Experts of specific domains form the fastest increasing workforce in the OECD countries. Since this fact has been realised by management researchers, they have focussed on the question of how to measure and enhance the productivity of said workforce. According to the author’s research, it is, however, not the measurement and enhancement of an expert’s productivity which is to be regarded as the crucial challenge in the management of experts. The author, moreover, has identified five success factors which impose specific challenges on the management of experts. This paper summarises the key arguments for aforementioned perspective, based on empirical research carried out by the author. It defines parameters that constitute expert performance and delineates the implications of this perspective for the theory of and the practice in managing experts.
Based on many analyses at enterprises over the past years we see that the economy nowadays asks for efficient and sustainable solutions in knowledge management (KM). Thus, we propose to follow the principle of value orientation also in managing knowledge regarding that there are different types of business processes with different demand for KM. To confirm this fact and to deduce adequate procedures, we conducted a case study at a logistics service provider introducing the innovative method of knowledge-based value stream mapping.
Classifying phenomena is a key step to building new knowledge, especially in the early stages of a research process. It can bring about multiple advantages and insights, such as overview and comparison. Yet it also poses several risks and constraints. Thankfully, challenges can be over-come by re-classifying items in a domain with alternative classification principles, which lead to new insights or perspectives, as well as highlight previously neglected considerations. This process can be supported by graphic representations. Visualizing the drawn (and redrawn) distinctions can make a classification accessible and versatile, which makes it easier to compare with other classifications. Visualizing classifications can augment the entire research process, including hypothesis formation, testing, interpretation and result reporting. There is no systematic overview of methods to represent (especially qualitative) classifications graphically. This paper fills that gap in the literature. We distinguish between four types of visual classifications, based on their differing ability to emphasize hierarchies or group relations. We label these four types as compilations, configurations, layers, and trees. We analyze their benefits for the research process and point out potential risks to consider when using visualization for classifications purposes in social science research.
An increasing amount of companies are interested in using the innovative potential of Web 2.0 technologies. This paper describes the main results of a comparative analysis of several quantitative empirical studies on the use of Web 2.0 in enterprises. This includes findings about diffusion, possibilities of application, benefits, barriers, and factors of success for the use of Web 2.0 in enterprises. The findings of this comparative study show effective and reasonable ways of using Web 2.0 in enterprises.
In this contribution Wikis are interpreted as social information spaces. These information spaces can be decomposed in different networks. Here, one network is introduced – the collaboration network. This network type exemplifies how dynamics in social information spaces can be analyzed. For this, different approaches of visualizing networks are explained. The chosen approach is applied in an descriptive study. The open community project Wikiversity is examined to introduce one possible analysis in SONIVIS:Tool – an open source ntwork mining software.
Despite intensive research within the field of knowledge management and its components, the issue of knowledge valuation and its organisational integration presents a big challenge. Existing research papers about knowledge valuation have remained on very abstract levels and therefore cannot be very easily adapted to the needs of a specific company. Often only scarce information is provided for specific practical implementation. This interferes considerably with the application of existing methods of knowledge valuation. In addition, support by information technology seems only seldom to be found nowadays, which also complicates the application of existing methods in organisations. The aim of this research paper is to compare selected established approaches of knowledge valuation on the basis of certain criteria. Furthermore, an analysis and identification of possibilities for improvement are given.
There is plenty of hype around the term Web 2.0. While the change of the web has gathered increased attention from the Web 2.0 community itself, it seems that the corporate world feels unconfident how to apply the principles of the Web 2.0 to their businesses. Due to the ambiguity and fuzziness of the concepts describing Web 2.0 there is a lot of uncertainness. Highly affected industry branches like the media industry show interest but their fears of loosing their competitiveness because of not knowing how to handle the phenomenon Web 2.0 are evenly strong. Nevertheless, little academic work has been conducted on the implication of Web 2.0 to the business domain. This paper bridges the gap in having a deeper look into the phenomena of Web 2.0 leading to the development of a more graspable model for corporate use of Web 2.0 encapsulating a business focus and hence defining the term Corporate Web 2.0. By showing how the introduced model is applied, it helps companies including the media and other businesses to derive a business value from the new Internet.
