Competing For Knowledge

As yet, little is understood about how the knowledge-based economy differs from the old, traditional economy. Digesting up-to-date, cross-disciplinary thinking, this significant volume provides an account of the transformation of advanced economies.

Knowledge management (KM) is probably the first major management trend to identify information and its management as a crucial element in the success of an organization. In order for information professionals to participate fully in KM initiatives, or to be able to take advantage of the concept to improve the effective application of their skills, both the professionals and management need a good understanding of the KM approach and the information related roles within that framework. This book focuses on the potential role of the information professional in the KM environment and, using plenty of case studies, considers: the knowledge context - creating knowledge based environments in a range of sectors powering information: the role of information skills in KM. Readership: This book will make topical reading not only for those seeking career development through KM but for all information professionals wondering exactly what it is and how it will affect their work. LIS graduates and postgraduates will also be potential readers. Published in association with TFPL Ltd TFPL Ltd have been researching KM since 1996 and have monitored developments in Europe and the USA. They have recently completed an international research project looking at the skills required for the successful implementation of knowledge management.

With the buzzwords of knowledge-based economy and knowledge-driven economy, policy-makers, as well as journalists and management consultants, are pushing forward a vision of change that transforms the way advanced economies work. Yet little is understood about how the knowledge-based economy differs from the old, traditional economy. It is generall

This book is about how to implement creative competition within an organization. It examines the conditions under which internal competition can promote knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing. The book describes a number of studies of sales departments in Japanese firms. Sales departments in Japanese firms were studied because internal competition is getting fiercer in these departments following the recent introduction of performance-based compensation. Exploratory case studies of ORIX Corporation and Japan Computer were conducted in order to generate research hypotheses. To gather quantitative data and test the hypotheses drawn from the case studies, a questionnaire survey of sales departments of Japanese firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was carried out. The findings reported in the book shed new light not only on internal competition theory, but also provide new insights into the theories on knowledge creation and intra-organizational conflict.

Based on a landmark study of over 200 of American's largest companies, this book examines how the intellectual assets of a corporation can be leveraged to create a knowledge organization.

Competition, Economic Planning, and the Knowledge Problem expands on the ideas Kirzner first discussed in Competition and Entrepreneurshipthe role of the entrepreneur and its relation to the determination of prices and the coordination of individuals plansas well as economic planning, the knowledge problem, market-process theory, and the parts played by information, knowledge and advertising. It includes a paper on F. A. Hayeks theory of market coordination and the Austrian business-cycle theoryseen now for the first time in its original English. As a whole, the volume expresses Kirzners understanding that economics cannot be separated from its human element. Competition is a rivalrous process of entrepreneurial activity in which individuals and firms discover, innovate, and outdo each other. Kirzner discusses why this dynamic view of the economy is so important to understand, particularly in the contexts of economic planning and the workings of competitive markets. Over the course of this books nineteen articles and one monograph, Kirzner also stresses another point: though knowledge is present in all economic interaction, it is also dispersed in the economy such that no individual mind can ever centralize it all. This knowledge problem implies, as Mises and Hayek have argued, the impossibility of central planning. Kirzners contribution is to show that, ultimately, it is only the free, competitive entrepreneurial process that can overcome this problem through generation of knowledge that enables the most efficient allocation of scarce resources.

New breakthrough thinking in organizational learning, leadership, and change Continuous improvement, understanding complex systems, and promoting innovation are all part of the landscape of learning challenges today's companies face. Amy Edmondson shows that organizations thrive, or fail to thrive, based on how well the small groups within those organizations work. In most organizations, the work that produces value for customers is carried out by teams, and increasingly, by flexible team-like entities. The pace of change and the fluidity of most work structures means that it's not really about creating effective teams anymore, but instead about leading effective teaming. Teaming shows that organizations learn when the flexible, fluid collaborations they encompass are able to learn. The problem is teams, and other dynamic groups, don't learn naturally. Edmondson outlines the factors that prevent them from doing so, such as interpersonal fear, irrational beliefs about failure, groupthink, problematic power dynamics, and information hoarding. With Teaming, leaders can shape these factors by encouraging reflection, creating psychological safety, and overcoming defensive interpersonal dynamics that inhibit the sharing of ideas. Further, they can use practical management strategies to help organizations realize the benefits inherent in both success and failure. Presents a clear explanation of practical management concepts for increasing learning capability for business results Introduces a framework that clarifies how learning processes must be altered for different kinds of work Explains how Collaborative Learning works, and gives tips for how to do it well Includes case-study research on Intermountain healthcare, Prudential, GM, Toyota, IDEO, the IRS, and both Cincinnati and Minneapolis Children's Hospitals, among others Based on years of research, this book shows how leaders can make organizational learning happen by building teams that learn.

Collaborate, or die! Knowledge has become the new source of wealth, and the co-creation and sharing of knowledge through collaboration, the key to the success of today?s organization. Collaboration is everyone?s business and every business?s concern. Unfortunately, the mindset of most business people is not one of cooperation, but of competition. Collaborate to Compete, offers a practical, applied approach to fostering a spirit of cooperation not just within an organization, but also with suppliers, customers, and even competitors to gain a competitive advantage. Many knowledge management initiatives and approaches have failed in their attempt to harness and share the knowledge resident in organizations because they focus on technology, systems, and the valuation of intellectual property, but often neglect the human side. Collaborate to Compete goes beyond the traditional technological approaches of knowledge management systems to address the human challenges, as well as the psychological, cultural, and organizational barriers to employees, suppliers, and customers actually using these systems. Collaborate to Compete Shows how to create an atmosphere of trust, teamwork and collaboration and the promotion of emotional intelligence. Offers practical tools, processes and exercises that are helpful in developing a culture of collaboration. Introduces a unique assessment instrument, the Collaboration Quotient?, that measures the readiness of individuals and of their organization to collaborate. It is also used to monitor the organization?s progress in developing collaboration. Provides a detailed design for a practical and effective Internet-based knowledge network that facilitates knowledge sharing and co-creation. Includes comprehensive coverage on: how to transform a command-and-control organization into a collaborative one; how to measure, maintain, and increase collaboration; how to identify and eliminate the systems and processes that hinder collaboration; how to reward and encourage collaboration; and much more. Features examples and case studies that provide a blueprint for implementation, including organizations such as Documentum, Hill & Knowlton, Intel, Northrop Grumman, Open Text, Siemens, Turner Construction, Vignette and others.