9.2 180
Implication 180
Proposition 9.3 181
Implication 181
Proposition 10 181
Implication 182
Managing Knowledge Retention Structures 182
Proposition 11 182
Implication 182
Proposition 12 182
Implication 183
Proposition 13 183
Implication 183
Proposition 14 184
Implication 184
Proposition 15 185
Implication 185
Proposition 16 186
Implication 186
Proposition 17 186
Implications 186
Conclusion 187
References 188
Index 199