Download Paper
This exploratory study aims to discuss issues on media measurement in relation to concurrent media consumption of digital media news services. A survey was conducted using a sample consisting of students from the Media Technology program at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden. The data was mainly analyzed qualitatively as the majority of the survey questions were open-ended. The respondents stated that a combination of the computer with the Internet where the media most common to consume simultaneously with other media such as TV or the mobile phone. The phone was the media most mentioned as prioritized when consuming media simultaneously. The findings thus indicate that simultaneous consumption is common among the media aware technology students in the sample.
Simultaneous media consumption might imply for the media companies that competition for the audience attention takes on new forms. This consumption might then affect media companies as their advertisers are becoming more and more aware of the phenomenon. Measures for media consumption have to be adapted to this behavior and previous research suggests that observation methods might be used to detect simultaneous media consumption.
Knowledge Management literature suggests that failure is a non trivial issue. Crucial to researchers’ understanding of this phenomenon are: definition, causality, and predictability. These issues are addressed in this paper, as it aims to propose a methodology to examine Knowledge Management Systems Failure. The position advocated here is that Knowledge Management Systems are descendents of Information Systems; thus, we take up the Systems Failure Approach from the Soft Systems school of thought, as a potentially fruitful methodology to be implemented in Knowledge Management Systems failures studies.
This paper evaluates methods that can be used for effectively generating und utilizing intellectual capital reports (ICRs) for external and internal reporting as well as for internal knowledge-sensitive management decisions. Research is accompanied by a case study in a high-tech enterprise (Infineon Technologies Austria AG). An intellectual capital report controlling process has been developed. The findings of this research will be of use to all knowledge-based companies and institutions as they demonstrate how and why to measure intellectual capital. The paper discusses the proposed controlling system and the most important findings. An ICR is a multi-indicator system used to depict the development of intangible assets. As there are currently only unsatisfactory accounting guidelines for the reporting of intellectual capital available, an emphasis on techniques for selecting indicators for the report has been made. As a result, convincing reports for external addressees can be generated. Furthermore, methods for using this information as a foundation for knowledge-sensitive management decisions are drafted. The ideas presented in this paper are based on a master’s thesis written at Infineon Technologies Austria AG.
Radical innovation becomes a more important capability of today’s companies. It involves high resource commitment, a long range perspective and the acceptance of risk and uncertainty. As this paper will show, this is not only a question of resources but about organizational system architecture and individual characteristics. We focus the Front End of the innovation process and the individual behaviour of the initiator, who is the key person in this phase. He first recognizes the radical opportunity in terms of a potential product-market combination which is new to the world. The information processing behaviour differs from the usual bottom up initiatives driven by suggestion systems, continuous improvement processes or kaizen. The information resp. knowledge about radical opportunities is not visible for anybody else in the organization until the initiator starts its transition at the organizational level.
Otherwise it stays hidden inside the initiator. The transition needs high personal initiative and overcoming internal and external barriers. The tasks include predevelopment activities and issue selling. Radical innovations comprehend risk in respect of uncertain feasibility, costs and customer acceptance. Besides this organisational perspective the initiator has additional personal risks, concerning career, and as a consequence payment level and even job security. That is why prior revealing his information he has to take all potential consequences of the initiative into account. In this paper we focus this specific decision and determinants of the opportunity recognizer’s behaviour to take charge of the radical opportunity – an essential question not addressed in innovation research so far.
Unlike entrepreneurs, initiators act inside an existing organizational context with specific strategies, procedures, rules and norms. Moreover, every initiator has certain characteristics like traits, experiences and knowledge. We suggest that the personal characteristics and organizational environment influence the individual risk perception of the radical opportunity and the following decision in a specific way. The organizational variables can be configured as such that risk perception decreases and a higher motivation and target level are set. Hence, the top management will soon get guidelines of organizational design to indirectly influence this individual decision and to get to know about more radical opportunities. Then they can evaluate them which is especially important for building a balances innovation portfolio. The article helps getting a deeper understanding of the information processing behaviour of initiators in front end innovation processes and therefore has practical relevance for all organisations which try to intensify their innovation activities.
This paper describes our work on developing an ontology-based software infrastructure for retaining and maintaining theoretical Knowledge Management (KM) Maturity Models (ONTOKNOM) by using a KM Maturity Model Ontology. Moreover ONTOKNOM provides technical means for designing a web-based system that supports the form-based selfevaluation of an organization with regard to its current maturity level, as well as for providing concrete organizational recommendations and measures in order to achieve a higher one. A description of including the existing KPQM model into the system is also provided.
