Storage of Transferred Knowledge or Transfer of Stored Knowledge: Which Direction? If Both, Then How?

Knowledge is regarded as a primary source of value creation in an organization. However, knowledge is distributed asymmetrically in any firm. Distributed knowledge has to be integrated through knowledge transfer process and storing into knowledge repositories for future use. To start with knowledge transfer through social interaction, the Web based technology is a powerful means for communication between organizational members in order to transfer of knowledge regardless of their location. Such technology also allows for storage of the transferred knowledge. The importance of integrating storage of knowledge with knowledge transfer has been ignored in the knowledge transfer literature. Using the insights from the existing studies, this paper addresses an issue relating to the linkage of the knowledge transfer and the knowledge storage. The main contribution of this paper is the adoption of a holistic and integrated approach that supports the connectivity of knowledge transfer and storage through social and technological networks, when developing a framework for the successful accomplishment of knowledge transfer. This discussion is actually taken a first step towards developing some arguments about such interaction in order to broaden our understanding of the notion of knowledge transfer.

[1]  Charles C. Manz,et al.  An Organizational Memory Approach to Information Management , 1998 .

[2]  Bente Elkjaer,et al.  Information technology as a fellow player in organizational learning , 2001, ECIS.

[3]  A. Adam.  Whatever happened to information systems ethics? Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea , 2004 .

[4]  Karel Cool,et al.  Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage , 1989 .

[5]  W. Starbuck.  Learning by Knowledge-Intensive Firms , 1992 .

[6]  Jean-Noël Ezingeard,et al.  Knowledge management at Ernst & Young UK: getting value through knowledge flows , 2000, ICIS.

[7]  Priscilla H. Douglas.  Information Technology Is Out—Knowledge Sharing Is In , 2002 .

[8]  Dorothy E. Leidner,et al.  Review: Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues , 2001, MIS Q..

[9]  Elizabeth Barnett,et al.  Knowledge management initiatives: learning from failure , 2000, J. Knowl. Manag..

[10]  Eric W. Stein,et al.  Organization memory: Review of concepts and recommendations for management , 1995 .

[11]  M. Khosrow-Pour.  Managing Information Technology Resources in Organizations in the Next Millennium , 1999 .

[12]  J. Klein,et al.  The paradox of using tacit and explicit knowledge: strategies to face dilemmas , 2005 .

[13]  Silke Bender,et al.  The transfer of knowledge and the retention of expertise: the continuing need for global assignments , 2000, J. Knowl. Manag..

[14]  Morten T. Hansen,et al.  What's your strategy for managing knowledge? , 1999, Harvard business review.

[15]  Paul H. J. Hendriks,et al.  Why share knowledge? The influence of ICT on the motivation for knowledge sharing , 1999 .

[16]  V. Albino,et al.  KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND INTER-FIRM RELATIONSHIPS IN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS : THE ROLE OF THE LEADER FIRM , 1998 .

[17]  R. Grant,et al.  A KNOWLEDGE-BASED THEORY OF INTER-FIRM COLLABORATION. , 1995 .

[18]  Vladimir Zwass,et al.  Actualizing Organizational Memory with Information Systems , 1995, Inf. Syst. Res..

[19]  L. Argote,et al.  KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER: A BASIS FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN FIRMS , 2000 .

[20]  L. Argote,et al.  The persistence and transfer of learning in industrial settings , 1990 .

[21]  Gilbert Probst,et al.  Managing Knowledge: Building Blocks for Success , 1999 .

[22]  E. Kelloway,et al.  Predictors of employees’ perceptions of knowledge sharing cultures , 2003 .

[23]  Yolande E. Chan,et al.  Integrating Knowledge Management Practices Through a Problem Solving Framework , 2000, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[24]  Thomas J. Allen,et al.  Managing the flow of technology: technology transfer and the dissemination of technological informat , 1977 .

[25]  Lorne Olfman,et al.  Organizational Memory , 1998, Proceedings of the Thirty-First Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[26]  Mark S. Granovetter.  Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness , 1985, American Journal of Sociology.

[27]  Nancy M. Dixon,et al.  Common Knowledge: How Companies Thrive by Sharing What They Know , 2000 .

[28]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[29]  David L. Deeds,et al.  The impact of stocks and flows of organizational knowledge on firm performance: an empirical investigation of the biotechnology industry , 1999 .

[30]  G. Huber.  Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures , 1991 .

[31]  Mikael Lind,et al.  Possibilities and risks with a knowledge broker in the knowledge transfer process , 2000 .

[32]  H. Tsoukas.  The firm as a distributed knowledge system : A constructionist approach , 1996 .

[33]  L. Argote.  Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge , 1999 .

[34]  Ganesh D. Bhatt,et al.  Knowledge management in organizations: examining the interaction between technologies, techniques, and people , 2001, J. Knowl. Manag..

[35]  R. Ruggles.  The State of the Notion: Knowledge Management in Practice , 1998 .

[36]  H. D. Thomas,et al.  SUCCESSFUL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS , 1998 .

[37]  T. Allen.  Managing the flow of technology , 1977 .

[38]  Mark S. Ackerman,et al.  Answer Garden 2: merging organizational memory with collaborative help , 1996, CSCW '96.

[39]  O. A. Sawy,et al.  Preserving Institutional Memory: The Management of History as an Organizational Resource. , 1986 .

[40]  Thomas Kalling,et al.  Organisation-internal Transfer of Knowledge and the Role of Motivation. A Qualitative Study , 2003 .

[41]  H. Simon.  Bounded Rationality and Organizational Learning , 1991 .

[42]  Daniel E. O'Leary,et al.  Enterprise Knowledge Management , 1998, Computer.

[43]  Fernando Olivera,et al.  Memory Systems In Organizations: An Empirical Investigation Of Mechanisms For Knowledge Collection, Storage And Access , 2000 .