MOT1524 Leadership & Technology Management
Chapter 1: The changing context of work: implications for knowledge and
innovation
The rise of knowledge economy:
3 factors:
- Land mining the raw materials required for producing goods
- Labour driving force for making goods
- Capital to develop and buy new technology
2 things (innovations) became more important over time namely:
- Automatization
- Importance of services
The growing importance of digital innovation
Examples:
- New products -> autonomous vehicles
- New services -> Online applications
- New organisational Processes -> AI, Robotics
- New business models -> use of Big Data
Knowledge gap = a gap between what research suggest we could do. (Environmental friendly cars vs
engine cars)
Knowledge management (KM) = is about the extent that organisations are able to create value by
improving, creating, capturing knowledge.
Or:
‘the effective learning processes associated with exploration, exploitation and sharing of knowledge
(tacit and explicit) that use appropriate technology and cultural environments to enhance an
organizations intellectual capital and performance
,MOT1524 Leadership & Technology Management
Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) = in digital technology KM is stimulated and have been
called KMS
Repository KMS = Codification strategy -> focus on efficiency -> depend on creating repositories of
knowledge that others can access across time and space
Networked KMS = Focus on innovation -> personalisation strategy -> rely on the ability of technology
to connect knowledge workers across space so that they can share knowledge directly.
Different approaches to knowledge management afford different opportunities and challenges in
relation to this ability:
- Distinction is drawn between repository(codification) and network approaches
- The repository approach can be useful for managing more explicit knowledge, whereas the
network approach can be useful for managing tacit knowledge.
Repository provides access to what others have done previously and this can be useful as a basis for
making decisions in a current context.
But network and repository approach are aimed to improve knowledge processes within
organisations.
Knowledge exploration vs exploitation
Knowledge exploration = refers to creating new knowledge for innovation – to produce new product,
services, organisational arrangements or business models (to be innovative)
Knowledge exploitation = involves ensuring that existing knowledge that is potentially available within
a firm and that beyond its boundaries, it is actually accessed and used so that costly reinvention and
repeating of the same mistakes are avoided (to improve efficiency)
Ambidextrous = keep a balance of both knowledge exploration and exploitation
Tacit vs explicit knowledge
Explicit knowledge = knowledge which is known and that can be codified in words, numbers, symbols,
and is able to communicate between those who share the same symbolic reference code. The shared
knowledge could only understand by people who have the same understandings.
Tacit knowledge = relates to the idea that we know more than we can tell. (Example; riding a bike,
practice is needed to become able to ride one) It is very difficult to communicate to someone else in a
way that directly transfers the knowledge.
Note: KM initiatives are flawed, because they rest on the idea that tacit knowledge can converted into
explicit knowledge
So, what is knowledge???
Knowledge = evident by its consequences. Or knowledge is the individual ability to draw extinction
within a collective domain of action, based on appreciation of context of theory or both
Aristotle used 3 term to express the meaning of different kind of knowledge:
,MOT1524 Leadership & Technology Management
- Techne = applied knowledge based on means – end rationality
- Episteme = theoretical knowledge
- Phronesis = practical knowledge of how to act in an immediate situation
Possession perspective = focus on the structures or routines that carry knowledge and recognitions –
individual mental functioning. In this perspective, mind is viewed as the carrier of knowledge that set
out how to do something. This possessed knowledge includes both tacit and explicit knowledge.
Knowing = not something that stands out of practice but is constantly (re) produced as people and their
tools work together. Practice is the engine of knowledgeability
The epistemologies of possessions and practice and their generative dance = idea that knowledge is
both a possession (explicit and tacit knowledge) and also a practice and that it is the interaction of both
that helps us to understand what is going on in any given situation
Communities of practice = communities that share common practices and can learn from each other to
develop that practice at a collective level
, MOT1524 Leadership & Technology Management
Chapter 2: The Innovation Process
Roger’s diffusion of innovation = explains and potentially predict how, for what reason and to which
extent new things and ideas spread across individuals and organisations. (LINEAR Model)
Innovation is not always a smooth process, instead of roger’s model suggests.
Absorptive capacity = highlights that innovation derives from the appropriation is of new external
knowledge but this appropriation is not always straightforward
Innovation = a complex process involving the development of a new idea and/or thing and its adoption
and use among community of potential users
Different types of innovation:
- Product (output) – product innovation requires process innovation and vice versa, both have a
positive impact on companies’ performance!
