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[8] 2002 e-business-strategies-for-virtual-organizations

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Developing knowledge-based <strong>strategies</strong> <strong>for</strong> a <strong>virtual</strong> organization<br />

Table 7.1 The computability of knowledge management<br />

Ease of<br />

computing<br />

Codification – is the<br />

knowledge<br />

HIGH Easily captured:<br />

Figures or <strong>for</strong>mulae?<br />

Standardized?<br />

Easy to automate?<br />

MEDIUM Describable?<br />

Words or diagrams?<br />

Document based?<br />

LOW Hard to articulate?<br />

Easier to show than<br />

tell?<br />

Abstraction – is the<br />

knowledge<br />

Generally<br />

applicable?<br />

Fact or scientifically<br />

based?<br />

Applicable to few?<br />

Need adaptation to<br />

contexts?<br />

Limited to single<br />

sector?<br />

In need of extensive<br />

contextual<br />

adaptation?<br />

7.5.3 Knowledge computability<br />

Diffusion – is the<br />

knowledge<br />

Readily available?<br />

Available to few?<br />

Highly restricted<br />

availability?<br />

This can be regarded as the computing factor – the gathering,<br />

storage, dissemination and maintenance of content to the<br />

community. However, the higher the ease of computing, the less<br />

valuable knowledge generally is since it is generally accessible<br />

to all. This represents the paradox of knowledge value.<br />

Note that consultancy firms make a living by advising firms on<br />

knowledge management to commonly adopt two different<br />

approaches.<br />

The first may be described as the codification or ‘reuse’<br />

approach where a conscious ef<strong>for</strong>t is made to restructure<br />

processes and communications so that knowledge is stored <strong>for</strong><br />

universal access. The second, recognizing the difficulty of<br />

extracting and <strong>for</strong>mulating knowledge exactly in a commonly<br />

intelligible and accessible <strong>for</strong>m, adopts the ‘personalization’<br />

method in which knowledge remains tied to the creator. Sharing<br />

of knowledge, in this model, relies on striving to improve and<br />

<strong>for</strong>m person-to-person contacts. This latter way of going about<br />

things is appealing to generators and creators of knowledge<br />

who may consider themselves the possessors of this asset. This<br />

is appealing in cultures in which self-esteem is enhanced by<br />

being viewed as ‘the person to ask’, and in which there is time<br />

to be available and freely share knowledge on demand.<br />

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