Title:
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Knowledge creation without deliberate knowledge management : a case study in an innovative firm
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For decades, the current literature and some experts have claimed that knowledge management is essential for creating and managing knowledge and therefore also for the future success of an organisation. Many organisations are still trying to implement knowledge management systems with the overall aim to improve their knowledge base and in the hope of generating innovation. Due to the complexity of knowledge and the content of current literature, organisations still misinterpret the essence of knowledge and try to objectify everything so that it becomes manageable. This effort leads to ineffective and cost-intensive knowledge management attempts, which mostly ends in a special development in information technology. However, very successful and innovative organisations with knowledge-intensive products without any knowledge management do exist. In order to understand the reason behind the success and innovation of organisations which do not use knowledge management, a single case study in an organisation with knowledge-intensive products has been undertaken. Hermeneutic-phenomenology with the Gadamer-based approach has been used not only to elucidate the environment and structure, but also to understand the behaviour of the employees and the organisation. Five general patterns on a macro- and several other elements and patterns on a micro level have been revealed. As a result, this research provides new insights into knowledge creation without deliberate management and serves as a management guide, which explains the essential elements that an organisation should focus on from the outset. Their impact and relations are most pertinent for sharing new ideas, insights, and triggering innovation, and thereby devising a new approach to manage the invisible and the intangible.
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