The Dynamics of Knowledge Creation Within Innovation Process From Case Studies to Agent Based Modelling

2008 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Habib, Johann

Abstract: While it is a truism to underline that modern industrial development in high tec ... Expand

Abstract: While it is a truism to underline that modern industrial development in high technology environment strongly relies on innovation, little is known about the innovation success factors. We argue that studying innovation process – defined as a knowledge creation process – from a complexity perspective enables us to better understand this emergent process and its characteristics. This research deals with the knowledge creation trajectory within innovation processes. The framework of the paper is built on a review of a knowledge based view of innovation and the theory of complex adaptive system (CAS). Departing from real-life case studies of innovation processes, the research aims to explore and to understand the knowledge creation trajectory with a focus on the dynamics of this process. The empirical studies refer to IT-based innovations. We use a case study methodology based on a combination of data collection methods: interviews with key actors, non-participant observations and analysis of internal documents explaining the project stakes. The results show that the four processes of innovation evolve in seven, separate but interdependent, knowledge creation stages. The interweaving of these stages allows us to analyze the trajectory dynamics. The research also provides some evidence about the internal and external parameters impacting the trajectory. In addition, we observe a complex dynamic of evolution – specific to each process – characterized mainly by adaptation loops and feedback processes. The results of case studies allow developing an agent-based model of knowledge creation within innovation process and offering a new view of innovation, based on an interactionnist social approach. Collapse

Topics: innovation management knowledge creation problem solving knowledge representation knowledge management

Methods: case study simulation qualitative interview non participant observation agent based simulation

Theories: i-Space model graph theory learning theory complex adaptive system knowledge based theory of the firm

Moving to the edge of chaos: bureaucracy, IT and the challenge of complexity

2006 | Journal of Information Technology | Citations: 5

Authors: Boisot, Max

Abstract: Bureaucracies in the Weberian mould, whether of the state or corporate type, are ... Expand

Abstract: Bureaucracies in the Weberian mould, whether of the state or corporate type, are rational-legal structures organized to deliver order, stability and predictability. Early developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs) appeared set to deliver such an outcome. Yet the new economy turns out to be more 'distributed' than had originally been expected. What is the nature of the challenge that this poses for bureaucracies? To address this question, the paper first presents a conceptual framework, the Information-Space or I-Space, which allows us to explore the relationship between how knowledge is structured and how it flows within and between populations of agents. The paper then examines what cultural and institutional challenges the new ICTs pose for both state and corporate bureaucracies, confronted as they are with the complexities of an increasingly distributed social order. Collapse

Theories: i-Space model cognitive complexity theory

Using Complexity Science to effect a paradigm shift in Information Systems for the 21st century

2006 | Journal of Information Technology | Citations: 23

Authors: Merali, Yasmin; McKelvey, Bill

Abstract: The Journal of Information Technology is of interest to academics, scholars, adv ... Expand

Abstract: The Journal of Information Technology is of interest to academics, scholars, advanced students and reflective practitioners in management science, information systems and computer science disciplines. The journal will also inform those seeking an update on current experience and future prospects in the areas of contemporary information and communications technology. Collapse

Topics: information systems strategy IS discipline

Methods: simulation literature sample conceptual modelling

Theories: i-Space model

Organizations as Adaptive Systems in Complex Environments: The Case of China

1999 | Organization Science | Citations: 16

Authors: Boisot, Max; Child, John

Abstract: This paper treats organizations as adaptive systems that have to match the compl ... Expand

Abstract: This paper treats organizations as adaptive systems that have to match the complexity of their environments. The nature of this complexity is analyzed by linking an institutional Information-Space (I-Space) framework to the work of complexity theorists. The I-Space framework identifies the codification, abstraction, and diffusion of information as cultural attributes. Codification involves the assignment of data to categories, thus giving them form. Abstraction involves a reduction in the number of categories to which data needs to be assigned for a phenomenon to be apprehended. Information is diffused through populations of data-processing agents, thus constituting the diffusion dimension. Complexity theorists have identified the stability and structure of algorithmic information complexity in a way that corresponds to levels of codification and abstraction. Their identification of system parts and the richness of cross-coupling draws attention to the fabric of information diffusion. We discuss two modes of adaptation to complex environments: complexity reduction and complexity absorption. Complexity reduction entails getting to understand the complexity and acting on it directly, including attempts at environmental enactment. Complexity absorption entails creating options and risk-hedging strategies. often through alliances. The analysis, and its practical utility, is illustrated with reference to China. the world's largest social system. Historical factors have shaped the nature of complexity in China, giving it very different characteristics than those typical of Western industrial countries. Its organizations and other social units have correspondingly handled this complexity through a strategy of absorption rather than the reduction strategy characteristic of Western societies. Western firms operating in China therefore face a choice between maintaining their norms of complexity reduction or adopting a strategy of complexity absorption that is more... Collapse

Topics: organizational context task complexity

Methods: case study simulation

Theories: cognitive complexity theory i-Space model