Transcript Discussion
Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management Discussion of Chapters 7 and 8 October 4, 2005 Elridge D'Mello Graduate Student in Computer Engineering Comparison of Papers Research That Reinvents the Corporation - Brown Not just invent new products Research should coproduce innovation Tight integration with customers Managing Professional Intellect – Quinn et al. Must nurture self-motivated creativity Discuss best practices for developing intellect Themes Deal with understanding the subtleties of people workers How to squeeze the most out of the knowledge workers Brown – Understanding and recognizing how people work Quinn et al. - How to develop the best professional intellect Critiques Brown: Good foresight “Companies like ours might sell not products but rather the expertise...” --> Service oriented industry Example “How XEROX redesigned its copiers” Good use of statistics to show improvement Quinn et al: Good list of 'best practices' Some of their ideas are idealistic Inverting organizations What are they talking about/doing now? Brown: “The Social Life of Information” (2000) Book about organizational learning – How can we make it happen faster, better, deeper? In an interview, (2000) Brown discusses the importance of context in understanding information Today, we can feel overwhelmed by information. E.g. When surfing the web, the lack of context can lead a person to be feel disconnected Brown helped develop Grokker 2.0 (~2004) An application that converts text lists of search results into a map of floating spheres and other graphical representations What are they talking about now? (continued) Quinn: “Forging Environmental Markets” (2000) “To achieve a truly sustainable environment, we must recognize that environmental improvement and economic growth can and do go hand in hand.” “Environmental improvement is a market rather than a cost.” “Revolutionizing Higher Education” (2001) Response of education to the innovation of Internet technologies Trends in economics affecting education References Interview with Brown, “We Participate, Therefore We Are” Authors: Joe Flower and Patrice Guillaume Source: Health Forum Journal; Jul/Aug2000, Vol. 43 Issue 4, p30 “Out-Googling Google”, an article on Grokker 2.0 Review of “The Social Life of Information”, book by Brown http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1438174,00.asp Author: Charlotte Webb Farr Source: Quarterly Review of Distance Education; Winter2002, Vol. 3 Issue 4, p465 “Forging Environmental Markets” Authors: James Brian Quinn and James F. Quinn Source: Issues in Science & Technology, Spring 2000, Vol. 16, Issue 3, p45 “Revolutionizing Higher Education” Author: James Brian Quinn Source: Educause Review; Jul/Aug2001, Vol. 36 Issue 4, p28 Questions?