Recommended Book
 Knowing
in Firms:
Understanding, Managing and Measuring Knowledge
edited by Georg von Krogh, Johan Roos and Dirk Kleine
(London, UK: SAGE Publications Inc., 1998, 290 pp.)
Reviewed by Michael J.D. Sutton
Insightful Understanding
When Drs. Georg von Krogh and Johan Roos first released Organizational
Epistemology in 1995, (New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN: 0-3121-2498-8),
they were increasingly recognized as very provocative thought leaders
in the knowledge management area.
Organizational Epistemology offered something new, a more insightful
understanding of the nature of the epistemic (knowledge-making) capabilities
of organizations. Shortly thereafter in 1996 there appeared Managing
Knowledge: Perspectives on Cooperation and Competition, (London,
UK: SAGE Publications Inc., ISBN 0-7619-5180-6). This new book was still
somewhat philosophical, and began where the latter left off. A collection
of chapters were compiled that supported new perspectives on knowledge,
knowledge transfer and cooperative strategies.
Even though their third book is now three years old, Knowing in
Firms: Understanding, Managing and Measuring Knowledge has made
a significant contribution to the continuing dialogue on knowledge management.
Few knowledge managers have discovered this valuable treasure.
This monograph furnishes an academic foundation for anyone who must
try to grapple with organizational knowledge and attempts to manage
it. Yet, pragmatically, it provides insight to the practitioner where
there was little theory in the past that could guide discussion of the
issues, concerns and techniques that were both paradoxical and ambiguous.
Main Contributors
First, let's take a quick view at some of the international contributors,
since a study of any of their individual work alone would support a
strong foundation in knowledge management. You will be quite impressed
by the line up:
- Georg von Krogh is a Professor of Management at the University
of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and sits on the Board of Directors at
the Institute of Management. After receiving his Ph.D. (Doctorate)
from the University of Trondheim in Norway, he taught strategy and
marketing at the Norwegian School of Management. He has taught and
carried out research in Italy, Germany, England (London School of
Economics) and Japan. His research focus is strategic management,
including strategic cooperation, competencies, management practices
and processes; knowledge management; and the foundation of qualitative
research within the field of strategy.
- Johan Roos is a Professor of Strategy and General Management
at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Switzerland.
His focus areas include knowledge management, specifically, knowledge
creation and corporate ways of knowing; intellectual capital;
and complexity theory as they relate to firms as adaptive systems.
He has been affiliated with numerous business schools: Norwegian School
of Management, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and
the Stockholm School of Economics.
- Dirk Kleine is a Professor at the Fachhochschule Osnabrück
- University of Applied Sciences, Germany, and formerly a Ph.D. candidate
at the Institute for Management. He focuses his research on cooperative
strategies, knowledge transfer, the pharmaceutical industry and argumentation
theory.
Other Contributors
Among the remaining contributors are a number of organizational consultants
and academics that have authored numerous books and research articles
on complexity theory, knowledge management, philosophy, innovation,
the learning organization, the intelligent enterprise, organizational
theory, organizational psychology, and knowledge transfer:
| Consultants
|
Thomas Bertels
|
Rath & Strong/Aon Management Consulting,
Hamburg, Germany |
| Valery Kanevsky |
Hewlett-Packard, USA
|
| Charles Savage |
Knowledge Era Enterprises, USA
|
| Jürgen Schüppel |
Group, Munich, Germany |
| Academics
|
| Frank Blackler |
Lancaster University Management School,
UK |
Bettina Büchel
|
Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok,
Thailand |
Norman Crump
|
Lancaster University Management School,
UK |
Peter Gomez
|
Institute of Management, |
Lars Huemer
|
Umeå Business School, Umeå University,
Sweden |
Tom Housel
|
Information Management, University of Southern
California, USA |
Kazuo Ichijo
|
School of Social Science, Hitotsubashi University,
Tokyo, Japan |
Rodrigo Magalhães
|
Information Systems, London School of Economics,
UK |
Donald Marchand
|
Information Management, International Institute
for Management Development (IMD), Switzerland |
Seonaidh McDonald
|
Lancaster University Management School,
UK |
| Günter Müller-Stewens |
Management and Organization, University
of St. Gallen, Switzerland
|
| Ikujiro Nonaka |
Organizational Dynamics, Department of Social
Knowledge Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
(JAIST), Ishikawa, Japan
|
| Gilbert Probst |
Organization and Management, University
of Geneva, Switzerland
|
Steffen Raub
|
Organization and Management, University
of Geneva, Switzerland |
Keigo Sasaki
|
Economics and Business Administration, Yokohama
City University, Japan |
Gabriele Troilo
|
University L. Bocconi, Milan, Italy |
| Katsuhiro Umemoto |
Social Systems, Japan Advanced Institute
of Science and Technology (JAIST), Ishikawa, Japan
|
Markus Venzin
|
University L. Bocconi, Milan, Italy |
| Salvatore Vicari |
Business Administration, University L. Bocconi,
Milan, Italy |
For more information on this book see: An
Analysis of the Book: Knowing in Firms: Understanding, Managing and
Measuring Knowledge (article open to subscribers only).
To order:
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