- Process (output) – BPR Business Process Reengineering and Six Sigma are examples of process
innovation
- Incremental (degree of change) – aim to improve previous products or services
- Radical (degree of change) – risky because it is not known how people will react to that, with
this it could be risky for early adopters
- Disruptive (impact)– could be as result of radical innovation if successful
- Service – could be described as more or less radical/incremental innovations, drobox is an
example of this innovation
Firm/user perspective = the perspective of a new innovation could be different for the user as for the
firm
Chapter 1: The changing context of work: implications for knowledge and
innovation
The rise of knowledge economy:
3 factors:
- Land mining the raw materials required for producing goods
- Labour driving force for making goods
- Capital to develop and buy new technology
2 things (innovations) became more important over time namely:
- Automatization
- Importance of services
The growing importance of digital innovation
Examples:
- New products -> autonomous vehicles
- New services -> Online applications
- New organisational Processes -> AI, Robotics
- New business models -> use of Big Data
Knowledge gap = a gap between what research suggest we could do. (Environmental friendly cars vs
engine cars)
Knowledge management (KM) = is about the extent that organisations are able to create value by
improving, creating, capturing knowledge.
Or:
‘the effective learning processes associated with exploration, exploitation and sharing of knowledge
(tacit and explicit) that use appropriate technology and cultural environments to enhance an
organizations intellectual capital and performance
,MOT1524 Leadership & Technology Management
Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) = in digital technology KM is stimulated and have been
called KMS
Repository KMS = Codification strategy -> focus on efficiency -> depend on creating repositories of
knowledge that others can access across time and space
Networked KMS = Focus on innovation -> personalisation strategy -> rely on the ability of technology
to connect knowledge workers across space so that they can share knowledge directly.
Different approaches to knowledge management afford different opportunities and challenges in
relation to this ability:
- Distinction is drawn between repository(codification) and network approaches
- The repository approach can be useful for managing more explicit knowledge, whereas the
network approach can be useful for managing tacit knowledge.
Repository provides access to what others have done previously and this can be useful as a basis for
making decisions in a current context.
But network and repository approach are aimed to improve knowledge processes within
organisations.
Knowledge exploration vs exploitation
Knowledge exploration = refers to creating new knowledge for innovation – to produce new product,
services, organisational arrangements or business models (to be innovative)
Knowledge exploitation = involves ensuring that existing knowledge that is potentially available within
a firm and that beyond its boundaries, it is actually accessed and used so that costly reinvention and
repeating of the same mistakes are avoided (to improve efficiency)
Ambidextrous = keep a balance of both knowledge exploration and exploitation
Tacit vs explicit knowledge
Explicit knowledge = knowledge which is known and that can be codified in words, numbers, symbols,
and is able to communicate between those who share the same symbolic reference code. The shared
knowledge could only understand by people who have the same understandings.
Tacit knowledge = relates to the idea that we know more than we can tell. (Example; riding a bike,
practice is needed to become able to ride one) It is very difficult to communicate to someone else in a
way that directly transfers the knowledge.
Note: KM initiatives are flawed, because they rest on the idea that tacit knowledge can converted into
explicit knowledge
So, what is knowledge???
Knowledge = evident by its consequences. Or knowledge is the individual ability to draw extinction
within a collective domain of action, based on appreciation of context of theory or both
Aristotle used 3 term to express the meaning of different kind of knowledge:
,MOT1524 Leadership & Technology Management
- Techne = applied knowledge based on means – end rationality
- Episteme = theoretical knowledge
- Phronesis = practical knowledge of how to act in an immediate situation
Possession perspective = focus on the structures or routines that carry knowledge and recognitions –
individual mental functioning. In this perspective, mind is viewed as the carrier of knowledge that set
out how to do something. This possessed knowledge includes both tacit and explicit knowledge.
Knowing = not something that stands out of practice but is constantly (re) produced as people and their
tools work together. Practice is the engine of knowledgeability
The epistemologies of possessions and practice and their generative dance = idea that knowledge is
both a possession (explicit and tacit knowledge) and also a practice and that it is the interaction of both
that helps us to understand what is going on in any given situation
Communities of practice = communities that share common practices and can learn from each other to
develop that practice at a collective level
, MOT1524 Leadership & Technology Management
Chapter 2: The Innovation Process
Roger’s diffusion of innovation = explains and potentially predict how, for what reason and to which
extent new things and ideas spread across individuals and organisations. (LINEAR Model)
Innovation is not always a smooth process, instead of roger’s model suggests.
Absorptive capacity = highlights that innovation derives from the appropriation is of new external
knowledge but this appropriation is not always straightforward
Innovation = a complex process involving the development of a new idea and/or thing and its adoption
and use among community of potential users
Different types of innovation:
- Product (output) – product innovation requires process innovation and vice versa, both have a
positive impact on companies’ performance!
- Process (output) – BPR Business Process Reengineering and Six Sigma are examples of process
innovation
- Incremental (degree of change) – aim to improve previous products or services
- Radical (degree of change) – risky because it is not known how people will react to that, with
this it could be risky for early adopters
- Disruptive (impact)– could be as result of radical innovation if successful
- Service – could be described as more or less radical/incremental innovations, drobox is an
example of this innovation
Firm/user perspective = the perspective of a new innovation could be different for the user as for the
firm
