Business organizations' knowledge‐production processes: an autopoietic approach

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore the potential of autopoiesis theory to open up new ways to understand knowledge production in business organizations.Design/methodology/approachInitially essential theoretical information is presented, by reviewing the concept of knowledge‐based competitive advantages in business organizations, and describing the notions of autopoiesis as a basis for the understanding of knowledge production in organizations, and micro‐macro problem within the companies' structure and production. After that follows the main content of the paper, namely descriptions of processes influencing knowledge production in business organizations.FindingsKnowledge is embedded in social practices and a local setting and it is very much tacit in nature providing then a basis for creating a sustainable competitive advantage for business organizations. A business organization's memory and production are mutual media for one another in autopoietic recursive processes.Originality/valueFinding a viable perspective and approach with which business organizations can understand how their knowledge production takes place is an important issue. It is claimed in this paper that the idea of autopoiesis can potentially provide a new understanding for business organizations' knowledge production.