Harnessing the innovative potential of knowledge in the digital enterprise

1. Harnessing the innovative potential of knowledge in the digital enterprise Dr Niamh O Riordan National University of Ireland Galway Dr Philip O’Reilly University College Cork Prof. Frederic Adam University College Cork Saturday, June 8th 2013

2. Agenda • Motivation • Evolving perspectives in the literature • Research Approach • Findings • Conclusion

3. Motivation It is well established that… Knowledge is a key organisational resource and a core performance driver ∴The literature on storing, capturing and retrieving knowledge (information?) is mature However… We know a lot less about how knowledge is created in the first place and we’ve only just started to think about IS/IT as generative platforms Individuals’ generative capacity: their “ability to produce something ingenious or at least new in a particular context”

4. Evolving Perspectives Innovation

5. Research Approach • Initial theory building using propositions • Knowledge exists in declarative and procedural forms • Knowledge is created when changes take place in mental frameworks • Knowledge creation occurs through experience and ongoing social processes • Knowledge creation is shaped by one’s needs and initial mental frameworks • Knowledge creation affects one’s capacity for action Innovation and knowledge creation are intertwined such that innovations are conceived and enacted at that point in the knowledge creation process where existing knowledge structures are changed • Multiple case studies investigating 2 questions • If knowledge creation is shaped by initial stocks of knowledge, then is it possible to (empirically) classify initial knowledge stocks? • If knowledge creation is triggered by experiences, then are there particular kinds of experience that are more likely to lead to knowledge creation than others (taking into account the importance of prior knowledge)? 6 case studies of innovative VW projects

6. Findings

7. 1. Knowledge stocks

8. 2. Knowledge behaviours

9. TIME Enables and shapes the Existing knowledge frameworks: Opportunistic co-operation New experiences and new information Purposeful self-reliance Knowledge creation process Opportunistic self-reliance Purposeful co-operation Recreates or reconstructs TIME

10. Conclusions • Core contributions: • Addresses a gap in research on knowledge creation and its relationship with innovation • Also contributes to our understanding of emerging technologies as generative platforms • Provides a starting point for managers wishing to better utilise organisational knowledge • Limitations: • Case studies are used to illustrate the utility of the framework but there are issues associated with the generalisability of the findings • The analysis operates at the level of the individual

11. Take aways • Knowledge exists in the minds of individuals To understand how knowledge is created, we must concentrate on how individuals’ mental structures are changed over time • Knowledge exists in declarative and procedural forms It is time to look beyond SECI and the (flawed) tacit / explicit classification • Knowledge is created when existing mental structures change We cannot afford to ignore existing or prior knowledge

12. THANK YOU Niamh O Riordan niamh.oriordan@nuigalway.ie www.niamhoriordan.com ie.linkedin.com/in/niamhoriordan/