Increasingly Wikis are used to support existing corporate knowledge processes. Wikis are an appropriate software solution to support these processes because of their specific design principles. However, it is not yet proven whether Wikis are an adequate knowledge management tool. This paper presents a new approach to analyze existing networks in Wikis. Four perspectives on Wiki networks are introduced to investigate all dynamic processes and their interrelationships in a Wiki information space. The Social Network Analysis (SNA) is used to uncover existing structures and temporal changes. Additionally, a data set of a corporate Wiki is used to present an analysis which has been carried out. Results of analyzes work can be utilized to improve the existing knowledge processes in a company.
We explored how the intended purpose of a knowledge model can influence the modelling process and in particular, how it impacts on the choice points of the underlying modelling methodology. We introduce a classification of knowledge models according to their intended scope, expressiveness and degree of acceptance. As a result, we aim to define critical success factors of methodologies for ontologies that are built by domain experts and that can be used as a basis for knowledge enabled (software) systems
Defining e-services with the help of a Co-Design Platform (CDP) offers the possibility for designers to co-construct services with users that better respond to their real needs. A physical or virtual agora, the CDP offers a way to guide the analysis and conception of new services by taking advantage of the convergence between content production, editing and distribution on the Internet. By anticipating the expectations of users, we describe a methodology that aims to correlate designers’ models, consisting of domain objects, and users’ conceptual models, composed of usage objects.
The paper presents a new approach to developing a roadmap for technologyenhanced professional training. The new methodology views roadmapping as a knowledge creation process and involves the key phases of foresight analysis (identification of prevalent visions) and gap analysis. A conceptual model of the roadmapping process as a knowledge creation exercise is introduced and discussed.
This paper addresses the problem of how different agents may find consensus on a particular ontology. Mainstream literature on this argument has traditionally described such problem as rooted in the realm of abstract and logical reasoning. On the other hand, a socioeconomic perspective suggests that consensus dynamics might be read as pragmatic processes driven by the interests of those who are concretely affected by the ontology and its change. Assuming a constructivist perspective, we derive from existing literature that the notion of interest might be properly defined as the retrospective need to interpret (and create) a world in which past investments can be reused. From this perspective, an ontology can be intended as a “view of the world” that legitimates the existence of a set of sunk investments made by its users. A tentative framework is proposed where these concepts are applied to describe the process of semantic consensus. The paper concludes with major implications and future work.
This paper presents results of an empirical study on the use of knowledge management in logistics companies from Germany and Portugal. This study run in early 2006 aimed at understanding how important knowledge in those companies is, what and how strong the investments in knowledge were in 2004, what needs (defined as the difference between priorities and investments) did exist, and what the impacts of the investments in knowledge on the companies’ evolution between 2003 and 2005 were. The results achieved so far show clear differences, but also surprising similarities between the two countries. Furthermore, the impact of KM on the logistics performance is still hardly to be grasped.
In the last 20 years, various Knowledge Management (KM) approaches and solutions have been developed, although companies use them only to make corporate knowledge explicit, collected, and organized into large and homogeneous knowledge repositories, groupware or wiki systems, knowledge portals, etc. According to this milieu, practitioners believe that the introduction of such solutions will “mechanically” conduct innovation within the company. In fact, they do not consider the interdependencies among human actions, institutional roles, and technology architecture of KM systems applied within companies. These aspects are taken into account in the two new models proposed in this paper for Project Based Organizations (PBO): (i) a model for the typical process of project life cycle, (ii) a model that allows practitioners to develop successful KM solutions. These tend to integrate organizational strategies and culture, business processes, and technological solutions.
This paper describes our work on identifying relevant indicators for the characterization of Best Practice Cases (BPCs) for Knowledge Management (KM) introduction projects and for the assessment of their portability to other organisations. We scanned relevant KM literature and web pages for generating a basic set of indicators and verified these indicators through an open internet survey (n=103). For that purpose, we developed a web-based questionnaire where the respondents could prioritize the proposed indicators and assign them to one or more predefined classification schemes. We distinguished between indicators for the general description of an organisation, critical KM success factors, and indicators for the transferability of KM BPCs to other organisations. The evaluated results of the survey were used as an input for the development of an ontology-based reference model (description schema) for KM BPCs.
Although both e-learning and knowledge management are about facilitating learning in organization, the major obstacle to bring both of them together can be traced back to different paradigms of learning, resulting from the different nature of the knowledge they are dealing with. In this paper, a knowledge maturing process is presented to illustrate the change of nature and the discontinuities. This lays the foundation for a better understanding. In order to overcome the discontinuities, the consideration of context is proposed, which offers the required continuity.
