Abstract
The role of knowledge in organizations has been conceptualized in ways that range from viewing it as a primary input to the production process, to offering a knowledge-based view of the whole organization. While divergent in their approaches, the differing views increasingly emphasize the role of inter-functional and inter-organizational knowledge linkages in determining the performance of a firm (Grant and Baden-Fuller in J Manag Stud 41(1):61–84, 2004). This paper offers a conceptualization of these linkages in what is termed a knowledge dependency. Adopting the view of knowledge as the primary organizational resource (Grant in Strateg Manag J 17(Winter Special Issue):109–122, 1996), we use ideas and concepts from the resource dependency theory (Pfeffer and Salancik in The external control of organizations: a resource dependence perspective, 1978) and knowledge transformation cycle (Carlile and Rebentisch in Manag Sci 49(9):1180–1195, 2003) to identify relevant constructs and relationships needed to model these knowledge dependencies. Building on a number of already established modeling techniques, we propose a new modeling grammar that explicitly captures the appropriation of knowledge in activities needed to realize the identified goals, and the knowledge flows between the different actors in an application domain. The resulting script (strategic knowledge-based dependency diagram) is a conceptual model that aids in the analysis stage preceding the design of an information system that supports knowledge-based processes across organizations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wand Y, Weber R (2002) Research commentary: information systems and conceptual modeling—a research agenda. Inf Syst Res 13(4):363–376
Gemino A, Wand Y (2004) Dimensions in experimental evaluation of conceptual modeling techniques. Requir Eng J 9(4):248–260
Franz CR, Robey D (1984) An investigation of user-led system design: rational and political perspectives. Commun ACM 27(12):1202–1209
Kling R (1980) Social analyses of computing: theoretical perspectives in recent empirical research. ACM Comput Surv 12(1):61–110
Tillquist J, King J, Woo C (2002) A representational scheme for analyzing information technology and organizational dependency. MIS Quart 26(2):91–118
Jasperson J, Carte TA, Saunders CS, Butler BS, Croes HJP, Zheng W (2002) Review: power and information technology research: a metatriangulation review. MIS Quart 26(4):397–459
Markus ML (1984) Systems in organizations: bugs and features. Pitman, Marshfield
Sillince JA, Mouakket S (1997) Varieties of political process during systems development. Inf Syst Res 8(4):368–397
Dennis AR, Hilmer K, Taylor NJ (1998) Information exchange and use in GSS and verbal group decision making: effects of minority influence. J Manag Inf Syst 14(3):61–88
Williams SR, Wilson RL (1997) Group support systems, power and influence on an organization: a field study. Decis Sci 28(4):911–937
DeSanctis G, Poole MS (1994) Capturing the complexity in advanced technology use: adaptive structuration theory. Organ Sci 5(2):121–147
Ives B, Jarvenpaa SL (1991) Applications of global information technology: key issues for management. MIS Quart 15(1):33–49
Mylopoulos J, Chung L, Yu E (1999) From object-oriented to goal-oriented requirements analysis. Commun ACM 42(1):31–37
van Lamsweerde A (2001) Goal-oriented requirements engineering: a guided tour. Proceedings of the 5th IEEE international symposium on requirements engineering, Toronto, Canada, pp 249–263
Ellis CA, Wainer J (1994) Goal based models of collaboration. Collab Comput 1(1):61–86
Basu A, Blanning RW (2000) A formal approach to workflow analysis. Inf Syst Res 11(1):17–36
Basu A, Blanning RW (2001) Workflow analysis using attributed metagraphs. Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii international conference on system sciences, pp 1–9
Yu E (1995) Models for supporting the redesign of organizational work. Proceedings of the conference on organizational computing systems, Milpitas, USA, pp 225–236
Pfeffer J, Salancik G (1978) The external control of organizations: a resource dependence perspective. Harper and Row, New York
Grant R (1996) Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strateg Manag J 17(Winter Special Issue):109–122
Carlile PR, Rebentisch ES (2003) Into the black box: the knowledge transformation cycle. Manag Sci 49(9):1180–1195
Scarbrough H (1998) Path(ological) dependency? core competencies from an organizational perspective. Br J Manag 9(3):219–232
Grant RM, Baden-Fuller C (2004) A knowledge accessing theory of strategic alliances. J Manag Stud 41(1):61–84
Teece DJ (1992) Competition, cooperation, and innovation: organizational arrangements for regimes of rapid technological progress. J Econ Behav Organ 18(1):1–25
Malone TW, Crowston K (1994) The interdisciplinary study of coordination. ACM Comput Surv 26(1):87–119
Carlile PR (2004) Transferring, translating and transforming: an integrative framework for managing knowledge across boundaries. Organ Sci 15(5):555–568
Emerson RM (1962) Power-dependence relations. Am Sociol Rev 27(1):31–41
Ulrich D, Barney J (1984) Perspectives on organizations: resource dependence, efficiency and population. Acad Manag Rev 9(3):471–481
Yu E, Mylopoulos J (1993) An actor dependency model of organizational work with application to business process reengineering. Proceedings of the conference on organizational computing systems, Milpitas, USA, pp 258–268
Nonaka I, Umemoto K, Senoo D (1996) From information processing to knowledge creation: a paradigm shift in business management. Technol Soc 18(2):203–218
Gorman M (2002) Types of knowledge and their roles in technology transfer. J Technol Transfer 27(3):219–231
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Al-Natour, S., Cavusoglu, H. The strategic knowledge-based dependency diagrams: a tool for analyzing strategic knowledge dependencies for the purposes of understanding and communicating. Inf Technol Manag 10, 103–121 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10799-009-0054-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10799-009-0054-5