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Reflections on knowledge-based approaches to the organization of production

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  • Robert Grant

Abstract

Knowledge-based approaches to the firm offer valuable insights into some of the central issues of governance and organizational design—especially into long neglected problems of coordination. I start from the assumption that the fundamental problem of economic organization is reconciling efficiency in knowledge development with efficiency in knowledge application. The paper extends the knowledge-based view of the firm and knowledge integration approach to organizational capability that I outlined in earlier papers (Grant in Strategic Management Journal, 1996a ; Grant in Journal of Management Studies 7(4)375–387, 1996b ) and draws upon subsequent contributions to the literature. From this basis, I derive implications for the relative efficiencies of alternative institutions of economic organization and for the design of firm structures. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2013

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  • Robert Grant, 2013. "Reflections on knowledge-based approaches to the organization of production," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(3), pages 541-558, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jmgtgv:v:17:y:2013:i:3:p:541-558
    DOI: 10.1007/s10997-011-9195-0
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    1. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1992. "Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 383-397, August.
    2. Gary P. Pisano, 1994. "Knowledge, Integration, and the Locus of Learning: An Empirical Analysis of Process Development," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 85-100, December.
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