W. David Holford

Qualified ageing workers in the knowledge management process of high‐tech businesses

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to aim to characterise the knowledge management process of the ageing human capital, within the sectors of aeronautics and bio‐technologies in Canada.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology consists of: cross‐search of literature towards the elaboration of a theoretical map; and collection of data involving semi‐directed interviews followed by a thematic and statistical analysis of the textual data.Findings – Managements knowledge of social and relational knowledge, especially those of ageing workers, appears to be scarce, thus resulting in ageing workers being perceived as surpassed by technological and scientific progress. This conception deprives the company of an important source of knowledge capitalisation. A model relevant to the evaluation of company practices related to inter‐generational aspects of knowledge management should include six basic dimensions, namely: management philosophy (a managerial style favouring projections and proximities), strateg...

Boundary constructions as knowledge flows within and between work groups

This paper proposes the concept of boundary constructions. An initial framework depicts subjects shaping objects across enactment phenomena just as, conversely, objects shape subjects’ interpretations and experiences. Results from an ethnographic case study within a community of practice highlight the blurring or dynamic entanglement that occurs between objects and subjects, thus going beyond conventional dualism. Such dynamics involve a constant flux or movement of co/reconstructions at the boundary (or social intersection) of intra-acting subjects. These boundary co/reconstructions are embedded within effective workplace dialogue, and are thus part of the process of knowing (or flow of emergent knowledge).

Knowledge construction and risk induction/mitigation in dialogical workgroup processes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how knowledge is constructed and risk is induced within the workgroup environment of a large North American aerospace company.Design/methodology/approach – Based on an epistemological position on knowledge and risk, an initial conceptual framework is proposed. This is then evaluated and re‐constructed across a qualitative and ethnographic case study approach involving direct observations and interviews, whereby empirical results were interpreted and analysed across discourse analysis.Findings – A dialogical model is proposed describing both verbal and non‐verbal interactions between group members leading towards knowledge complexification on the one hand and risk mitigation on the other hand. Factors leading towards dialogical breakdown and subsequent risk induction are also presented.Research limitations/implications – This single case study prevents generalizing the findings across the entire firm in question, and by extension any manner of external vali...

Knowledge Construction as Movement via Boundary Constructions and Dialogue

Knowledge construction is described across both verbal and non-verbal interactions between group members observed within an ethnographic case study. Two levels of movements are first observed: one involving the dialogical movement of perspectives between Self and Other, and a second involving non-verbal interactions as a dynamic entanglement of objects and subjects across a process coined as boundary constructions. Both levels are simultaneously involved within the process of knowing. A less visible movement is also present in the form of a dialectical interplay between knowledge possession and knowledge emergence. For such movement to occur social engagement by group participant is vital.

Revisiting the concept of boundary objects across the lens of boundary constructions

Building upon current perspectives on boundary objects, an alternative framework is proposed for describing effective knowledge sharing across dialogical interactions between individuals based on the boundary construction concept. Tapping into Bruno Latours epistemological insights of mutual transformation, hybridisation and inter-reciprocal relationship between the object and subject, it is argued that boundary constructions, in contrast to the more conventional thinking on boundary objects, are in a constant flux of actual (and potential) co-construction and re-construction at the hands of inter-acting actors. This boundary constructing, which is prevalent within effective workplace dialogue, in turn, leads to enriched organisational sense-making and knowledge sharing.

An agential realist perspective on the construction and flow of knowledge: the case of dynamic entanglement and “cuts” within an aircraft engine manufacturing workplace

This paper aims to show agential realism as the basis for a pertinent framework with regard to the entwined, on-going and interpretative aspects of knowledge.,The knowledge flow phenomenon in the form of entanglement and agential “cuts” within the workplace is studied and described across a phenomenological ethnographic case study of two workgroups within an aircraft engine manufacturing context.,The boundary construction phenomenon is a key process helping us to depict knowledge entanglement (tacit and explicit) across dialogue and non-verbal actions. Dialogue brings forth the aspect of knowledge as interpretations or “cuts.” A phenomenological analysis allows us to identify and describe various levels of tacit–explicit knowledge entanglement depending on the mode of coping at hand. Also highlighted was the importance of heuristics carried out by knowledge experts, often in the form of abduction (i.e. leading to rules of thumb).,It is acknowledged that the relatively narrow context of the empirical work limits the ability to generalize the findings and arguments. As such, additional work is required to investigate the validity of the findings across a wider spectrum of workgroup contexts.,Agential realism allows for the analysis of organizations as a world of practice and actions, whereby long-established categories can be requestioned and challenged with the aim of sharing the full richness and benefit of embodied knowledge between human actors.,Ethnographic descriptions of the entwined nature of tacit and explicit knowledge, the embodied and activity-based dimension of knowledge and learning, as well as the characteristic of knowledge as possession, correspond well to an agential realist concept of phenomenon, entanglement and cuts. Furthermore, agential realism offers the opportunity to view the workplace as individuals (or groups) who act out embodied tacit-explicit knowledge in conjunction with non-human entities (such as objects, as well as communication and information technologies), with the latter acting as enhancers of knowledge creation and sharing.

Addressing the tacit knowledge gap in knowledge systems across agential realism

Past literature has claimed that knowledge systems can enhance or facilitate the creation, retention, transfer and application of tacit knowledge. While this paper agrees that this objective is realizable, it argues that the literature has so far failed to successfully operationalize this, since at the core of the models published to date lies the flawed epistemological assumption of knowledge ‘conversion’ – more specifically, tacit to explicit knowledge conversion. This paper proposes the alternative epistemology of agential realism which allows us to reframe tacit knowledge within knowledge systems, whereby humans and machine are coupled together (intra-act) to enhance and retain tacit knowledge creation and sharing without putting undue emphasis on its conversion and storability into an explicit form – thus, agential realism allows tacit to remain as tacit. In addition, this critical-conceptual paper proposes nascent examples of human-machine or knowledge system configurations which have affinities or potential affinities with an agential realist approach.

Managerial Implications on Viewing Knowledge as Constructions

This conceptual paper argues that knowledge involves individual and social construction. As such, knowledge is more often than not subjective and inter-subjective. Furthermore, a specific form of constructed knowledge (known as collective tacit knowledge) can only be attained across social immersion and engagement. Paradoxically, it is through this subjective contextualisation of knowledge that we can attain more pertinent knowledge in dealing with a situation at hand. The implications for management in regards to routines, procedures and expert systems, as well as on the need for hands-on mediation are discussed.

Knowledge Construction and Risk Induction within a Large High-Tech Firm

An ethnographic case study of two interacting workgroups within a large North American aerospace company allowed us to propose a dialogical model describing both verbal and non-verbal interactions between group members leading towards knowledge complexification on the one hand and risk mitigation on other hand. Factors leading towards dialogical breakdown and subsequent risk induction are also presented. This study attempts to bridge the areas of knowledge creation and risk induction at the interpersonal/workgroup level.