This study investigates how knowledge is created in a small business
organization. Knowledge creation refers to organizational learning which results in
innovation. The research design was a qualitative, single site case study of three firms in
the point of sale industry. Data collection took place during a six month field study and
employed multiple methods including participant observations, interviews, document
reviews, and field journal entries.
The study was informed by a conceptual framework which focused on the
importance of both tacit and explicit knowledge forms, multiple modes of knowledge
conversion (socialization, externalization, combination, internalization), and a knowledge
spiraling process. Six themes emerged from the data. The first theme, "the people are
the business" indicated that individuals become a knowledge creating structure that
transcends office boundaries. A second theme, "we just spend tons of time talking",
emphasized the importance of dialogue and informal communication structures to the
sharing of tacit knowledge. A third theme, "there hasn't been a new idea in a million
years", illustrated the predominance of incremental rather than radical innovation, the
strategy of mimicking concept successes, and the importance of learning with other
organizations through strategic alliances. A fourth theme, "you learn from your
mistakes", represented the experiential nature of learning within the firm. A fifth theme,
"it's one of those crystal ball kind of things" depicted the intuitive nature of personal
knowledge and its limitations. Finally, the sixth theme, "a day late and a dollar short"
explored how time and money pressures both enhance and hinder knowledge creation
within a small business context.
By comparing the themes to the conceptual framework the study concluded that
small business organizations create knowledge in accordance with the nature of
interpersonal interactions as they occur in context. The theoretical knowledge spiral was
reconceptualized as a web structure in order to accommodate more diversity of
approaches to knowledge creation and the complex nature of innovations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/4714 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Allan, Suzanne Christine |
| 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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