The Drive to Codify: Implications for the Knowledge-based Economy

Roberts, Joanne E

doi:10.1080/08109020110050003

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Prometheus

Volume 19, Issue 2

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The Drive to Codify: Implications for the Knowledge-based Economy

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Author(s): Joanne Roberts

Publication date (Print): June 2001

Journal: Prometheus

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Codified Knowledge, Tacit Knowledge, Knowledge-BASED Economy, Information And Communication Technologies, Higher Education, Knowledge Management

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Abstract

This paper critically explores the forces driving the codification of knowledge, together with the implications of codification for the evolution of the knowledge-based economy. It is argued that tacit knowledge is neglected in the drive to codify with important consequences for the process of knowledge creation and innovation. The drive to codify knowledge is briefly considered in the context of higher education and then through the practice of knowledge management within firms. The paper is exploratory in nature and seeks to outline policy concerns and directions for further research.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): cpro20

Journal ID (archive): CPRO

Title: Prometheus

Subtitle: Critical Studies in Innovation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 0810-9028

ISSN (Electronic): 1470-1030

Publication date (Print): June 2001

Volume: 19

Issue: 2

Pages: 99-116

Article

Publisher ID: 10032414 Coden ID: Prometheus, Vol. 19, No. 2, June 2001, pp. 99-116

