Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning: A Reader(Oxford Management Readers)

Over the past decade, knowledge and learning have emerged as the keys to economic success and as a focus for thinking about organizational effectiveness and innovation. An overwhelming majority of large organizations now engage in a wide range of knowledge and learning activities and nearly all have programs and personnel explicitly dedicated to these tasks. The volume is targeted at those new to knowledge and learning, and is filled with practical examples and focuses on the most critical issues, featuring seminal contributions from leading authorities including:* Thomas Davenport,* Dorothy Leonard,* John Seely Brown,* Sidney Winter,* W. Chan Kim,* Peter Druckard.The book is organized around the three key steps in managing knowledge: development, retention, and transfer. These sections are preceded by a section creating the strategic context for knowledge and followed by a section on the social dimensions that are often overlooked. Finally, the book looks to the future of knowledge and learning. This Reader is an accessible way for executives and students taking advanced Management Studies and executive courses to learn from the latest examples on this topic.

Table of Contents:
Eric Matson and Laurence Prusak: Introduction and Overview The Strategic Importance of Knowledge and Learning 1: Robert Grant: Knowledge Management and the Knowledge-Based Economy 2: Michael H. Zack: Developing a Knowledge Strategy 3: Atul Gawande: The Learning Curve 4: Gerardo Pattriotta: Knowlege-In-The-Making: The 'Construction' of Fiat's Melfi Factory 5: Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap: Generating Creative Options 6: Salvatore Parise and Laurence Prusak: Partnerships for Knowledge Creation Knowledge Retention and Organizational Learning 7: Arnold Kransdorff and Russell Williams: Swing Doors and Musical Chairs 8: Linda Argote: Organizational Memory 9: John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid: Balancing Act: How to Capture Knowledge Without Killing It Knowledge Transfer and Dissemination 10: Kenneth T. Derr: Managing Knowledge the Chevron Way 11: Gabriel Szulanski and Sidney Winter: Getting it Right the Second Time 12: Lowell L. Bryan: Making a Market in Knowledge 13: Eric Matson and Laurence Prusak: The Performance Variability Dilemma Social Perspectives 14: Anil K. Gupta and Vijay Govindarajan: Knowledge Management's Social Dimension: Lessons from Nucor Steel 15: W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne: Fair Process: Managing in the Knowledge Economy 16: Etienne C. Wenger and William M. Snyder: Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier 17: Rob Cross, Andrew Parker, Laurence Prusak, and Stephen P. Borgatti: Knowing What we Know: Supporting Knowledge Creation and Sharing in Social Networks Future Directions 18: Peter F. Drucker: Knowledge-Worker Productivity: The Biggest Challenge 19: Thomas H. Davenport and John Glaser: Just-in-Time Delivery Comes to Knowledge Management 20: Leigh Weiss and Laurence Prusak: Seeing Knowledge Plain: How to Make Knowledge Visible 21: Michael Idinopulos and Lee Kempler: Do you Know who your Experts are? 22: Jeffrey H. Dyer and Nile W. Hatch: Using Supplier Networks to Learn Faster

About the Author :
Larry Prusak is a researcher and consultant and was the founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Knowledge Management (IKM). This was a global consortium of member organizations engaged in advancing the practice of knowledge management through action research. Larry has had extensive experience, within the U.S. and internationally, in helping organizations work with their information and knowledge resources. He has also consulted with many U.S. and overseas government agencies and international organizations (NGO's). He currently co-directs 'Working Knowledge', a knowledge research program at Babson College, where he is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence. Larry's most recent book (co-authored with Tom Davenport) is What's the Big Idea?, published by Harvard Business School Press in Spring, 2003. He has also recently edited a volume with E. Lesser, Creating Value with Knowledge (Oxford University Press, 2003). Eric Matson is a manager in McKinsey's Institute for Corporate Excellence, where he leads research efforts to better understand the drivers of enduring corporate performance. His currently focuses on profiling the world's leading companies to better understand how they excel in selected areas such as network management, knowledge management, and talent management. Prior to joining McKinsey in 1999, Mr. Matson worked as a writer for Fast Company magazine and as a consultant for Monitor Company. His recent publications include 'The Performance Variability Dilemma' (Sloan Management Review, 2003), 'Strengthening Your Organization's Internal Knowledge Market' (Organizational Dynamics, 2003), 'Leveraging Group Knowledge for High Performance Decision Making' (Organizational Dynamics, 2002), and 'Managing the Knowledge Manager' (McKinsey Quarterly, 2001).