By: Sven Thoms

1
Knowledge Management Paper Analysis

• By Sven Thoms
• KM Perspectives on Resources and Organizational
  Memory

2
Papers Analyzed

• Wernerfelt,Birger. A Resource-Based View of the
  Firm. Strategic Management Journal, 1984
• Von Hippel, Eric. Sticky Information and the
  Locus of Problem Solving Implications for
  Innovation. Management Science, 1994
• Walsh, James Ungson, Gerardo. Organizational
  Memory. The Academy of Management Review, 1991

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A Resource-Based View of the Firm

• Wernerfelt, Birger,
• Professor of Management Science, M.I.T.

4
Resource-Based View

• Wernerfelt coined term in 1984
• 1994 Strategic Management Journal Best Paper
  Prize
• Key Elements
• Scarce Resources can create competitive advantage
• Resource Identification, Profitability
  Assessment, and Development using Porters 5
  Forces Model

5
Resource-Based View

• Resources are assets tied to firm, e.g.
• Machinery
• Processes
• Brand Names
• Skilled Workers
• Technology Know-How
• Trade Contacts
• Current and Future Resources provide strategic
  insights into the firms competitiveness

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Resource-Based View

• Recall Porters 5 Forces
• ? Product-Based

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Resource-Based View

• Buyers, Suppliers, Substitutes
• Resources in few hands limit users return
• Bad if product from resource only sold to few
  buyers
• Substitute resources always a threat to suppliers
• Example
• Diamonds, DeBeers
• Oil vs. Hydrogen
• Gallium Arsenide chips for military and NASA

8
Resource-Based View

• New Entrance Barriers
• Resource Position Barriers
• Temporary advantage from holding a key resource
• Barriers within same market !
• Resource-Entry Barrier Duality
• Create barrier to entry from exclusive access to
  resource AND from product-based entry barriers
• Example Pharma patents and skill sets

9
Resource-Based View

• Attractive
• Machine Capacity
• Customer Loyalty
• Production Experience
• Do Portfolio Analysis of Resources
• Generate Technical Lead and keep it by employing
  knowledgeable staff
• Look for supplementary and complementary
  resources in mergers

10
Resource-Product Matrix

• An aid to resource identification
• Links resources and profitability potential
• Primary and secondary resources
• Balancing Existing and New Resources

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Related Paper

• Gold, Malhotra, Segars. Knowledge Management An
  organizational capabilities perspective.
  University of North Carolina, 2001
• Related Theme
• knowledge infrastructure (techn, structure,
  culture) and knowledge process capability
  (acquision, conversion, application, protection)
  combine to form organizational effectiveness

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Sticky Information and the Locus of
Problem-Solving

• Von Hippel, Eric
• Professor of Management Innovation and
  Entrepreneuship, M.I.T.

13
Sticky Information

• Sticky
• Tacit
• Bound to one place
• Depending on
• Nature of Information
• Transfer Problems
• Mismatch of Buyer-Seller needs and capabilities
• Key Elements
• Makes problem-solving more complex

14
Mitigating Sticky Information in Innovation

• 4 Approaches
• Solve problem where information is
• Iterate between sites to solve problem
• Subdivide tasks to fit resource availability
• Decrease stickiness by technological means

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Cross-Cutting Theme

• Once resource (information) is identified as in
  Wernerfelts model, then strategic use of the
  sticky information can be discussed
• Cost of transfer can be seen as a barrier to
  intra-company effective use, similar to barriers
  for other firms to use information resources
• Relevancy
• Allen Curve, BMW Research and Innovation Center
• Expert Systems
• Consulting environment, on-site presence
• Videoconferencing, Content Mgt Systems

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Related Paper

• Audretsch, Feldman. Knowledge Spillovers and the
  Geography of Innovation. University of Toronto,
  2003
• Key concept
• Innovation clusters, RD center of expertise
  development
• Innovation happens best where resources are
  concentrated, facilitating tacit knowledge
  interchange

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Organizational Memory

• Walsh Ungson
• Business Administration, U. Mich.,
• International Business, San Francisco State

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Analogies

• Human Brain processes and stores past information
• Flawed concepts of organizations memory
• Key Questions
• How is organizational memory different
• How do individuals retrieve from organizational
  memory
• Can knowing an organizations past experience
  really help with current decision-making?

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Assumptions

• Organizations process information
• Organizations interpret environmental facts and
  changes with help of memory
• Semantics given to information by shared meanings
  and interaction in organization
• Systems perspective to organizational memory

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Definition

• Staff Members develop knowledge, share it,
  becomes part of organization
• Decision Factors and Lessons Learned, Outcomes
• Framework of information acquision, retention,
  and Processing needed
• 3 roles
• Informational
• Control
• Political

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Memory Processes

• Information
• Acquisition
• Retention
• Retrieval

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The Framework

• Individuals
• Culture
• Transformations
• Structures
• Ecology
• External Archives
• ? Acquire, Process, Retrieve

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Walshs Suggestions

• Make current decisions in pasts context
• Less Resistance to decisions if backed up by past
  experience
• Unlearn old information to adapt to present
• Past can confuse, need also to be able to
  retrieve it
• Automated retrieval routine responses
• Analysis Paralysis
• Rewriting History to suit organizational power
  plays is a danger
• Design Organization with memory in mind
• Retain knowledge workers

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Related Themes

• Kleiner, Roth How to make experience your
  companys best teacher (2000)
• Learning histories, narratives
• Argvris, Chris Teaching Smart People How to
  Learn (1991)
• Defensive Reasoning
• Ginsburg, Mark Annotate A Web-based Knowledge
  Management Support System for Document
  Collections (1998)
• Enable document annotations and usage history
  tracking of DMSs
• Link to Article

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Conclusion

• Von Hippels Sticky Information Concept very
  intuitive
• Wernerfelts Resource-Based model universally
  applicable
• Mathematics hard to grasp
• Walshs observations on organizational memory
  akin to 11 Deadly Sins of Knowledge Management by
  Prusak and Fahey