DOI: 10.1080/08109020110050003

SO-VID: 5959452c-68a1-4fc6-9ebb-5ab4d72dbf12

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

Page count

Figures: 0, Tables: 0, References: 63, Pages: 18

References

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OECD. . 1996. . The Knowledge-Based Economy . , Paris : : OECD. .
Department for Trade and Industry. . 1998. . Ow Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge-Driven Economy . London :
Lamberton D.. 1997. . 'The knowledge-based economy: a Sisyphus model'. . Prometheus . , Vol. 15((1)): 73––81. .
Cowan R. and Foray D.. 1997. . 'The economics of codification and the diffusion of knowledge'. . Industrial and Corporate Change . , Vol. 6((3)): 595––622. .
Antonelli Cristiano. . 1999. . The Microdynamics of Technological Change . , London : : Routledge. .
Boisot Max. . 1998. . Knowledge Assets: Securing Competitive Advantage in the Information Economy . , Oxford : : Oxford University Press. .
Drucker Peter. . 1993. . Post-Capitalist Society . , Oxford : : Butterworth-Heinemann. .
Lundvall Bengt-Ake. , ed. 1992. . National Systems of Innovation: Towards a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning . , London : : Pinter. .
Nonaka Ikujiro and Takeuchi Hirotaka. . 1995. . The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation . , Oxford : : Oxford University Press. .
Borgmann Albert. . 1999. . Hold on to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium . , Chicago : : University of Chicago Press. .
Bladder F.. 1995. . 'Knowledge, knowledge work and organizations: an overview and interpretation'. . Organization Studies . , Vol. 16((6)): 1021––46. .
Howells J.. 2000. . “'Knowledge, innovation and location'. ”. In Knowledge, Space, Economy . , Edited by: Bryson J. R., Daniels P. W., Henry N. and Pollard J.. p. 50––62. . London : : Routledge. .
Lundvall B.-Å. and Johnson B.. 1994. . The learning economy'. . Journal of Industry Studies . , Vol. 1((2)): 23––42. .
Howells J. and Roberts J.. 2000. . 'From innovation systems to knowledge systems'. . Prometheus . , Vol. 19((1)): 17––31. .
Arrow Kenneth. . 1974. . The Limits of Organization . , p. 39––40. . New York : : Norton. .
Saviotti P. P.. 1998. . On the dynamics of appropriability, of tacit and codified knowledge'. . Research Policy . , Vol. 26:: 843––56. . 848
Howells J.. 1996. . 'Tacit knowledge, innovation and technology transfer'. . Technology Analysis and Strategic Management . , Vol. 8((2)): 91––106. . 92
Polanyi M.. 1966. . The logic of tacit inference'. . Philosophy . , Vol. 41((155)): 1––18. . 4
Hull R.. 2000. . “'Knowledge management practices and innovation'. ”. In Knowledge and Innovation in the New Service Economy . , Edited by: Andersen B., Howells J., Hull R., Miles I. and Roberts J.. p. 142––58. . Cheltenham : : Edward Elgar. .
Lyotard Jean-Francois. . 1984. . The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge . , Edited by: Bennington Geoff and Massumi Brian. . Manchester : : Manchester University Press. .
Rosenberg Nathan. . 1982. . Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics . , Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .
Dosi G.. 1988. . “'The nature of the innovation process'. ”. In Technical Change and Economic Theory . , Edited by: Dosi G., Freeman C., Nelson R., Silverberg G. and Soete L.. p. 221––38. . London : : Pinter. .
Senker J.. 1995. . 'Tacit knowledge and models of innovation'. . Industrial and Corporate Change . , Vol. 4((2)): 425––47. .
Bolter David. . 1986. . Turing's Man: Western Culture in the Computer Age . , p. 131 Harmondsworth : : Penguin. .
Polanyi Michael. . 1967. . The Taat Dimension . , p. 4 London : : Routledge. .
Simon H. A.. 1955. . 'A behavioural model of rational choice'. . Quarterly Journal of Economics . , Vol. 69:: 99––118. .
Cowan R., David P.A. and Foray D.. 2000. . The explicit economics of knowledge codification and tacitness'. . Industrial and Corporate Change . , Vol. 9((2)): 211––253. .
Lave Jean and Wenger Etienne. . 1991. . Situated Learning. Legitimate Peripheral Participation . , p. 98 Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .
Penrose Edith. . 1959. . The Theory of the Growth of the Firm . , Oxford : : Blackwell. .
Nelson Richard and Winter Sidney. . 1982. . An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change . , Cambridge , MA : : Belknap Press. .
Landes David. . 1999. . The Wealth and Poverty of Nations . , p. 278––79. . London : : Abacus. .
Roberts J.. 2000. . 'From know-how to show-how: the role of information and communication technologies in the transfer of knowledge'. . Technology Analysis and Strategic Management . , Vol. 12((4)): 429––43. .
MacKenzie D. and Spinardi G.. 1995. . 'Tacit knowledge, weapons design, and the uninvention of nuclear weapons'. . American Journal of Sociology . , Vol. 101((1)): 44––99. .
Arrow Kenneth. . 1969. . 'Classificatory notes on the production and transmission of technical knowledge'. . American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings . , Vol. 59:: 29––35. .
1996. . 'Technical information and industrial structure'. . Industrial and Corporate Change . , Vol. 5((3)): 645––52. .
Stigler G. J.. 1961. . 'The economics of information'. . Journal of Political Economy . , Vol. 69:: 213––25. .
Williamson Oliver E.. 1975. . Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Anti-trust Implications . , New York : : Free Press. .
1985. . The Economic Institutions of Capitalism: Firms, Markets, Relational Contracting . , London : : Macmillan. .
Foray D. and Lundvall B.-Å.. 1996. . “'The knowledge-based economy: from the economics of knowledge to the learning economy'. ”. In Employment and Growth in the Knowledge-based Economy . , Edited by: OECD. . p. 11––32. . Paris : : OECD. .
Hodgson Geoffrey. . 1999. . Economics and Utopia: Why the Learning Economy is not the End of History . , London : : Routledge. .
Maskell P. and Malmberg A.. 1999. . 'Localised learning and industrial competitiveness'. . Cambridge Journal of Economics . , Vol. 23:: 167––86. .
Lawson C. and Lorenz E.. 1999. . 'Collective learning, tacit knowledge and regional innovation capacity'. . Regional Studies . , Vol. 33((4)): 305––17. .
Foucault Michel. . 1979. . Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison . , p. 27 Harmondsworth : : Penguin. .
Pei Mario and Lang David Marshall. . 1998. . “'Alphabet'. ”. In Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia . , Microsoft Corporation. .
Castells Manuel. . 1996. . The Rise of the Network Society . , London : : Blackwell. .
Reich Robert B.. 1992. . The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism . , New York : : Vintage. .
The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education. . 1997. . Higher Education in the Learning Society (Dearing Report) . , London : : HMSO. .
Davenport Thomas and Prusak Laurence. . 1998. . Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know . , Boston , MA : : Harvard Business School Press. .
Leonard-Barton Dorothy. . 1995. . WeUspnngs of Knowledge: Building and Sustaining the Sources of Innovation . , Boston : : Harvard University Press. .
Stewart Thomas. . 1997. . Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations . , New York : : Currency/Doubleday. .
Scarbrough Harry, Swan Jacky and Preston John. . 1999. . Knowledge Management· A Literature Review . , p. 1 London : : Institute of Personnel and Development. .
Orr Julian. . 1996. . Talking about Machines: an Ethnography of a Modern Job . , Ithaca : : ILR Press. .
Zack M. H.. 1999. . 'Managing codified knowledge'. . Sloan Management Review . , Vol. 40: Summer;: 45––57. .
Davenport T. H., De Long D. W. and Beers M. C.. 1998. . 'Successful knowledge management projects'. . Sloan Management Review . , Vol. 40:: 43––57. . 44––45. .
Robins Kevin and Webster Frank. . 1999. . Times of the Technoculture: From the Information Society to the Virtual Life . , p. 190 London and New York : : Routledge. .
Roszak Theodore. . 1994. . The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking . , Berkeley : : University of California Press. .
Weizenbaum Joseph. . 1984. . Computer Pooler and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation . , Harmondsworth : : Penguin. .
Brown John Seely and Duguid Paul. . 2000. . The Social Life of Information . , Boston , MA : : Harvard Business School Press. .
Noble D. F.. 1998. . 'Digital diploma mills: the automation of higher education'. . First Monday . , Vol. 3((1))

