Organizational Learning and Knowledge Technologies in a Dynamic Environment

Baets, Walter R.J.

ISBN 10: 0792385306 / ISBN 13: 9780792385301

Published by Kluwer, 1998

About this Item

Paperback in good condition. Light wear to cover. Few places in text highlighted. 275 pp. Seller Inventory # 219833122

Bibliographic Details

Title: Organizational Learning and Knowledge ...

Publisher: Kluwer

Publication Date: 1998

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis:

I am not a born academic. I deliberately joined the ranks of academia at a fairly late stage as a natural progression from my professional career as an executive in what in those days was known as "decision support". My career had begun in the telecom industry before the days of deregulation in what one would call strategic planning and then I moved on to decision support in the field of banking, developing trading room software and risk management systems. As I developed decision support systems for real applications, the more I realized how very dependent these systems are on decision design. I began to question a number of basic business assumptions. I felt increasingly the need to review the way decision support systems were conceived at the time since they not only limited what one could do with computers, but also limited the decision-making capacity of executives. I thus decided to take time out from my professional obligations in order to be able to investigate the 'whys and wherefores' behind decision-making. I experienced yet another disappointment at the beginning of my academic career as I noted the academic research style prevailing in most Business Schools. The academic community was adhering to a type of research methodology based on a single view of the way humans think.

Synopsis:

While theories on 'learning organizations' and 'knowledge-based companies' have recently emerged, little attention has yet been given either to the underlying structures of these developments, or to the link between these underlying structures and the resources available to manage them. "Organizational Learning and Knowledge Technologies in a Dynamic Environment" attempts to fill this gap. It thus presents practical and concrete ways for companies to be adaptable and flexible whilst operating effectively and efficiently. Underlying concepts and insights into flexible management and chaotic market behavior are translated into a pragmatic approach to knowledge management within companies, using the latest technology. Corporate knowledge is increasingly proving to be not only an important resource, but possibly unique in its sustainability.Managing knowledge as a resource, as well as managing learning as the process which creates that resource, can only be done using appropriate information technologies. The foundational concepts discussed emerge from such fields as neurobiology, cognitive sciences, physics, and organizational theory.

These are applied to management and substantiated with examples. New developments in knowledge management, such as connectionist approaches, are outlined and illustrated with real cases. The author further describes an approach for developing knowledge networks in companies. The annex offers readers with an advanced interest in the matter an epistemological discussion on scientific methods for management research and touches in a broader sense on the measurability of management processes.