Organizations and Learning Process

This chapter uses organizational learning as a lens to study how firms implement the enterprise system. The core research questions are: What are the critical organizational factors affecting organizational learning in ES implementation? How do these elements shape the learning process and thereby influence ES implementation outcomes? To address these questions, we conducted comparative case study with two organizations that have recently adopted ES and achieved significantly different results. Based on the empirical findings, we propose a framework that describes how organizational factors affect the four constructs of organizational learning in ES implementation context — knowledge acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation and organizational memory.

Developing a Corporate Memory as a Competitive Advantage in the ICT-Sector

This chapter focuses on the challenges of developing a knowledge management platform to support organizational memory and knowledge transfer. The study is based on a qualitative study in the ICT sector. First, the chapter discusses the development of the KM platform. Second, the benefits, and a competitive advantage of such a platform, are discussed. Finally, the conclusions are made, based on the case study.

Organizational Learning During Changes in Estonian Organization

This chapter analyzes organizational changes and organizational learning in Estonian companies. During the last decades, Estonia has transformed from being an authoritarian, centralised, totalitarian, socialist state to a democratic country with a free market economy and different attitudes and values. Empirical study in Estonian organizations indicates connections between the institutionalization stage at the societal level and types of changes and organizational learning within organizations. The author proposes the model connecting changes and learning in organizations during societal transience, which could help managers of international companies to plan and implement changes in subsidiaries locating in countries in transition.

A Technology-Focused Framework for Integrating Knowledge Management into Strategic Innovation Management

Today’s business environment is characterized by highly transparent markets and global competition. Technology life cycles are decreasing due to the fast pace at which development of new technologies is progressing. To compete in this environment, it is necessary to identify upcoming innovations and trends as early as possible to decrease uncertainty, implement technology leadership, and create competitive advantage. In a parallel development, the amount of information available is already vast and increasing daily. As a result of these developments, strategic innovation management has become increasingly challenging. The goal of our chapter is to investigate to what extent knowledge management technologies support and improve strategic innovation management to face the aforementioned problems successfully. Consequently, we will develop a characterization scheme which works as a framework for the subsequent evaluation of knowledge management technologies and apply this to a real-world case.

The Role of Organizational Environmental, and Human Factors in E-Learning Diffusion

Improvements in technology have led to innovations in training such as Electronic Learning (E-learning). E-learning aims to help organizations in their training initiatives by simplifying the training process and cutting cost. It also attempts to help employees in their learning processes by making learning readily accessible. Unfortunately, the diffusion of this innovation has not been as successful as was initially predicted. In this article we explore the drivers behind the diffusion of e-learning. Apart from the factors investigated by previous research, we believe that one more dimension—human factors—should be taken into account when evaluating the diffusion of a training innovation, since learners are, to a large extent, the central issue of training. In the case of e-learning we believe that motivation plays a key role in the diffusion of e-learning.

Managing the Information Technology

The main points of this chapter are probing for the combination of information technology and virtual work, and how to change the distribution of different types of knowledge across individuals, teams, and even the organization. The discussion in the chapter will assess the dynamics between the individual, the organization, and information technology in the context of teams that vary in their virtualness. Information technology can make convenient spread of knowledge across the organization; even the point of making virtual teams a viable alternative to face-to-face work. However, unless managed, information technology may destabilize the relationship between organizations and their employees when it comes to the transform of knowledge. Therefore, this chapter advances theory and informs practice by illustrating the dynamics of knowledge development and transfer in more and less virtual teams.

Intellectual Capital Reporting

During the last decade, many calls for improving disclosure practices, in relation to intellectual capital and intangibles, have been uttered in the standard setting, academic, and business communities. There seem to be two types of solutions to this problem. One angle of attack is to seek to improve transparency through implementation of global accounting standards, and moving from historic value to fair-value practices. Another way of dealing with the problem is to step outside the accounting paradigm to see if transparency and relevance problems can be solved by way of supplementary disclosures. For some, this is a logical step. However, for many, this represents shaky ground. It is ironic that while supplementary information has been shown to reduce investors’ uncertainty, it is not being acknowledged as a key element in solving the existing problems by standard setters and academics. This chapter is a wake-up call to the drowsy constituents of academia and policy making, asking them to see beyond their normative accounting paradigm and in turn, showing them how far the strategy-oriented solutions they choose to ignore have come. In this chapter, we thus illustrate for the reader how reporting and management of companies’ knowledge resources and intellectual capital is possible through the strategic ideas of the Danish guideline for IC statements.

Division of Interfirm Activities in the Knowledge-Based Economy

In order to capture market dividends and stay at par with the competition in the knowledge-based economy, firms must constantly develop their skill profile. There is considerable scope for learning through interfirm learning processes. However, the uncertain and costly nature of this process hampers exchange of knowledge in interfirm networks. This opens up for a new form of intermediary specialised in the absorption, generation, and dissemination of knowledge: the knowledge processor. This contribution addresses the core strategic issues faced by this type of firm, and illustrates the process through a case study of a knowledge processor.

Knowledge Sharing and Sociality

This chapter deals with the role of language use and knowledge sharing in the context of international subsidiaries. The chapter analyzes the role of language use for the control and sharing of knowledge in a multicultural organizational setting using findings from an ethnographic field study in a subsidiary. Whilst previous research has addressed how objective, static cultural differences impede communication and knowledge sharing, the perspective of the chapter is on the actual use of language in knowledge sharing. The empirical study thus shows how language use shapes the flow of knowledge in an international subsidiary. The findings describe the use of language differences for controlling knowledge flows and highlight how this affects the execution of long-term corporate strategies of international development. The chapter argues that the management of language use should not be viewed as an outpost of cross-cultural management but as an integral element of the effective management of international operations. This perspective is supported by research in other disciplines covering the use of language and the social dimensions of knowledge communication such as social anthropology.

The Building of the Intellectual Capital Statement in Multinationals

Multinational companies (MNCs) are facing important challenges within the current economic context. Rapid technological changes, the globalization of the economy, the existence of increasingly demanding consumers are, among other factors, the origin of the difficulties involved in achieving and sustaining a competitive advantage in the long term.One of the keys for overcoming these difficulties is to manage knowledge-based resources appropriately. However, in order to be able to manage these resources, the multinationals need to know, with complete transparency, just what these resources are, and this is achieved by quantifying them. The quantification of knowledge-based resources and the preparation of intellectual capital statements represent two strategic challenges for the MNCs.