The importance of knowledge creation and innovation for organizational success is well established. At the same time, emerging technologies are ‘generative’ platforms with the capacity to produce unprompted change. At its core, innovation is a process of creating and using new ideas and concepts. As such, innovation may be conceptualized as a special class of knowledge creation. Further, the knowledge creation process is a driver of innovation. The paper develops a model of organizational knowledge creation and innovation to pinpoint the moments in the knowledge creation process where innovation occurs. The utility of the framework is illustrated with data from case studies on knowledge creation in innovative virtual world projects, which in turn reveals a set of strategies for driving knowledge creation and innovation in firms. The research has important implications for IS research on emerging technologies and user-generated and crowd-sourced innovation Full paper available here: http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2013/proceedings/KnowledgeManagement/4/

1. International Conference on Information Systems, MILAN 2013
KNOWLEDGE CREATION:
HIDDEN DRIVER OF INNOVATION IN THE DIGITAL ERA
Niamh O Riordan
National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
niamh.oriordan@nuigalway.ie
www.niamhoriordan.com
ie.linkedin.com/in/niamhoriordan/
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2. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Agenda
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•
•
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Research motivation
Theoretical underpinnings
Conceptual framework
Research methodology
Findings
Conclusions
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3. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Motivation
• Organizational innovation
– (Is a) core topic
– (Generally seen as a) Weasel word
Weasel words: words
or claims that turn
out to be empty
upon analysis
• Knowledge creation in firms
–
–
–
–
–
(Should be) a core topic because of its relationship with innovation
Significant interest since Nonaka et al.
Knowledge creation, storage/retrieval, transfer and application (A&L, 2001)
(Also seen as a) Weasel word
Practical and theoretical problems
• Emerging ‘generative’ platforms have the capacity to produce unprompted
unprompted change and can therefore play a key role in
supporting organizational innovation and
knowledge creation in firms
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4. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Theoretical Underpinnings #1
At its core, innovation is a process of creating
and using new ideas and concepts
–
–
–
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Newness
Creativity
Utility
Value
incremental v. radical
product v. process
administrative v. technical
– Versus invention
– As a process
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5. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Theoretical Underpinnings #2
As such, it is useful to look at innovation from
[some sort of] a knowledge-based view
Innovation ≡ knowledge
= knowledge
= f(knowledge)
⊂ knowledge
≈ knowledge
* Though we don’t much like this view in IS…
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6. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
When organizations innovate,
they “do not simply process information...
they actually create new knowledge and information
from the inside out,
in order to redefine both problems and solutions
and, in the process, to re-create the environment”
- Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995, p.56
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7. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Conceptual Framework i
What are knowledge structures composed of?
P3 Knowledge structures consist of declarative and procedural elements
P6 Knowledge creation is influenced by one’s initial knowledge structures
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8. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Conceptual Framework ii
How is knowledge created?
P1 Knowledge is created when existing knowledge structures, mental
templates that individuals impose on the environment to give it form and
meaning, are changed
P2 The process of innovation is fundamentally intertwined with the
process of knowledge creation such that innovations have the potential to be
conceived at that point in the knowledge creation process where existing
knowledge structures are changed
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9. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Research Methodology
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Six case studies of digitally enacted innovation in virtual worlds
Criterion sampling technique
12 month period
Data collection*
– Participant observation
– Semi-structured interviews
– Documentary analysis
• Data analysis as per Miles and Huberman (1994)
– Field and case notes
– Memos and pattern codes
– Within and cross case displays
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10. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Findings
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11. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Conclusion
• Fundamentally, innovation is the generation and successful
implemention of ideas in firms
• It it useful to view innovation using a knowledge-based lens, particularly
because IS/IT are increasingly ‘generative’ platforms
• In this case, we can say that the capacity for innovation arises out of
knowledge creation processes and we therefore try to stimulate
innovation by trying to stimulate the creation of new knowledge
• To better understand knowledge creation, it is best to consider
declarative and procedural (rather than tacit and explicit) forms of
knowledge
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12. International Conference on Information Systems MILAN 2013
Thank You
Niamh O Riordan
National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
niamh.oriordan@nuigalway.ie
www.niamhoriordan.com
ie.linkedin.com/in/niamhoriordan/
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