Title: How knowledge organisations work: the case of law firms

Authors: Petter Gottschalk, Jan Terje Karlsen

Addresses: Norwegian School of Management BI, Nydalsveien 17, 0442 Oslo, Norway. ' Norwegian School of Management BI, Nydalsveien 17, 0442 Oslo, Norway

Abstract: Law firms are undergoing significant changes. They are emerging as knowledge organisations in the legal knowledge business. Knowledge is their strategic resource that must be managed to achieve profitable growth. Since knowledge resides predominantly in the heads of individuals, recruitment and development of lawyers is critical to success in law firms. Based on reviewed literature, this paper conceptualises law firms as knowledge organisations and lawyers as knowledge workers. This research is important, as there is a need to understand knowledge organisations case by case to develop effective and contingent knowledge management strategies.

Keywords: knowledge management; knowledge workers; knowledge business; lawyers; partnerships; resource-based theory; law firms; knowledge organisations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKL.2008.022055

International Journal of Knowledge and Learning, 2008 Vol.4 No.4, pp.349 - 356

Published online: 17 Dec 2008 *

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