This study examines the value placed on learning and knowledge by innovative small and
medium-sized computer service firms, using a framework for analysis adapted from
intellectual capital (IC). Knowledge is conceived as a specialized and appreciable asset
capable of being acquired, nurtured, developed, managed and commercially exploited.
Emphasis is placed on evaluating the strategies and practices that drive company learning
and knowledge transfer in smaller computer service companies with respect to
developing and making use of the knowledge owned by employees, customers and the
corporation. The study evaluates the extent to which short-term commercial objectives
impose conceptual boundaries on particular forms of intellectual capital - skill
development, experience and recurrent learning. Data is drawn from case studies and a
broader, provincial sample of companies based in British Columbia with ten to one
hundred employees.
The study concludes that small and medium-sized computer service firms narrowly
conceptualize and undervalue knowledge in the area of human resource development,
where supporting learning processes and structures are often poorly developed.
Companies place a premium value on new forms of knowledge with an obvious potential
to improve the skills and experience necessary to support commercial products and
services. In contrast, learning, knowledge and expertise related to professional
development and more long-term organizational and/or career benefits are consistently
and systematically marginalized.
The study outlines limitations of the IC framework in terms of the intrinsic values
attributed to sources and types of knowledge. Of particular concern is the importance
attached to formalized, external relationships with customers and the undervaluing of
knowledge with less obvious or potentially more long-term commercial value.
Suggestions for using the framework in small and medium-sized computer firms include
broadening the existing narrow focus of external knowledge sources to encompass the
extensive network of business relationships companies exploit, while the undervaluing of
knowledge found in professional development is countered by linking benefits to returns
from specific, rather than generic commercial goals. Emphasis is placed on potential
gains in efficiency and productivity offered by improvements to learning and
organizational processes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/9393 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Best, Amanda Jayne |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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