knowledge creation: hidden driver of innovation in the digital age
DESCRIPTION
The importance of knowledge creation and innovation for organizational success is well established. At the same time, emerging technologies are ‘generative’ platforms with the capacity to produce unprompted change. At its core, innovation is a process of creating and using new ideas and concepts. As such, innovation may be conceptualized as a special class of knowledge creation. Further, the knowledge creation process is a driver of innovation. The paper develops a model of organizational knowledge creation and innovation to pinpoint the moments in the knowledge creation process where innovation occurs. The utility of the framework is illustrated with data from case studies on knowledge creation in innovative virtual world projects, which in turn reveals a set of strategies for driving knowledge creation and innovation in firms. The research has important implications for IS research on emerging technologies and user-generated and crowd-sourced innovation Full paper available here: http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2013/proceedings/KnowledgeManagement/4/TRANSCRIPT
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KNOWLEDGE CREATION: HIDDEN DRIVER OF INNOVATION IN THE DIGITAL ERA
Niamh O RiordanNational University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
ie.linkedin.com/in/niamhoriordan/
International Conference on Information Systems, MILAN 2013
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International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Agenda
• Research motivation• Theoretical underpinnings• Conceptual framework• Research methodology• Findings• Conclusions
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Motivation• Organizational innovation
– (Is a) core topic– (Generally seen as a) Weasel word
• Knowledge creation in firms– (Should be) a core topic because of its relationship with innovation– Significant interest since Nonaka et al. – Knowledge creation, storage/retrieval, transfer and application (A&L, 2001) – (Also seen as a) Weasel word– Practical and theoretical problems
• Emerging ‘generative’ platforms have the capacity to produce unprompted unprompted change and can therefore play a key role in supporting organizational innovation and knowledge creation in firms
International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Weasel words: words or claims that turn
out to be empty upon analysis
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Theoretical Underpinnings #1At its core, innovation is a process of creating
and using new ideas and concepts
– Newness– Creativity– Utility– Value
– Versus invention– As a process
International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
incremental v. radicalproduct v. process
administrative v. technical
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Theoretical Underpinnings #2As such, it is useful to look at innovation from [some sort of] a knowledge-based view
* Though we don’t much like this view in IS…
International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Innovation ≡ knowledge =
knowledge=
f(knowledge)
⊂ knowledge≈
knowledge
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International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
they “do not simply process information... they actually create new knowledge and information
from the inside out,
in order to redefine both problems and solutions and, in the process, to re-create the environment”
- Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995, p.56
When organizations innovate,
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International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Conceptual Framework iWhat are knowledge structures composed
of?P3 Knowledge structures consist of declarative and procedural elements
P6 Knowledge creation is influenced by one’s initial knowledge structures
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International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Conceptual Framework iiHow is knowledge created? P1 Knowledge is created when existing knowledge structures, mental
templates that individuals impose on the environment to give it form and meaning, are changed
P2 The process of innovation is fundamentally intertwined with the process of knowledge creation such that innovations have the potential to be conceived at that point in the knowledge creation process where existing knowledge structures are changed
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Research Methodology
• Six case studies of digitally enacted innovation in virtual worlds• Criterion sampling technique• 12 month period• Data collection*
– Participant observation – Semi-structured interviews– Documentary analysis
• Data analysis as per Miles and Huberman (1994)– Field and case notes– Memos and pattern codes– Within and cross case displays
International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
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International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Findings
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International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Conclusion• Fundamentally, innovation is the generation and successful implemention
of ideas in firms
• It it useful to view innovation using a knowledge-based lens, particularly because IS/IT are increasingly ‘generative’ platforms
• In this case, we can say that the capacity for innovation arises out of knowledge creation processes and we therefore try to stimulate innovation by trying to stimulate the creation of new knowledge
• To better understand knowledge creation, it is best to consider declarative and procedural (rather than tacit and explicit) forms of knowledge
International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
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Niamh O RiordanNational University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
[email protected] ie.linkedin.com/in/niamhoriordan/
Thank You