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