Innovation Through Knowledge Codification

8/11/2019 Innovation Through Knowledge Codification

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AbstractA significant interest in understanding themanagement of knowledge and the roles to be playedtherein by information and communicationtechnology (ICT).

This paper takes a closer look at one of the primaryissues raised when supporting the management ofknowledge: how to understand the role of knowledgeclassification and codification as means for furtherorganizational learning and innovation.

Two manufacturing cases are analysed usingparticular perspectives from current theories onclassification, namely the management of knowledgeand organizational innovation.


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IntroductionCurrent knowledge management debate has shownmany interesting facets.

The debate has been concerned with issues such as:

(1) Knowledge work as a reflection of structural changes insociety.(2) Knowledge as the most important resource in the firm.(3) The distributed nature of organizational knowledge.(4) The creation of knowledge involving translation back and

forth between tacit and explicit.(5) The individual and social aspects of knowledge creation.


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Introduction (cont.)

The exploration of information and communicationtechnology (ICT) as a means of supporting themanagement of knowledge has in particular proven aninteresting and potentially contentious research topic.

This paper further suggests that investigating how tosupport the generic management of knowledge is

somewhat futile.


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Introduction (cont.)Successful use of ICT necessarily relies on a complexpattern of manual and technologically driven activities.

Inspire computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW)

on classification and ICT support.

The paper highlights the importance of distinguishingbetween the innovation process and product as well asbetween types of ICT products when analysing models

of knowledge management applied for the classificationof knowledge.


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Classification, knowledge managementand innovation

This section briefly outlines relevant theories

concerning the social aspects of classification,knowledge management and the relationshipsbetween knowledge management and organizationalinnovation.


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Classification

This paper aims to analyse the role of classificationand classification systems for process innovation inmanufacturing.

Therefore, and understanding of both social andtechnological aspects of classification andcodification is at the centre of the analysis.


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Classification (cont.)

Codification is related to classification in thatit means reducing to code and is synonymous witharranging, cataloguing, classifying, condensing andorganizing.


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Knowledge creation and knowledgemanagement

For the purpose of the analysis presented here it isassumed that organizational knowledge is highlydistributed.

Practice is what converts tacit knowledge into explicitknowledge.


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Knowledge management andorganizational innovation

Swan formulated two distinct perspectives onknowledge management for innovation, namely the

cognitive models and community models .


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Knowledge management andorganizational innovation (cont.)

Community model is formulated as acritique of the predominant cognitive perspectivewithin the technology-driven research field.


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Knowledge management andorganizational innovation (cont.)

Cognitive model denotes a perspectivewhere valuable knowledge is conceived as beingcaptured and codified from individuals, packaged,transmitted and processed through the use of ICT and,hence, disseminated and used by other individuals innew context.


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Reanalysing two cases frommanufacturing

The cases are both drawn from studies wherequalitative interviewing, participant observation anddocument inspection were the three primary datacollection methods used.

However, the focus of both studies was to considerthe relationships between everyday manufacturing

processes and the development and use of ICT.


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Case A: Volvo Aero, Sweden

Case A represents a particular aspect of the fieldworkconducted in the Thermal Spraying Department atVolvo Aero Corporation in Sweden. The companydevelop , produce and maintain jet engines formilitary as well as civil use.

The empirical material was collected over a period of16 months from semi-structured interviews with 19employees three material engineers twolaboratory engineers two managers , five productionengineers and seven operators .


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Case A: Volvo Aero, Sweden (cont.)

The study also Involved participation in a number ofmeetings concerning the Thermal Spraying Process ,participant observation with the people interviewedand analysis of internal documentation from theThermal Spraying department .

As the study progressed , common themes began toemerge and a reference group of major stakeholdersin the problem domain was formed in order to discussthe relevance of the empirical findings . The purposeof the study was to establish the requirements of anexpert system to support the improvement of thequality of the Thermal Spraying process .


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Case B: Foss Electric, Denmark

Foss Electric is a Danish manufacturing organizationthat develops, manufactures and markets instrumentsfor automatically measuring the quality parameters ofagricultural products, such as measuring thecompositional quality of milk, the composition andmicrobiological quality of food products and thequality of grain. Designing these instruments involvesa range of expertise, for example from the disciplinesof mechanical, chemical, electrical and softwareengineering.


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Case B: Foss Electric, Denmark (cont.)The aim of the empirical effort at Foss Electric was toanalyse cooperative work in a manufacturing settingwhere the participants deal with the complexity anduncertainty of going from a design idea to determininghow to manufacture the product.

Two computer scientists and one manufacturingengineer studied the engineering design , processplanning and software design at Foss Electric .Approximately 20 open - ended interviews were

conducted.

More than ten project meetings were observed , and just over l00 person hours of project observation wasconducted over a period of approximately 4months.


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Summary

The two cases discussed above can be accommodatedlargely within the classification scheme developedwhich highlights the cognitive and the communityapproach to the management of knowledge . Case Adisplayed a particular configuration of knowledgemanagement models through the process.

The Innovation process attempted to go directly fromagenda formation to the codification of manufacturingprocess knowledge .


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Discussion

Analysing the two cases , more substantial insights inthe complex interrelationships between models forknowledge management , classification work ,

organizational innovation processes , and ICT support .To frame this debate we initially highlight thedistinction between the innovation process and theinnovation product , proposed as two essentialaspects of systems development


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Discussion (cont.)

Crucially a distinction between the process of shapingICT and the type of technological product producedwill further support discussion of types of ICT support

for knowledge work .

Second, this paper has introduce the basic distinctionbetween technological support for the individual andautomation as opposed to support for collaboration


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Discussion (cont.)The distinction between an individual and a collectiveperspective on ICT relates to the changing views ofcomputer applications in terms of three eras :

(1) As separate entities increasing productivity and

efficiency through the automation of existing manualprocesses .(2) as networked entities supporting collaboration between

professional groups .(3) as integral entities of business strategies and of global

networks facilitating collaboration across organizational

and national boundaries.

The distinction has also been cultivated from acomputer science perspective , distinguishing betweenalgorithms and interaction.


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Conclusion

People and ICT are increasingly interwoven .Addressing the relationships between people creatingand managing knowledge , and systems supporting ,

facilitating and enabling them to do so involvescomplex considerations and difficult design choices .This paper has discussed organizational innovationthrough the classification and codification ofmanufacturing knowledge . Such classification andcodification processes will , if successful , lead to thedevelopment of information artefacts . Negotiatingwhat aspects human actors should carry out is acomplex process.


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Conclusion (cont.)

Further more, the information artefacts can bedigitally embedded into ICT or they can be a complexmixture of both.

This paper has analysed two cases of knowledgeclassification and codification, both of which wereaimed at innovating manufacturing processes through

ICT.


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Conclusion (cont.)

The analysis demonstrated strength of knowledgeexploration situated in a social context of sharedpractice as a means of providing ICTs that codifyknowledge.

The paper also demonstrated that, in the explorationof the conditions for providing ICT support forknowledge work, the cognitive and the communitymodels for knowledge management based onorganizational theories could greatly inform adiscourse.

However, the lack of proper attention to aspects ofICTs and to ICT development in the framework can bealleviated by explicitly distinguishing betweeninnovation process and product.


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Conclusion (cont.)

The aim of this paper has been to further some of thework on the management of knowledge withinorganizational theory concerning the classification of

knowledge and analyse the finding based on a viewtowards developing ICTs.

However, more research is needed on theinterrelations between discourses on knowledge

management and ICT development.


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Thanks for your attention.

Innovation Through Knowledge Codification

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