Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning A Reader

by Prusak, Laurence; Matson, Eric

• ISBN13: 9780199291793
• ISBN10: 0199291799
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-12
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Featuring key readings on knowledge management for graduate students and MBAs, this volume focuses on what is happening in practice. It includes seminal contributions from leading authorities and practitioners, providing a compelling picture of how knowledge and learning work in practice by including detailed examples from organizations such as Chevron, Nucor Steel, Partners Healthcare, and Xerox.

Author Biography

Larry Prusak is a researcher and consultant and was the founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Knowledge Management (IKM). This was a global consortium of member organizations engaged in advancing the practice of knowledge management through action research. Larry has had extensive experience, within the U.S. and internationally, in helping organizations work with their information and knowledge resources. He has also consulted with many U.S. and overseas government agencies and international organizations (NGO's). He currently co-directs 'Working Knowledge', a knowledge research program at Babson College, where he is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence.
Larry's most recent book (co-authored with Tom Davenport) is What's the Big Idea?, published by Harvard Business School Press in Spring, 2003. He has also recently edited a volume with E. Lesser, Creating Value with Knowledge (Oxford University Press, 2003).
Eric Matson is a manager in McKinsey's Institute for Corporate Excellence, where he leads research efforts to better understand the drivers of enduring corporate performance. His currently focuses on profiling the world's leading companies to better understand how they excel in selected areas such as network management, knowledge management, and talent management.
Prior to joining McKinsey in 1999, Mr. Matson worked as a writer for Fast Company magazine and as a consultant for Monitor Company. His recent publications include 'The Performance Variability Dilemma' (Sloan Management Review, 2003), 'Strengthening Your Organization's Internal Knowledge Market' (Organizational Dynamics, 2003), 'Leveraging Group Knowledge for High Performance Decision Making' (Organizational Dynamics, 2002), and 'Managing the Knowledge Manager' (McKinsey Quarterly, 2001).

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	p. xii
Introduction and Overview	p. 1
The Strategic Importance of Knowledge and Learning
Knowledge Management and the Knowledge-Based Economy	p. 15
Developing a Knowledge Strategy	p. 30
Knowledge Development and Individual Learning
The Learning Curve	p. 53
Knowledge-in-the-Making: The 'Construction' of Fiat's Melfi Factory	p. 70
Generating Creative Options	p. 94
Partnerships for Knowledge Creation	p. 125
Knowledge Retention and Organizational Learning
Swing Doors and Musical Chairs	p. 139
Organizational Memory	p. 148
Balancing Act: How to Capture Knowledge without Killing It	p. 173
Knowledge Transfer and Dissemination
Managing Knowledge the Chevron Way	p. 183
Getting It Right the Second Time	p. 192
Making a Market in Knowledge	p. 204
The Performance Variability Dilemma	p. 215
Social Perspectives
Knowledge Management's Social Dimension: Lessons from Nucor Steel	p. 229
Fair Process: Managing in the Knowledge Economy	p. 243
Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier	p. 259
Knowing What We Know: Supporting Knowledge Creation and Sharing in Social Networks	p. 270
Future Directions
Knowledge-Worker Productivity: The Biggest Challenge	p. 297
Just-in-Time Delivery Comes to Knowledge Management	p. 314
Seeing Knowledge Plain: How to Make Knowledge Visible	p. 323
Do You Know Who Your Experts Are?	p. 334
Using Supplier Networks to Learn Faster	p. 341
Index	p. 355
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