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] 2000. . Eighth International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society Conference; . July 28 June-1– 2000 ; . UK: : University of Manchester. .

[2] OECD. . 1996. . The Knowledge-Based Economy . , Paris : : OECD. .

[3] Department for Trade and Industry. . 1998. . Ow Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge-Driven Economy . London :

[4] Lamberton D.. 1997. . 'The knowledge-based economy: a Sisyphus model'. . Prometheus . , Vol. 15((1)): 73––81. .

[5] Cowan R. and Foray D.. 1997. . 'The economics of codification and the diffusion of knowledge'. . Industrial and Corporate Change . , Vol. 6((3)): 595––622. .

[6] Antonelli Cristiano. . 1999. . The Microdynamics of Technological Change . , London : : Routledge. .

[7] Boisot Max. . 1998. . Knowledge Assets: Securing Competitive Advantage in the Information Economy . , Oxford : : Oxford University Press. .

[8] Drucker Peter. . 1993. . Post-Capitalist Society . , Oxford : : Butterworth-Heinemann. .

[9] Lundvall Bengt-Ake. , ed. 1992. . National Systems of Innovation: Towards a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning . , London : : Pinter. .

[10] Nonaka Ikujiro and Takeuchi Hirotaka. . 1995. . The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation . , Oxford : : Oxford University Press. .

[11] Borgmann Albert. . 1999. . Hold on to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium . , Chicago : : University of Chicago Press. .

[12] Bladder F.. 1995. . 'Knowledge, knowledge work and organizations: an overview and interpretation'. . Organization Studies . , Vol. 16((6)): 1021––46. .

[13] Howells J.. 2000. . “'Knowledge, innovation and location'. ”. In Knowledge, Space, Economy . , Edited by: Bryson J. R., Daniels P. W., Henry N. and Pollard J.. p. 50––62. . London : : Routledge. .

[14] Lundvall B.-Å. and Johnson B.. 1994. . The learning economy'. . Journal of Industry Studies . , Vol. 1((2)): 23––42. .

[15] Howells J. and Roberts J.. 2000. . 'From innovation systems to knowledge systems'. . Prometheus . , Vol. 19((1)): 17––31. .

[16] Arrow Kenneth. . 1974. . The Limits of Organization . , p. 39––40. . New York : : Norton. .

[17] Saviotti P. P.. 1998. . On the dynamics of appropriability, of tacit and codified knowledge'. . Research Policy . , Vol. 26:: 843––56. . 848

[18] Howells J.. 1996. . 'Tacit knowledge, innovation and technology transfer'. . Technology Analysis and Strategic Management . , Vol. 8((2)): 91––106. . 92

[19] Polanyi M.. 1966. . The logic of tacit inference'. . Philosophy . , Vol. 41((155)): 1––18. . 4

[21] Hull R.. 2000. . “'Knowledge management practices and innovation'. ”. In Knowledge and Innovation in the New Service Economy . , Edited by: Andersen B., Howells J., Hull R., Miles I. and Roberts J.. p. 142––58. . Cheltenham : : Edward Elgar. .

[22] Lyotard Jean-Francois. . 1984. . The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge . , Edited by: Bennington Geoff and Massumi Brian. . Manchester : : Manchester University Press. .

[23] Rosenberg Nathan. . 1982. . Inside the Black Box: Technology and Economics . , Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .

[24] Dosi G.. 1988. . “'The nature of the innovation process'. ”. In Technical Change and Economic Theory . , Edited by: Dosi G., Freeman C., Nelson R., Silverberg G. and Soete L.. p. 221––38. . London : : Pinter. .

[25] Senker J.. 1995. . 'Tacit knowledge and models of innovation'. . Industrial and Corporate Change . , Vol. 4((2)): 425––47. .

[26] Bolter David. . 1986. . Turing's Man: Western Culture in the Computer Age . , p. 131 Harmondsworth : : Penguin. .

[28] Polanyi Michael. . 1967. . The Taat Dimension . , p. 4 London : : Routledge. .

