Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Es<strong>the</strong>r Lage et al
Two aspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> program contribute most to stimulate <strong>the</strong> generation <strong>of</strong> new ideas: <strong>the</strong> openness
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> management team to analyze all ideas <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> employees and <strong>the</strong> successive rounds <strong>of</strong>
negotiation and dialogue among <strong>the</strong> employees. This type <strong>of</strong> employees meeting in which <strong>the</strong>y seek
to develop improvements can be classified into what Davenport and Prusak (1998) call “<strong>the</strong>
networks”, i.e. communities <strong>of</strong> knowledge holders which are assembled by <strong>the</strong> same interests and
goals and seek to resolve problems toge<strong>the</strong>r.
The employees are rewarded with a financial prize for all <strong>the</strong> implemented ideas. The best five ideas
selected by criteria previously defined and published are presented and awarded at an annual
exhibition which is open to <strong>the</strong> community. The purpose is to give an opportunity for <strong>the</strong> employees to
have <strong>the</strong>ir ideas recognized also by friends and families. The award is divided into two categories:
ideas regarding quality, cost and service and ideas relating to environment, safety and morals. This
division was set due to difficulties in comparing proposals related to <strong>the</strong> first group, whose payback
can be much more easily calculated, to <strong>the</strong> proposals <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> second group.
According to <strong>the</strong> manager responsible for this program, two points distinguish it from most
“Suggestion Box Programs” that do not work in practice: <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> group who suggests <strong>the</strong> idea
is responsible for its implementation, which prevents <strong>the</strong> idea from dying; and <strong>the</strong> support <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> board
and <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> management team by ensuring <strong>the</strong> necessary conditions to implement <strong>the</strong> idea.
Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, all those steps are formalized in a s<strong>of</strong>tware, which allows employees to monitor <strong>the</strong>
progress through <strong>the</strong> seven steps.
The learning groups are created according to <strong>the</strong> company's goals. The general goals are split into
more specific ones and are assigned to a manager, who will be responsible to form a learning group
that encourages <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> knowledge related to <strong>the</strong>ir goal. The group is supposed to work
on <strong>the</strong> project full time. After <strong>the</strong> creation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> group, <strong>the</strong> next step is <strong>the</strong> identification <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
knowledge that will be needed to achieve <strong>the</strong> goal. The group should identify what <strong>the</strong> organization
already knows and what it will have to learn. The final step is <strong>the</strong> search for external information,
through formal training, technical visits, discussions, exchange <strong>of</strong> experiences and, if necessary,
hiring <strong>of</strong> specialized pr<strong>of</strong>essionals. In <strong>the</strong> viewpoint <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> managers, <strong>the</strong> greatest benefits <strong>of</strong>
those groups are <strong>the</strong> multidisciplinarity and <strong>the</strong> comparison <strong>of</strong> mental models, as shown by <strong>the</strong>
statement below:
When you start to align people with different visions, <strong>the</strong> more multidisciplinary this group
is, <strong>the</strong> richer <strong>the</strong> discussion ... We discuss <strong>the</strong> strengths, <strong>the</strong> biases and it makes us
review some ideas, some absolute truths are no longer … (Interviewee 03).
In order to develop <strong>the</strong> ability <strong>of</strong> systemic thinking, <strong>the</strong> company provides a s<strong>of</strong>tware and uses
simulations, seeking to reproduce <strong>the</strong> complex and dynamic behavior <strong>of</strong> real systems.
The third routine related to knowledge creation is <strong>the</strong> sponsorship <strong>of</strong> master and doctoral programs.
To this end, <strong>the</strong> company creates a survey <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> topics in each field <strong>of</strong> knowledge that need to be
developed and establishes agreements with <strong>the</strong> best Universities in <strong>the</strong> respective field. The
company makes sure, by using contracts with <strong>the</strong> researches, that <strong>the</strong> results that might arise are
property <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> company.
4.2 Knowledge acquisition
Two practices related to <strong>the</strong> acquisition <strong>of</strong> knowledge stand out: <strong>the</strong> Reference Search Program and
<strong>the</strong> Relationship with Stakeholders.
The first aims to search for knowledge, be it administrative or operational, all over <strong>the</strong> word. Usually,
this search is done through technical missions. The employees who participate have <strong>the</strong> obligation to
pass on <strong>the</strong> knowledge gained through technical reports. Leonard-Barton (1998) calls this practice
“technological tracking”. According to <strong>the</strong> statement below, <strong>the</strong> company provides all <strong>the</strong> resources
needed to find <strong>the</strong> knowledge:
Typically, <strong>the</strong> resources we need to achieve <strong>the</strong>se goals are provided, whe<strong>the</strong>r financial,
training, physical ... (Interviewee 3).
Regarding <strong>the</strong> second aspect, <strong>the</strong> company maintains institutional relationships with universities,
industry bodies and research centers and monitors basic research in order to keep itself strategically
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