Managing Knowledge

Perspectives on Cooperation and Competition

Using both established as well as more recent modes of inquiry, this book sheds new light on an increasingly important dimension of organizational cooperation and competition - that of knowledge and knowledge transfer. Based on research and practice, the book addresses a wide range of issues concerning the management of knowledge, from knowledge transfer between organizations to knowledge management within organizations.

Divided into two parts, Managing Knowledge reflects a fundamental conceptual distinction between two world-views. The first part is characterized by representationism, or traditional approaches to viewing knowledge, knowledge transfer and cooperative strategies. The contributors provide a clear overview of the current research on knowledge management, and bring together studies on the sociology of knowledge, strategic management and learning theory. The second part focuses on anti-representationism, or new perspectives on knowledge and knowledge transfer in organizational cooperation. These perspectives, based on autopoiesis theory, go far beyond conventional ways of perceiving and managing knowledge and their implications for management theory and practice are fully examined.