Managing knowledge associated with innovation

Abstract

This article reports the results of empirical work carried out in a project funded by the UK Government's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The project was concerned with operationalising knowledge management concepts in the context of interorganisational innovation. The companies that collaborated in this project were a major manufacturer of powered garden machinery and a major mobile telephone operator. The technique, which has been developed, operationalises the concepts of: tacit and explicit knowledge, radical and incremental innovation, and the five basic knowledge management processes: externalisation, dissemination, internalisation, socialisation, and discontinuous learning. The technique involves each participating party identifying the features that the successful innovation needs to possess. This is followed by the identification of the knowledge gaps that must be bridged if each feature is to be achieved. These knowledge gaps constitute the units of analysis. For each unit of analysis/knowledge gap, the size of the gap, and the nature of the required knowledge are estimated subjectively by each project team member. This allows both the identification of units which have high risk and the nature of the knowledge transformation processes, which need to be managed. The independently generated subjective perceptions are shared between the collaborating parties in a process of “perceptual synthesis.” At an operational level, the technique facilitates a productive dialogue between team members. At a managerial level, once a consensus regarding risk and vulnerability has been reached, improved project management becomes possible.