1 Schedule

2 Middle Up-Down Management  The Hypertext organization v most dated part of the book v book may have had an impact  In terms of knowledge management v bureaucracies good at conducting routine dysfunctional in time of change or uncertainty adaptation precludes adaptability operational and systemic knowledge (internalization, combination) v task forces are more dynamic but are temporary not good at disseminating knowledge conceptual and sympathized knowledge (externalization, socialization)

3 Middle Up-Down (con’t)  The hypertext organization v three simultaneous layers/contexts v business layer v project-team layer v knowledge-base layer  The Knowledge-base layer v tacit knowledge: corporate vision v explicit knowledge: technology solutions v recontextualize knowledge to a larger audience the need for knowledge librarians, etc.

4 Knowledge-Based Organizations  Most focus on the products they produce v knowledge held by employees is secondary v change is difficult  The Kao example v products in toiletries and cosmetics v but knowledge included surface science, polymers, etc. v therefore positioned to get into floppy disk market

5 Eastern and Western Business  One of their weakest contributions  I have a hard time swallowing their tacit vs. explicit stereotypes v yet there is a propensity toward documenting procedures in Western culture v “We discovered a strong propensity in the West to view the world in terms of a dichotomy.” [p. 236]  Their desire to merge the traditions is admirable

6 The Book’s Stated Goals  Construct a new theory of organizational knowledge creation v their best success  Explain the success of certain Japanese companies v no new ground broken here  Develop a universal management model converging Japan and the West v re-casting the middle manager as a knowledge engineer

7 Knowledge Creation  Knowledge dissemination v if you “train, train, train these knowledge workers, they will learn, learn, learn” [p.227] v leads to the unilateral movement of knowledge v their spiral accounts for movement in both directions  Current “Knowledge Management” tools focus on the dissemination problem v they focus on the human processes of creating knowledge v tacit assumption that creating new knowledge leads to business success

8 Discussion Questions  What are the most important points in the book?  How much of this is now common practice?  What are the implications for software engineering?

9 Implications for Software Engineering  Heavy emphasis on explicit models v use of manuals, etc. v documenting software processes  Tacit knowledge receives little attention v meetings are largely demonized  How can the knowledge transfer be facilitated? v tacit explicit