Structure and Dynamics of a "T-Shaped" Knowledge: From Individuals to Cooperating Communities of Practice

Sergio Barile, Giacomo Franco (), Giancarlo Nota () and Marialuisa Saviano ()
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Giacomo Franco: IBM Italia, 80143 Napoli, Italy
Giancarlo Nota: Department of Informatics, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy
Marialuisa Saviano: Department of Business Studies, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy

Service Science, 2012, vol. 4, issue 2, 161-180

Abstract: In a fast-changing environment, organizations face conditions of growing complexity that challenge decision-making and innovation activities, highlighting an increasing need to develop dynamic capabilities. In this scenario, our focus is on service science's recent call for "T-shaped professionals," identified as people possessing both functional/disciplinary expertise and ability to apply knowledge across different contexts. Starting from this notion and by adopting a viable systems approach ( v S a ), we shift focus from individuals to organizations, providing an interpretation of the structure and dynamics of a "T-shaped knowledge" to be developed with respect to a distributed knowledge management network in which organizations pursue learning-by-interaction and knowledge cocreation. By integrating the v S a and the distributed knowledge management framework (DKMF), our proposal provides a multidimensional v S a -DKMF metamodel to assess the relational conditions among cooperating organizations as well as to provide guidelines for the construction of a knowledge network built on the idea of T-shaped knowledge. To illustrate the practical aspects of v S a -DKMF, we focus on the case of open communities of practice as an emblematic example of developing a T-shaped knowledge starting from a specialized ("I-shaped") knowledge.

Keywords: "T-shaped" knowledge; viable systems approach (VSA); distributed knowledge management (DKM); community of practice (CoP); learning-by-interaction; exploration and exploitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orserv:v:4:y:2012:i:2:p:161-180

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