Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Publication
    The Road Less Travelled: A New Perspective On Sustained Competitive Advantage Through Knowledge Creation
    Knowledge and intellectual capital have become the primary bases upon which organisations construct their core competencies and are increasingly seen as the key to superior organisational performance (Lubit, 2001). At the same time, both the need to and difficulty associated with developing sustainable competitive advantages are rapidly increasing (ibid.). This paper argues that two roads lead to sustained competitive advantage in firms. The well-travelled road is largely based on conceptualising knowledge in terms of information and data and attempting to leverage organisational knowledge by focusing on the management and utilisation of information in organisations. The road less travelled is based on recognising the power of knowledge in general, and knowledge creation in particular, to stimulate creativity and innovation in organisations leading to sustained competitive advantage. On this road, it is recognised that truly innovative organisations 'do not simply process information… they actually create new knowledge and information, from the inside out, in order to redefine both problems and solutions and, in the process, to re-create the environment' (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995, p.56). Despite the promise of the road less travelled, existing perspectives on knowledge creation are beset with a variety of epistemological and methodological problems. This paper develops a new perspective on knowledge creation by delving into existing conceptualisations and classifications of knowledge in literature, exploring the philosophical assumptions upon which they are based, probing the conceptual and methodological issues that surround these views and articulating a new perspective on knowledge creation to guide future research efforts.
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  • Publication
    Where The Streets Have No Name: Exploration and exploitation in novel digital settings
    (Association for Information Systems, 2014-06-11) ; ;
    Organizations are caught in a struggle to capitalize on existing strengths and competencies whilst pursuing new opportunities. To succeed, they must strike a balance between exploration and exploitation (March, 1991). A significant amount of research looks at how ambidextrous organizations do both simultaneously; but fails to address key questions about exploration and exploitation (i) in novel settings, (ii) at a micro level, (iii) over time. In particular, few studies take the impact on environment novelty into account or look at the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This study therefore investigates the dynamics of organizational exploration and exploitation in the virtual world of Second life. The study reveals that transitions between exploration and exploitation are triggered by changes in perceived environmental complexity over time. The paper presents a new conceptual framework which identifies some of the main factors affecting the dynamics of this process and shows how their significance changes over time.
      127
  • Publication
    Innovation Co-Creation In A Virtual World
    (Association for Information Systems (AIS), 2012-06-10) ; ;
    The emergence of web-based technologies has radically influenced the ways in which individuals around the world communicate, represent themselves, share ideas, and otherwise interact with one another (Ward and Sonneborn, 2009; Rogers, 2003). In particular, these technologies allow people to communicate directly with one another and to share and shape their own experiences; as a result, customers and other organisational stakeholders are increasingly involved in the design of products and services (Ramaswamy and Gouillart, 2010, p. 102). During innovation co-creation specifically, customers take an active and creative role in the intentional and successful adoption and application of ideas, processes, products or procedures that are new to the adopting organization. This study carries out six case studies of innovation co-creation in the virtual world of Second Life. Virtual worlds allow users to engage in highly active and participatory forms of co-creation that are difficult if not impossible to replicate in other environments. The study explores collaborative processes used for innovation co-creation in virtual worlds. In particular, the study presents an analysis of behaviours used to facilitate innovation co-creation in virtual world projects and the factors that affect it. The study leverages this analysis to derive practical recommendations for virtual world users and virtual world designers that can be used to stimulate and support innovation co-creation in virtual worlds.
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  • Publication
    Harnessing the innovative potential of knowledge in the digital enterprise
    The open, flexible affordances of pervasive digital technologies have fundamentally altered the nature of organisational innovation. In the extreme, these technologies become platforms for digitally enacted organisational innovation. At its core, innovation is a process of creating and using new ideas and concepts. In the digital realm innovation becomes a process of enacted knowledge creation. This research contributes to a growing discourse on the relationship between innovation and knowledge creation by building and testing a hybrid model of organisational knowledge creation and innovation. Its findings illustrate the utility of using knowledge-based perspectives to investigate organisational innovation and have significant implications for fostering digital innovation in the firm.  
      202