Several of the Communities of Practices (CoP) Alterra/Wing manages have reached their mid-life. Designed CoPs have come to life and have achieved alignment, from which we can learn. A growing interest can be signalised in using CoPs as management instruments and in governance. Governments are seeking new ways in policy making and new steering instruments. Using the case of agrologistics we describe how the Dutch government has used a CoP for complex planning and organizational problems. The social design, planning and management of a new CoP have linked together a wide range of stakeholders to establish a operational CoP. Alignment is a key factor in this transition to self-steering; the value of belonging is very powerful. Masters play an important role in setting up and in steering the CoP. CoPs can be developed as new instruments of governance, based on the theoretical concept of CoP.
This paper surveys knowledge management (KM) development using a literature review and classification of articles from 1995 to 2004 with a keyword index and article abstract in order to explore how KM performance evaluation has developed during this period. Based on the scope of 76 articles from 78 academic journals of KM, this paper surveys and classifies KM measurements using the following eight categories: qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, financial indicator analysis, non-financial indicator analysis, internal performance analysis, external performance analysis, project-oriented analysis, and organizational-oriented analysis together with their measurement matrices for different research and problem domains. Discussion is presented, indicating the followings future development directions for KM performance evaluation: (1) KM performance evaluation is getting more important. (2) The quantitative analysis is the primary methodology in KM performance evaluation. (3) Firms are now highlighting the KM performance of competitors, through benchmarking or best practices, rather than internally auditing KM performance via balanced scorecard. (4) Firms may begin to focus more on project management measurement, than on the entire organization.
Organisations are searching for efficient training methods that fit to their specific demands. This paper presents the various training and knowledge sharing initiatives applied at Hewlett Packard Services Consulting and Integration (HPS C&I) for its Knowledge Management (KM) program. It outlines the usage of e-learning for our KM program but gives at the same time an idea how e-learning can be put on top of collaborative workspaces and be tied into the KM program.
Experience-based Information Systems (EbIS) become more and more sophisticated from a technical point of view. However, there are several shortcomings that seem to limit the input and usage of these systems. The problems identified in this paper are related to knowledge acquisition, to learning issues, as well as to the users’ motivation and trust. We introduce an approach to both enhance the content of the experience base (EB) and to improve learning from experiences at the same time: weblogs maintained during daily work can serve as input for experience bases and learning element bases (LEB). Retrieved experiences are then enriched with additional learning elements in micro-didactical learning arrangements. An empirical study explores the suitability of using weblogs for such an approach.
Corporate training increasingly takes place within the framework of a company’s strategic orientation. A holistic view of learning and training processes as well as a focus on a comprehensive management of corporate training (“training management”) emerges. The paper presents and analyses results from an international survey conducted by the EU-funded research project ELENA.
This paper discusses the information technologies that support the knowledge management processes in enterprises. Knowledge processes are differentiated from operational business processes and their role in enterprise management is identified. Commercial software tools are surveyed based on their roles in the process of creating, sharing and using knowledge. The role of knowledge management systems in customer processes in modern organizations is discussed.
Based on an understanding of knowledge resolved into the concept pair “schema and its dependent instantiations” our paper describes in general the management of schemata in such a way potential users may validate their own acquired and available knowledge with respect to a provided knowledge base. The model describes fundamentals of classifying knowledge for users in particular situations requiring knowledge from various areas of expert systems. An application system with enhanced validation service is called an epistemic application system. The approach is based not on a formal but on a content-oriented language called material language on top of a rational grammar and a dictionary with a standardized reconstructed terminology.
In this paper, adopting a structurationist perspective on technology, we explore the relationship between organizational forms and ICTs when the “matter” to deal with is knowledge production and innovation. The reason why such focus is relevant is twofold. On the one hand it has been widely underlined the importance of knowledge as strategic asset [Stewart 97]. On the other, is because we believe that many KM technology investments haven’t generate the expected results and benefits [Davenport 00]. A structuration theory reading of KM technologies could provide a lens in order to draw some interesting explanations on some problematic aspects of KM implementations and, moreover, on some interesting prescriptions on how future implementations should be approached.
