Knowledge Transfer: Short-Circuiting the Learning Cycle?

Knowledge is considered to be a key organizational resource in the 21st century and the knowledge management ‘movement’ has alerted organizations to the fact that they should more strategically exploit their knowledge assets. Companies are thus lured by the suggestion that they can gain competitive advantage by the more astute management of their knowledge base and in particular, by the transfer of knowledge across individuals, groups and organizational units, using IT to accomplish this. In this paper, we reflect on this common view of knowledge transfer. More specifically, we question an implication of this view - essentially the possibility of short-circuiting the learning cycle, so that individuals do not have to rely on their personal or shared experiences to identify better practices, but can learn from the codified lessons of others through IT systems. More importantly, we consider the characteristics of knowledge – that knowledge is distributed, ambiguous and disruptive ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: HICSS
• Authors: Sue Newell, Robert D. Galliers
• Keywords: Biometrics, HICSS 2006, Key Organizational Resource, Knowledge Assets, Knowledge Management ‘movement, System Sciences