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Striving for a Competitive Edge Through a Knowledge Management System: A Critical Perspective on Knowledge Management

Beeren, Elaine LU and Nell, Jennifer LU (2020) BUSN49 20201
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
Today, organizational competitiveness largely depends on a company’s ability to learn, which is why more and more organizations aim to enhance organizational learning through practicing Knowledge Management (KM). Due to the little research on organizational culture and subcultures in KM literature, practitioners often embark on KM change efforts in a technocratic fashion and focus solely on technology. In our qualitative study, we investigated such a change effort at a knowledge-intensive firm – Cybit. The company’s change project, which is here called the Collabity project, entails the implementation of a company-wide KM system. Our research followed the interpretive tradition, whereby we conducted a partial ethnographic study in order to... (More)
Today, organizational competitiveness largely depends on a company’s ability to learn, which is why more and more organizations aim to enhance organizational learning through practicing Knowledge Management (KM). Due to the little research on organizational culture and subcultures in KM literature, practitioners often embark on KM change efforts in a technocratic fashion and focus solely on technology. In our qualitative study, we investigated such a change effort at a knowledge-intensive firm – Cybit. The company’s change project, which is here called the Collabity project, entails the implementation of a company-wide KM system. Our research followed the interpretive tradition, whereby we conducted a partial ethnographic study in order to capture the significance of the organizational culture within the Collabity project. By doing so, we discovered the heterogeneity of the organization’s culture and thoroughly examined its meaning in the context of KM. Thereby, our research uncovered the powerful impact of Cybit’s subcultures for the Collabity project and the company overall. Having complimented our investigations of the studied organization’s culture with contemporary KM literature, we emphasize in our thesis the significance of organizational culture and subcultures for KM, and in particular, for KM systems. In light of this, we contribute to the field of KM by offering theoretically generalizable contributions. We moreover offer practical implications for the studied company Cybit, in the form of consideration points. Our practical implications are also applicable to organizations that are likewise to Cybit, characterized by a heterogeneous culture and planning on enhancing organizational learning in order to increase competitiveness. (Less)
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author
Beeren, Elaine LU and Nell, Jennifer LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN49 20201
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Heterogeneous Culture, Knowledge-intensive Firm, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management System, Organizational Change, Organizational Culture, Organizational Learning, Subcultures, Qualitative Research, Technocratic Change Approach
language
English
id
9012246
date added to LUP
2020-06-25 11:26:00
date last changed
2020-06-25 11:26:00
@misc{9012246,
  abstract     = {{Today, organizational competitiveness largely depends on a company’s ability to learn, which is why more and more organizations aim to enhance organizational learning through practicing Knowledge Management (KM). Due to the little research on organizational culture and subcultures in KM literature, practitioners often embark on KM change efforts in a technocratic fashion and focus solely on technology. In our qualitative study, we investigated such a change effort at a knowledge-intensive firm – Cybit. The company’s change project, which is here called the Collabity project, entails the implementation of a company-wide KM system. Our research followed the interpretive tradition, whereby we conducted a partial ethnographic study in order to capture the significance of the organizational culture within the Collabity project. By doing so, we discovered the heterogeneity of the organization’s culture and thoroughly examined its meaning in the context of KM. Thereby, our research uncovered the powerful impact of Cybit’s subcultures for the Collabity project and the company overall. Having complimented our investigations of the studied organization’s culture with contemporary KM literature, we emphasize in our thesis the significance of organizational culture and subcultures for KM, and in particular, for KM systems. In light of this, we contribute to the field of KM by offering theoretically generalizable contributions. We moreover offer practical implications for the studied company Cybit, in the form of consideration points. Our practical implications are also applicable to organizations that are likewise to Cybit, characterized by a heterogeneous culture and planning on enhancing organizational learning in order to increase competitiveness.}},
  author       = {{Beeren, Elaine and Nell, Jennifer}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Striving for a Competitive Edge Through a Knowledge Management System: A Critical Perspective on Knowledge Management}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}