In many organisations, conservation of specialised expertise is picked out as a central theme only after experienced members have already left. The paper presents the SELaKT method, a method for Sustainable Expert Localisation and Knowledge Transfer based on social network analysis (SNA). It has been developed during a project co-operation between the Department of Information Science at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies, Free University Berlin, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK, Berlin. The SELaKT method uses recent insights into network analysis and pragmatically adapts SNA to suit organisational practice. Thus it provides a strategic tool to localise experts, to identify knowledge communities and to analyse the structure of knowledge flows within and between organisations. The SELaKT method shows its advances and increasing relevance for practical use by integration of specific organisational conditions and requirements into the process of analysis.
In Higher Education and Research Organisations (HEROs), one of the most important activities in the R&D process is the effective management of knowledge transference. A correct analysis and diagnosis of that process through knowledge management methodology is essential for the correct orientation of organisation strategy. The aim of this paper is to describe the analysis carried out in order to diagnose the research & development & transference (R&D&T) activities at a public university in Spain. The diagnosis analyses the key phases in the knowledge transference process, because these different stages define important implications for the monitoring of the intellectual capital and the organisation’s performance. Also with in the diagnostic analysis preformed here an methodological innovation is introduced related with the cause and effect relations of the knowledge collaboration and a process witch deals mainly with intangibles
In this paper we present the results of two studies aimed at understanding how employees find knowledge available in their organisation. Data about knowledge awareness and knowledge finding strategies were collected in two research organisations using interviews and on-line questionnaires. The results of the two studies demonstrate interesting patterns. First, we found that although people say that they are aware of knowledge in their organisation, they also indicate that the same knowledge is developed at different places in their organisations. Second, asking others and searching own mailbox and other own digital and paper archives – and not organisation-wide repositories – are most popular ways for finding in-house knowledge. The results are discussed in terms of implications from the perspective of employees and from the perspective of organisations.
Goal of this research is hence to present a research model for influencing factors of pricing decision for an organizational procurement A model for the evolution of organizational market is built based on literature review of inter-organizational negotiation, interviews indepth with domestic industry, and empirical data analysis. Factors in the proposed model may create valuable information for marketplace administrators to build appropriate strategies for their businesses. The relationship between framing, personal risk attitudes and the performance and personal intuitive preference of pricing decision in an organizational procurement are proposed to assist the trades between industries. Also the findings might be useful for building a data bank for e-negotiation between buyer and seller. Knowledge base and E-learning information systems are potential research to promote the effectiveness and efficiency of trades of organizational marketplace on Internet.
Companies are starting to recognise synergies between knowledge management, training and e-learning programs, but a closer look reveals that these integration ideas are rarely implemented in practice. The goal of this paper is to provide a starting point for collaboration between corporate KM and HR/learning teams by mapping existing practices of linking KM, training and e-learning efforts. We provide an overview of experiences and future ideas of collaboration derived from several studies, group them in three themes and then illustrate each theme with a scenario. The first theme gives examples of using HR and training instruments to support knowledge management. The second theme represents cases of using KM methods (namely a community of practice) to support HR learning management efforts. The last theme describes how KM and HR/learning teams could work on joint initiatives. Then we discuss the added value of the scenarios and propose further practical steps and research directions.
Based on the observation that on one hand a lot of knowledge management initiatives lack of a precise assessment of the relevant knowledge assets and that on the other hand actual concepts of knowledge audits lack of a sound theoretical basis, the aim of this paper is to describe the theoretical basics of such a knowledge audit: Its core idea lies in the integration of knowledge stock- and knowledge flow measurement. The concept of Intellectual Capital (IC) makes clear that knowledge measurement from this perspective deals with the measurement of knowledge stocks. Hence, the impact of IC investments at the beginning of a period can be identified in an increased knowledge stock at the end of the period. Unfortunately, IC measurement approaches do not provide managers with explicit recommendations on how to deal with the resource knowledge within a period. Hence, managers can be provided with knowledge flow measures in order to be able to manage the resource knowledge more specifically. A case study illustrates the benefits of knowledge flow measurement in order to plan and evaluate knowledge management projects explicitly.
The goal of this article is to explore some of the main reasons that sustain a
distributed approach to Knowledge Management, and this will be done, first, showing how, according to very different theoretical disciplines, knowledge diversity is proposed as the very source of organizational innovation and adaptability; second providing some evidence coming from major applicative domains; third proposing some considerations on the role of technology.
