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Men and measures: capturing knowledge requirements in firms through qualitative system modelling

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  • J Swart

    (Bath University)

  • J H Powell

    (Southampton University)

Abstract

Knowledge Management (KM) is an issue of great and increasing importance in most if not all areas of managerial endeavour. In this paper, we are concerned with the particular practical difficulty within KM of mapping knowledge in a managed system. This is an important practical issue because without a view of the terrain of explicit and tacit knowledge in the managed system, we have little prospect of planning our managerial interaction. Few if any practical methods exist which reflect the strongly systemic nature of business organizations. We begin by establishing our position with regard to the numerous definitions and perspectives of knowledge in managed systems, and indeed in regard to the disagreements that rack KM over the nature of knowledge itself, where it lies and the role of humans as creators, users and guardians of that knowledge. We relate the nature of system knowledge to well-known taxonomies of knowing what, knowing how, knowing why, knowing who together with the integrated from of knowing in the managed system as a whole. The method presented, Systems Based KM (or SBKM), is based on a non-positivist qualitative method deriving from System Dynamics and it is presented through the medium of a case study of a professional firm.

Suggested Citation

  • J Swart & J H Powell, 2006. "Men and measures: capturing knowledge requirements in firms through qualitative system modelling," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 57(1), pages 10-21, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:57:y:2006:i:1:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2601983
    DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601983
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bj–rn Johnson & Edward Lorenz & Bengt-Åke Lundvall, 2002. "Why all this fuss about codified and tacit knowledge?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(2), pages 245-262.
    2. Cowan, Robin & David, Paul A & Foray, Dominique, 2000. "The Explicit Economics of Knowledge Codification and Tacitness," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(2), pages 211-253, June.
    3. Véronique Ambrosini & Cliff Bowman, 2001. "Tacit Knowledge: Some Suggestions for Operationalization," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 811-829, September.
    4. Robert Jacobson, 1990. "Unobservable Effects and Business Performance," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(1), pages 74-85.
    5. J H Powell & R G Coyle, 2005. "Identifying strategic action in highly politicized contexts using agent-based qualitative system dynamics," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 56(7), pages 787-798, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wright, George & Cairns, George & Goodwin, Paul, 2009. "Teaching scenario planning: Lessons from practice in academe and business," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 194(1), pages 323-335, April.
    2. Federico Cosenz & Guido Noto, 2016. "Applying System Dynamics Modelling to Strategic Management: A Literature Review," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(6), pages 703-741, November.
    3. J H Powell & J Swart, 2008. "Scaling knowledge: how does knowledge accrue in systems?," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(12), pages 1633-1643, December.
    4. J H Powell & N Mustafee, 2017. "Widening requirements capture with soft methods: an investigation of hybrid M&S studies in health care," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(10), pages 1211-1222, October.
    5. Andrew S. Mitchell & Mark Lemon & Wim Lambrechts, 2020. "Learning from the Anthropocene: Adaptive Epistemology and Complexity in Strategic Managerial Thinking," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, May.
    6. Spanellis, Agnessa & MacBryde, Jillian & Dӧrfler, Viktor, 2021. "A dynamic model of knowledge management in innovative technology companies: A case from the energy sector," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 292(2), pages 784-797.

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