15 nov 2005mis 580 - km most cited 13-15 by: sven thoms km perspectives on resources and...

15 Nov 2005 MIS 580 - KM Most Cited 13-15

By: Sven Thoms

KM Perspectives on Resources and Organizational Memory

Knowledge Management Paper Analysis


Papers Analyzed

• Wernerfelt,Birger. “A Resource-Based View of the Firm”. Strategic Management Journal, 1984

• Von Hippel, Eric. “Sticky Information and the Locus of Problem Solving: Implications for Innovation. Management Science, 1994

• Walsh, James; Ungson, Gerardo. “Organizational Memory”. The Academy of Management Review, 1991


A Resource-Based View of the Firm

Wernerfelt, Birger,

Professor of Management Science, M.I.T.


Resource-Based View

• Wernerfelt coined term in 1984

• 1994 Strategic Management Journal Best Paper Prize

• Key Elements:– Scarce Resources can

create competitive advantage

– Resource Identification, Profitability Assessment, and Development using Porter’s 5 Forces Model


Resource-Based View

• Resources are assets tied to firm, e.g.– Machinery– Processes– Brand Names– Skilled Workers– Technology Know-How– Trade Contacts

• Current and Future Resources provide strategic insights into the firm’s competitiveness


Resource-Based View

• Recall: Porter’s 5 Forces

Product-Based


Resource-Based View

• Buyers, Suppliers, Substitutes– Resources in few hands limit user’s return– Bad if product from resource only sold to few buyers– Substitute resources always a threat to suppliers

• Example: – Diamonds, DeBeers– Oil vs. Hydrogen– Gallium Arsenide chips for military and NASA


Resource-Based View

• New Entrance Barriers– Resource Position Barriers

• Temporary advantage from holding a key resource

– Barriers within same market !

• Resource-Entry Barrier Duality– Create barrier to entry from exclusive access

to resource AND from product-based entry barriers

• Example: Pharma patents and skill sets


Resource-Based View• Attractive:

– Machine Capacity– Customer Loyalty– Production Experience

• Do Portfolio Analysis of Resources

• Generate Technical Lead and keep it by employing knowledgeable staff

• Look for supplementary and complementary resources in mergers


Resource-Product Matrix

• An aid to resource identification

• Links resources and profitability potential

• Primary and secondary resources

• Balancing Existing and New Resources


Related Paper

• Gold, Malhotra, Segars. “Knowledge Management: An organizational capabilities perspective”. University of North Carolina, 2001

• Related Theme: – knowledge infrastructure (techn, structure,

culture) and knowledge process capability (acquision, conversion, application, protection) combine to form organizational effectiveness


Sticky Information and the Locus of Problem-Solving

Von Hippel, Eric

Professor of Management Innovation and Entrepreneuship, M.I.T.


Sticky Information• Sticky:

– Tacit– Bound to one place

• Depending on:– Nature of Information– Transfer Problems– Mismatch of Buyer-Seller

needs and capabilities

• Key Elements:– Makes problem-solving

more complex


Mitigating Sticky Information in Innovation

• 4 Approaches:

– Solve problem where information is

– Iterate between sites to solve problem

– Subdivide tasks to fit resource availability

– Decrease stickiness by technological means


Cross-Cutting Theme

• Once resource (information) is identified as in Wernerfelt’s model, then strategic use of the sticky information can be discussed

• Cost of transfer can be seen as a barrier to intra-company effective use, similar to barriers for other firms to use information resources

• Relevancy: – Allen Curve, BMW Research and Innovation Center– Expert Systems– Consulting environment, on-site presence– Videoconferencing, Content Mgt Systems


Related Paper

• Audretsch, Feldman. “Knowledge Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation”. University of Toronto, 2003

• Key concept:– Innovation clusters, R&D center of expertise

development– Innovation happens best where resources are

concentrated, facilitating tacit knowledge interchange


Organizational Memory

Walsh & Ungson

Business Administration, U. Mich.,

International Business, San Francisco State


Analogies• Human Brain processes

and stores past information

• Flawed concepts of organizations’ memory

• Key Questions:– How is organizational

memory different– How do individuals retrieve

from organizational memory

– Can knowing an organization’s past experience really help with current decision-making?


Assumptions

• Organizations process information

• Organizations interpret environmental facts and changes with help of memory

• Semantics given to information by shared meanings and interaction in organization

• Systems perspective to organizational memory


Definition

• Staff Members develop knowledge, share it, becomes part of organization

• Decision Factors and Lessons Learned, Outcomes

• Framework of information acquision, retention, and Processing needed

• 3 roles– Informational– Control– Political


Memory Processes

• Information – Acquisition– Retention– Retrieval


The Framework

• Individuals

• Culture

• Transformations

• Structures

• Ecology

• External Archives

Acquire, Process, Retrieve


Walsh’s Suggestions

• Make current decisions in past’s context• Less Resistance to decisions if backed up by past

experience• Unlearn old information to adapt to present• Past can confuse, need also to be able to retrieve it• Automated retrieval = routine responses• Analysis Paralysis• Rewriting History to suit organizational power plays is a

danger• Design Organization with memory in mind• Retain knowledge workers


Related Themes

• Kleiner, Roth: How to make experience your company’s best teacher (2000)– Learning histories, narratives

• Argvris, Chris: Teaching Smart People How to Learn (1991)– Defensive Reasoning

• Ginsburg, Mark: Annotate A Web-based Knowledge Management Support System for Document Collections (1998)– Enable document annotations and usage history

tracking of DMSsLink to Article

http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cache/papers/cs/11333/http:zSzzSzyurta.sims.berkeley.eduzSz~markzSzmasfinal.pdf/ginsburg98annotate.pdf


Conclusion

• Von Hippel’s Sticky Information Concept very intuitive

• Wernerfelt’s Resource-Based model universally applicable– Mathematics hard to grasp

• Walsh’s observations on organizational memory akin to 11 Deadly Sins of Knowledge Management by Prusak and Fahey

15 nov 2005mis 580 - km most cited 13-15 by: sven thoms km perspectives on resources and...

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