Title: Thinking along: a process for tapping into knowledge across boundaries

Authors: Hans Berends, Raghu Garud, Koenraad Debackere, Mathieu Weggeman

Addresses: School of Industrial Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Pav.L.03, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands. ' SMEAL College of Business, Pennsylvania State University, 431 Business Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. ' Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, Leuven 3000, Belgium. ' School of Industrial Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Pav.M.09, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Abstract: The knowledge management literature offers knowledge |transfer| and |transformation| as mechanisms to tap into the diversity of knowledge that lies dispersed over organisations. However, it is difficult to transfer and transform knowledge across epistemic boundaries and, even if these processes were to unfold, specialisation could well be compromised. Based on in-depth studies carried out within two industrial research organisations, we describe an alternative mechanism for tapping into knowledge across boundaries. We call this |thinking along|, an interactive process that allows a person with a problem to tap into someone else|s knowledge base without them having to get involved in each others| ways of knowing. In contrast to knowledge transfer and knowledge transformation, thinking along circumvents interpretative barriers, while retaining specialisation.

Keywords: industrial research; knowledge management; knowledge sharing; communities of practice; organisational knowledge; specialisation; epistemic boundaries; interpretative barriers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2011.037238

International Journal of Technology Management, 2011 Vol.53 No.1, pp.69 - 88

Published online: 06 Apr 2013 *

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