Embedded systems play an increasingly important role in today’s society. The spectrum of embedded systems ranges, for example, from mobile phones to X-by-wire control systems in cars and airplanes. The regional embedded systems knowledge base, called EmBase, is a comprehensive project which investigates and maps the knowledgebase in embedded systems with a focus on Austria and Central Europe. EmBase supports individuals, private and public institutions and companies that implement, develop, support, purchase or sell embedded systems so that they can successfully identify key market trends and directions and align themselves and their activities with these trends
Knowledge management case studies in most cases focus on one or a few applications. Typically, the discussion is limited to what has been found out in the past. On the other hand, numerous authors have reported on the technological aspects at a high level of abstraction, where no specific business cases were taken into account. There are polls and surveys to identify potential future trends, but these typically investigate a serious of market segments without making specific statements about KM in the automotive industry. In this paper we hope to bridge this gap: in order to identify the potential benefits of KM, we will survey some of the literature describing recent, current, as well as expected future developments in the automotive industry. In particular, expand on three key trends in order to discuss potential benefits from Collaborative KM: the supply chain, improvements in engine development, and providing the industry with skilled workers. We found that the following are interesting applications from the point of view of Collaborative KM: (1) collaborative partner extranets (to support the supply chain), (2) inter-company collaboration, training to be tied into every-day work, KM to support Quality Management (to assist in the improvements of engine performance), and (3) e-learning combined with helpdesk automation and a knowledge base (in order to help provide the industry with skilled workers).
The present state of research on competence management does not provide any suitable model that can be used in practice. This article presents a model for integrated competence management, which gives approaches from both cognitive science and organizational science a practical framework of action.
Creating online communities involves much more than creating software. Software houses online community activities but social interactions also depend on who is involved, what their goals are, personalities and policies. By paying attention to these sociability issues, community developers, managers and leaders can influence how a community develops. For instance, they can facilitate policies that engender sound social norms and increase social capital. This paper identifies some of the ingredients for social capital development in Communities of Practice (COP) and outlines the components of a a framework for future research.
KM is more an archipelago of theories and practices rather than a monolithic approach. We propose a conceptual map that organizes some major approaches to KM according to their assumptions on the nature of knowledge. The paper introduces the two major views on knowledge –objectivist, subjectivist – and explodes each of them into two major approaches to KM: knowledge as a market, and knowledge as intellectual capital (the objectivistic perspective); knowledge as mental models, and knowledge as practice (the subjectivist perspective). We argue that the dichotomy between objective and subjective approaches is intrinsic to KM within complex organizations, as each side of the dichotomy responds to different, and often conflicting, needs: on the one hand, the need to maximize the value of knowledge through its replication; on the other hand, the need to keep knowledge appropriate to an increasingly complex and changing environment. Moreover, as a proposal for a deeper discussion, such trade-off will be suggested as the origin of other relevant KM related trade-offs that will be listed. Managing these trade-offs will be proposed as a main challenge of KM.
The loss of an employee – voluntarily or involuntarily – represents a great risk of losing information and know how as well as breaks the natural knowledge flow. We developed the Knowledge Transfer Meeting Methodology in order to reduce the “brain drain” through a systematic hand-over. The Knowledge Transfer Meeting consists of five modules that support the retrieval and sharing of knowledge systematically and explicitly. The approach promotes a mentorship or partnership philosophy, motivating the leaving employee to share his or her knowledge and experience with a successor. For the implementation of the Knowledge Transfer Meeting Methodology in the company, we identify and train so-called “facilitators” who lead the participants through the process and hence support and spread the methodology within the company.
The process of knowledge and intellectual capital management aims to improve organisational performance and efficiency. Knowledge is a distinct capability that contributes to the improvement of this efficiency. Learning is an integral part of the knowledge system and can be identified by deconstructing available organisational knowledge. This paper offers an interpretative perspective of knowledge and intellectual capital development; it also examines previously fractured contextual approaches to organisational management research, which often fail to include learning as a significant factor for both absorbing and recognising the knowledge capabilities of a firm. Based on the results from a study conducted across 140 companies as well as selected case studies, this paper investigates learning mechanisms and their role in building a firm’s knowledge capabilities. This paper argues that learning is an integral part of the knowledge process in which learning acts as an endogenous factor for the development, absorption and utilisation of knowledge. The search continues for an appropriate epistemological framework in the area of management research under which organisational learning theories can be analysed while simultaneously remaining relevant and useful to the pragmatics of organisational knowledge development.