The Process of Creation and Capitalization of Knowledge Within Distributed Organization: The Case of Clusters

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the process of creation and capitalization of knowledge within clusters. Clusters are characterized as localized and distributed organizations. We consider that clusters can be analyzed as a whole but are influenced and influence their member's knowledge. Four dimensions of knowledge - technological, managerial, social-relational and strategic-politic - are used to investigate the creation and capitalization process.A study case in a Brazilian software development cluster was performed to identify the characteristics and limits of this process. The main limit perceived derived from the weak cooperation between firms and with the cluster board, as well as the lack of sense of belonging of the firms to the cluster. The work of Orlikowski (2002) on cognitive and social distributed organisation allows us to analyse why it is so difficult for clusters to develop and disseminate knowledge.We also propose additional recommendations based on the view of clustering and on knowledge creation and capitalisation as embeddedness-decoupling process. PCCK depends both on the strategy and the policy of the cluster which emerge from its members, and on the strategy and the policy of those members, acting independently from the cluster.