Georg von Krogh

Care in Knowledge Creation

Knowledge creation is the key source of innovation in any company. However, it is a fragile process fraught with uncertainty and conflict of interest. The effective creation of new knowledge (especially tacit social knowledge) hinges on strong caring among organization members. Managers have several means to facilitate caring relations, including new incentive systems, mentoring programs, care as an articulated value, project debriefings, and training programs in care-based behavior.

Community, Joining, and Specialization in Open Source Software Innovation: A Case Study

This paper develops an inductive theory of the open source software (OSS) innovation process by focussing on the creation of Freenet, a project aimed at developing a decentralized and anonymous peer-to-peer electronic file sharing network. We are particularly interested in the strategies and processes by which new people join the existing community of software developers, and how they initially contribute code. Analyzing data from multiple sources on the Freenet software development process, we generate the constructs of “joining script”, “specialization”, “contribution barriers”, and “feature gifts”, and propose relationships among these. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory: Evolutionary Paths and Future Advances:

Organizational knowledge creation is the process of making available and amplifying knowledge created by individuals as well as crystallizing and connecting it to an organizations knowledge system. In other words, what individuals come to know in their (work-)life benefits their colleagues and, eventually, the larger organization. The theory explaining this process — the organizational knowledge creation theory — has developed rapidly in academia and been broadly diffused in management practice over the last 15 years. This article reviews the theorys central elements and identifies the evolving paths taken by academic work that uses the theory as a point of departure. The article furthermore proposes areas in which future research can advance the theory of organizational knowledge creation.

Making the Most of Your Company's Knowledge: A Strategic Framework

This paper develops a framework of four strategies for managing knowledge. Companies can leverage their knowledge throughout the organisation, expand their knowledge further based on existing expertise, appropriate knowledge from partners and other organisations, and develop completely new expertise by probing new technologies or markets. The two core processes of knowledge creation and transfer are central to the execution of these strategies, as is the companys domains of knowledge. The framework is based on conceptualisation about knowledge management practices at Unilever, a multinational fast-moving consumer goods company.

Towards Knowledge Networking

In this article we describe an integrated view on knowledge management and networking being a very powerful combination for the future of knowledge management. We start by giving an overview of the increasing importance of networks in the modern economy. Subsequently, we conceptualize a network perspective on knowledge management. Therefore we first give a theoretical foundation on networks, and secondly explain the interdependences between networks and knowledge management. These reflections lead to the development of a framework for knowledge networking, where we distinguish between a microperspective and a macro‐perspective. Finally, we develop a framework for knowledge networking which can be used as a basis in order to structure and reveal interdependences. We conclude by giving some implications for management and future research.

Knowing in Firms: Understanding, Managing, and Measuring Knowledge

Introduction - Georg von Krogh, Johan Roos and Dirk Kleine PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE IN ORGANIZATIONS Tough Questions on Knowledge Management - Thomas Bertels and Charles M Savage Future Research into Knowledge Management - Markus Venzin, Georg von Krogh and Johan Roos Knowledge, Organizations and Competition - Frank Blackler, Norman Crump and Seonaidh McDonald Organizational Knowledge and Learning - Rodrigo Magalh[ti]aes Knowledge and the Concept of Trust - Lars Huemer, Georg von Krogh and Johan Roos PART TWO: MANAGING AND MEASURING KNOWLEDGE IN ORGANIZATIONS Three Tales of Knowledge-Creating Companies - Ikujiro Nonaka, Katsuhiro Umemoto and Keigo Sasaki Knowledge Enablers - Kazuo Ichijo, Georg von Krogh and Ikujiro Nonaka Errors and Learning in Organizations - Salvatore Vicari and Gabriele Troilo The Knowledge Spiral - J[um]urgen Sch[um]uppel, G[um]unter M[um]uller-Stewens and Peter Gomez Knowledge as a Strategic Resource - Gilbert Probst, Bettina B[um]uchel and Steffen Raub Competing with Intellectual Capital - Donald A Marchand The Learning-Knowledge-Value Cycle - Valery Kanevsky and Tom Housel

