Knowledge Management

Holism, constructivis

Walter Baets, PhD, HDRA i t D f R hAssociate Dean for ResearchMBA DirectorProfessor Complexity , Knowledge and InnovatioEuromed Marseille – Ecole de Management

Erna Baets Oldenboom, MA, MPhilProfessor Leadership, Sustainable Performance,

t and Management Learning

m and scientific practice

on

and Mind/Body Medicine

E d’s MEuromed’s Managemour specificityour specificity

Individ

PersonalPersonal

•Personal development•Emotional development•Leadership•Making a difference PersonalPersonal

DevelopmentDevelopment(Learner centered)(Learner centered)

•Self motivation•Joy•Involvement•Responsibility

•Historic legitimacy

•Respect

Interior

EuroEuro--Mediterranean Mediterranean b li f lb li f l

Historic legitimacy•Diversity•Sociology•Humanism•Relativism beliefs, valuesbeliefs, values

& culture& culture(identity)(identity)

Relativism•Complexity •Social responsibility•Euro-Mediterranean(long term perspective) ( y)( y)(long term perspective)

•Sustainable development CollecNetwo

t A h:ment Approach:

dual

MechanisticMechanistic

•Quantitative approaches•Control/performance•Management byobjectives

managementmanagementapproachapproach

•Models•Financial orientation•Short term efficiency•Production managementg

•Dynamic system behavior•Management in complexity

Exterior

SystemicSystemicmanagement management

g p y•Management in diversity•Knowledge management•Community of practices•Ecological managementmanagement management

approachapproachg g

•Ethics in management

•Social corporate responsibility•Sustainable development•The networked economy•Emergence, innovation…

ctive/orked

DefinitionDefinitionE i lEpistemologyViews about the nature, tk l d ( h k knowledge (what makes t

OntologyPhilosophical investigation

h 1. What means ‘being’2. What exists l i h hilAn ontology is what philos

The ontology of a theory f th t b tfor a theory to be true

ns ns

the sources and the limits of b l f k l d )true beliefs into knowledge)

n of existence or being

h k isophers take to existis the things that have to existe

The essence

Pi t i ithi it Pictures science within its cthe absolute)

Provides a framework that apist m l ic l l ncepistemological relevance

(Philosophy of) science is of(Philosophy of) science is ofhistory (other than philoown logic)own logic)

of science

t f k ( t icontemporary framework (not in

allows judgement about the f th ( pplic ti n)e of a theory (or application)

ften embedded in sociology andften embedded in sociology andosophy that often develops its

My taxonomy of phil

Historical embeddingOrigin

PhilosotheoOrigin theo

Logical po(Wiene(Wiene

Critical ra(Pop

K h ’ dPhilosophy Kuhn’s paradLakatos

Symbolic int

Philosophy

yCritical t

ArchitectureArts

U f l it i

Feyerabend’sPostmoder

(Derida,Usefulness as a criteria (Derida, Foucault,

losophy of science

ophicalories

Designconsequencesories consequences

ositivism r Kreis)r Kreis)

ationalismpper)di th

DeductionInductionEmpiricismdigm theory

s theoryteractionism

EmpiricismHypotheses testingQualitative research

theories

Design paradigms chaostheoryrn theoriesApostel,

Design paradigm(van Aken)

Social construction oflitApostel,

Deleuze) realityDesign norms

My taxonomy of pMy taxonomy of pof science/2

Historical embeddingOrigin

PhilosotheoOrigin theo

R di l

Neurobiology

Radical con(MaturanaAutopoiesip

Self-referen

CognitiveCognitiveArtificial

Intelligence

Paradigm(Frankli

hilosophy hilosophy

ophicalories

Designconsequencesories consequences

t ti i Dynamic re-creationnstructivism, Mingers)is (Varela)

Dynamic re creationThe emergence ofobject and subjectLocal (contextual)( )

nce (Gödel) Local (contextual)validity

m of mindn, Kim)

Adaptive systemsImplicit learning

The pre-history ofp yof science

Pre-Cartesian/Pre-GalileChurch is the seat of scieS i i t t fi Science exists to confirm Science is the ‘common seIn fact it is holisticIn fact it is holistic

17th to the 19th centuryI think,therefor I amExperimentationThe role of the researcheThe role of the researche

(yet) questionedAbsolute Newtonian frame

concept)MeasurabilityTh d f h li ti thi kiThe end of holistic thinkin

philosophyp p y

an period (before 17th century)nce li i religion

ense’

y

er as involved subject was noter as involved subject was not

ework (absolute time and space( p

i ing in science

Th 20 h The 20th ce

Breakthrough of relativity(objective measurementand quantum mechanics

Comparing the validity of tEinstein) needs differe

1931 G d l’ h (1931: Gödel’s theorem (genreasoning can no longer

Box of PaBox of Pa

ntury

y theory (Einstein)t can no longer be claimed)(it is all interpretation)

theories (e.g. Lorentz versus ent methods

l l d f b l neral validity of symbolic r be claimed)

andoraandora

Critical ratioCritical ratio

Popper: 1902 - 1994

Principle of falsification

Knowledge needs continuou

Induction is not always valifrom ‘all observed Afrom all observed A

Only knowledge as a producOnly knowledge as a produc‘an epistemology with

subject’jNo ‘context of disco

onalismonalism

usly improved (=characteristic)

id are B’ to ‘all A are B’ are B to all A are B

ct is importantct s mportanthout a knowing

overy’

Causality is a consequence ofin itself (in line with

Scientific discovery leads fr

Unity of method in all empirisciences

The idea that the developme(and hence is fixed) (and hence is fixed) for freedom and demviewpoint ?)

