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Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Second Edition
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Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Second Edition

by MARK EASTERBY-SMITH, MARJORIE A. LYLES
September 2011
Beginner content levelBeginner
719 pages
29h 25m
English
Wiley
Content preview from Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Second Edition

The Antecedents of Organizational Knowledge-Bases

Why are there so many different types of knowledge-bases (Weick, 1991; Yayavaram and Ahuja, 2008)? Examining the literature that has developed along the six major dimensions of a knowledge-base it is natural to ask why organizations display so much variance between their knowledge bases. We next examine some of the leading organizational influences on organizational knowledge-bases.

Strategy

Organizational strategies are possibly the most salient influence in shaping several of the dimensional variations in knowledge-bases. Expansion into new geographic markets (Ahuja and Katila, 2004), seeking knowledge variety by tapping into different national contexts across the world (Luo, 1999; Tsang, 2002; Lahiri, 2005; Almeida and Phene, 2004; Alcácer and Chung, 2007; Chung and Yeaple, 2008; Meyer et al., 2009), and seeking research and development efficiencies and competitive advantage by knowledge-sourcing across low cost locations (Zhao, 2006) all contribute to knowledge-base differentiation as the organization distributes its research activities across geographic space. Knowledge-base differentiation may also emerge from foreign entry by acquisitions or joint ventures (Luo, 1999; Tsang, 2002; Almeida and Phene, 2004; Meyer et al., 2009).

Similarly, search for complementary skills and scale economies drive firms to seek collaborative alliances and these in turn affect several of the knowledge-base dimensions such as its de facto size ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780470972816Purchase book