Carrots and rainbows: motivation and social practice in open source software development

Open source software (OSS) is a social and economic phenomenon that raises fundamental questions about the motivations of contributors to information systems development. Some developers are unpaid volunteers who seek to solve their own technical problems, while others create OSS as part of their employment contract. For the past 10 years, a substantial amount of academic work has theorized about and empirically examined developer motivations. We review this work and suggest considering motivation in terms of the values of the social practice in which developers participate. Based on the social philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre, we construct a theoretical framework that expands our assumptions about individual motivation to include the idea of a long-term, value-informed quest beyond short-term rewards. This motivation-practice framework depicts how the social practice and its supporting institutions mediate between individual motivation and outcome. The framework contains three theoretical conjectures that seek to explain how collectively elaborated standards of excellence prompt developers to produce high-quality software, change institutions, and sustain OSS development. From the framework, we derive six concrete propositions and suggest a new research agenda on motivation in OSS.

How does social software change knowledge management? Toward a strategic research agenda

Knowledge management is commonly understood as IS implementations that enable processes of knowledge creation, sharing, and capture. Knowledge management at the firm level is changing rapidly. Previous approaches included centrally managed, proprietary knowledge repositories, often involving structured and controlled search and access. Today the trend is toward knowledge management by social software, which provides open and inexpensive alternatives to traditional implementations. While social software carries great promise for knowledge management, this also raises fundamental questions about the very essence and value of firm knowledge, the possibility for knowledge protection, firm boundaries, and the sources of competitive advantage. I draft a strategic research agenda consisting of five fundamental issues that should reinvigorate research in knowledge management.

Leadership in Organizational Knowledge Creation: A Review and Framework

Organizational knowledge creation integrates context, knowledge assets, and knowledge creation processes throughout the organization. Using organizational knowledge creation theory as an organizing framework, we conduct a literature review that shows prior work has focused on the role of central, upper‐echelon, leadership in knowledge creation processes, without devoting much attention to context and knowledge assets. To remedy these weaknesses, we develop a new framework for situational leadership in organizational knowledge creation. The framework is based on a continuum that ranges from centralized to distributed leadership at three layers of activity: a core layer of local knowledge creation; a conditional layer that provides the resources and context for knowledge creation; and a structural layer that forms the overall frame and direction for knowledge creation in the organization. We discuss the implications of this framework for theory and practice.

Managing Knowledge: Perspectives on Cooperation and Competition

Introduction - Georg von Krogh and Johan Roos PART ONE: REPRESENTATIONISM: TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO VIEWING KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND COOPERATIVE STRATEGIES Representationism - John Harald Aadne, Georg von Krogh, Johan Roos The Traditional Approach to Cooperative Strategies Imitation of Knowledge - Georg von Krogh and Johan Roos A Sociology of Knowledge Perspective Towards a Theory of Knowledge Transfer in a Cooperative Context - Ken Wathne, Johan Roos and Georg von Krogh The Impact of Individual and Organizational Learning on Formation and Management of Organizational Cooperation - Marjorie Lyles, Georg von Krogh, Johan Roos and Dirk Kleine Arguments on Knowledge and Competence - Georg von Krogh and Johan Roos Knowledge-Based Strategic Change - Thorvald H[di]aerem, Georg von Krogh and Johan Roos Restructuring - Georg von Krogh, Johan Roos and Thorvald H[di]aerem Avoiding the Phantom Limb Effect PART TWO: ANTI-REPRESENTATIONISM: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IN ORGANIZATIONAL COOPERATION An Essay on Corporate Epistemology - Georg von Krogh, Johan Roos and Ken Slocum Knowledge Creation through Cooperative Experimentation - Salvatore Vicari, Georg von Krogh, Johan Roos and Volker Mahnke A Note on the Epistemology of Globalizing Firms - Georg von Krogh, Johan Roos and Georg Yip Conversation Management for Knowledge Development - Georg von Krogh and Johan Roos Afterword - Georg von Krogh and Johan Roos An Agenda for Practice and Future Research