Subject of social sciences is

f the methodology, not a conceptlogical empiricism)

rom the known to the unknown

ical sciences, including social

ent of a society can be forecastedis for Popper a serious threatis for Popper a serious threat

mocracy (political or scientific

s ‘rational choice decisions’

Kuhn’s paradigm Kuhn s paradigm (1922 - 1996)

Confronted prevailing philosp g pof science

History of science did not f

Particularly influential in th

Science always fits within a

Science is also a potential abest the political situ

theory theory

sophies with the historyp y

follow its own rules

he social sciences

a context, a time-period

act: who fits uation

Not the method makes theacceptance (peer evap (p

Context of discovery and cybe subdivided

Methodological rules for thit are choices

Periods of ‘normal sciences

‘scientific revolution’ (

e difference, but the socialaluation)u )

context of justification cannotj

heories are never mandatory,

s’ peer evaluationp

choices (cf Lakatos)

b l Symbolic intera

Developed within the social

Opposes logical positivism

Opposes the object/subject

Cause-effect relationships (behaviorIt attempts to undeIt attempts to unde

George Herbert Mead (1863g H M ( 6of John Dewey (1859

actionism

sciences

t viewpoint of critical rationalism

(Popper) are replaced by reason-

rstand (predict) and influencerstand, (predict) and influence

3-1932) based on pragmatism9 ) n p gm m9-1952)

PragmatismPragmatismtruth is based on usbased only on what

metaphysics

No value free scienceNo value free science

A lot of behavior is rule-bafrules

S i l t t i dSocial context is expressed

Interactionism refers to tInteractionism refers to t

Does this theory re-introd

sability (see design paradigm) can be observed (againsts)

ased, social context decides the ,

d i b l ( i )d in symbols (signs)

he dynamics of the processhe dynamics of the process

uces a holistic view ?

F b d’ ChFeyerabend’s Cha(1924-1994)(1924 1994)

S i ntifi ‘p ti ’ in ntScientific practice in contObservation: non-experts i

against prevailing aagainst prevailing acommunity.

Science is essentially anarc anarchism is more h

to encourage progralternativesalternatives.

The only principle that doe‘anything goes’.y g g

We may advance science bycounterinductively

I f t t d i In fact a postmodern view

Thaos Theory

t st ith s i ntifi m th dtrast with scientific method.identified new developments

assumptions in the scientificassumptions in the scientific

chic enterprise: theoretical l lhumanitarian and more likely

ress than its law-and-order

es not inhibit progress is

y proceeding

i on science

lf d Self-producing systradical constructivisradical constructivis

Maturana, Varela, Gödel, Min

Biological principle of self-pr= Autopoeisis

Has been interpreted a lot byHas been interpreted a lot by

In opposition to the focus onppVarela pick out the sian amoebae) as the ce

Individual autonomy, self-defwithin an organismwithin an organism

tems, autopoiesissm self-referencesm, self reference

gers

roducing systems

y different fields differentlyy different fields, differently

n species and genes, Maturana andp g ,ingle, biological individual (e.g.entral example of a living system

fined entities

Living systems operate in an eoverall behavior of ththe components and it

Observers are external to thObservers are external to thboth an entity and itsan entity act purely iny p y

Any explanation of living systh i t having no recourse to functions

Living systems are autopoieticircular, self-referrin

essentially mechanistic way. Thee whole is generated purely byts interactions

e system Observers perceivee system. Observers perceives environment. Components withinn response to other componentsp p

tems should be nonteleological, id f l d d idea of purpose, goal, ends and

c (self-producing)ng organization

Philosophical implPhilosophical implautopoiesisp

Epistemological and ontologEpistemological and ontolog

It constitutes a theory aboy

It implies there is no claim

Beliefs and theories are pu‘constitute’ rather tconstitute rather t

constructivi

‘B l f ’ ( )‘Biology of cognition’ (1970)the system in whichtakes placetakes place

ications ofications of

gical presuppositionsgical presuppositions

out the observer

to objectivity

urely human constructs whichthan reflect realitythan reflect reality

vism

) b ): observer is h description

l f Ontology of aut

Perceptions and experiencesPerceptions and experiencesby our bodies and ne

Therefor it is impossible fothat is a pure descrif lof ourselves

Experience always reflects Experience always reflects

There is no object of our knjby the observer

topoiesis

s occur through and are mediateds occur through and are mediatedervous systems

r us to generate a descriptioniption of reality, independent

the observerthe observer

nowledge, it is distinguishedg g

Epistemology ofEpistemology of

Validation of knowledge is thegautopoiesis.

Proper scientific methodologyobserverobserver.

Scientific statements are valwhich is used to produwhich is used to produto an external world.

Logic itself is common to all dM h d l i iMethodology is important.

f autopoiesisf autopoiesis

e maintenance of successful

y includes specifying the

idated by scientific method,uce them, not by correspondenceuce them, not by correspondence

domains.

Some further

Humans are linguistic animalg

The experience of the obseevents in the worldevents in the world

The role of discourse and laThe role of discourse and la

Constructivism finds it diffid f i i iand, a fortiori, scien

remarks

ls playing the ‘praxis of living’p y g p g

rver is crucial, rather than

anguageanguage

icult to explain scientific changeifi ntific progress