[29] Simon H. A.. 1955. . 'A behavioural model of rational choice'. . Quarterly Journal of Economics . , Vol. 69:: 99––118. .

[30] Cowan R., David P.A. and Foray D.. 2000. . The explicit economics of knowledge codification and tacitness'. . Industrial and Corporate Change . , Vol. 9((2)): 211––253. .

[31] Lave Jean and Wenger Etienne. . 1991. . Situated Learning. Legitimate Peripheral Participation . , p. 98 Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .

[32] Penrose Edith. . 1959. . The Theory of the Growth of the Firm . , Oxford : : Blackwell. .

[33] Nelson Richard and Winter Sidney. . 1982. . An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change . , Cambridge , MA : : Belknap Press. .

[34] Landes David. . 1999. . The Wealth and Poverty of Nations . , p. 278––79. . London : : Abacus. .

[35] Roberts J.. 2000. . 'From know-how to show-how: the role of information and communication technologies in the transfer of knowledge'. . Technology Analysis and Strategic Management . , Vol. 12((4)): 429––43. .

[36] MacKenzie D. and Spinardi G.. 1995. . 'Tacit knowledge, weapons design, and the uninvention of nuclear weapons'. . American Journal of Sociology . , Vol. 101((1)): 44––99. .

[37] Arrow Kenneth. . 1969. . 'Classificatory notes on the production and transmission of technical knowledge'. . American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings . , Vol. 59:: 29––35. .

[38] 1996. . 'Technical information and industrial structure'. . Industrial and Corporate Change . , Vol. 5((3)): 645––52. .

[39] Stigler G. J.. 1961. . 'The economics of information'. . Journal of Political Economy . , Vol. 69:: 213––25. .

[40] Williamson Oliver E.. 1975. . Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Anti-trust Implications . , New York : : Free Press. .

[41] 1985. . The Economic Institutions of Capitalism: Firms, Markets, Relational Contracting . , London : : Macmillan. .

[42] Foray D. and Lundvall B.-Å.. 1996. . “'The knowledge-based economy: from the economics of knowledge to the learning economy'. ”. In Employment and Growth in the Knowledge-based Economy . , Edited by: OECD. . p. 11––32. . Paris : : OECD. .

[43] Hodgson Geoffrey. . 1999. . Economics and Utopia: Why the Learning Economy is not the End of History . , London : : Routledge. .

[44] Maskell P. and Malmberg A.. 1999. . 'Localised learning and industrial competitiveness'. . Cambridge Journal of Economics . , Vol. 23:: 167––86. .

[45] Lawson C. and Lorenz E.. 1999. . 'Collective learning, tacit knowledge and regional innovation capacity'. . Regional Studies . , Vol. 33((4)): 305––17. .

[46] Foucault Michel. . 1979. . Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison . , p. 27 Harmondsworth : : Penguin. .

[47] Pei Mario and Lang David Marshall. . 1998. . “'Alphabet'. ”. In Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia . , Microsoft Corporation. .

[48] Castells Manuel. . 1996. . The Rise of the Network Society . , London : : Blackwell. .

[49] Reich Robert B.. 1992. . The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism . , New York : : Vintage. .

[50] The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education. . 1997. . Higher Education in the Learning Society (Dearing Report) . , London : : HMSO. .

[51] Davenport Thomas and Prusak Laurence. . 1998. . Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know . , Boston , MA : : Harvard Business School Press. .

[52] Leonard-Barton Dorothy. . 1995. . WeUspnngs of Knowledge: Building and Sustaining the Sources of Innovation . , Boston : : Harvard University Press. .

[53] Stewart Thomas. . 1997. . Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations . , New York : : Currency/Doubleday. .

[54] Scarbrough Harry, Swan Jacky and Preston John. . 1999. . Knowledge Management· A Literature Review . , p. 1 London : : Institute of Personnel and Development. .

[56] Orr Julian. . 1996. . Talking about Machines: an Ethnography of a Modern Job . , Ithaca : : ILR Press. .

[57] Zack M. H.. 1999. . 'Managing codified knowledge'. . Sloan Management Review . , Vol. 40: Summer;: 45––57. .

[58] Davenport T. H., De Long D. W. and Beers M. C.. 1998. . 'Successful knowledge management projects'. . Sloan Management Review . , Vol. 40:: 43––57. . 44––45. .

[59] Robins Kevin and Webster Frank. . 1999. . Times of the Technoculture: From the Information Society to the Virtual Life . , p. 190 London and New York : : Routledge. .

[60] Roszak Theodore. . 1994. . The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking . , Berkeley : : University of California Press. .

[61] Weizenbaum Joseph. . 1984. . Computer Pooler and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation . , Harmondsworth : : Penguin. .

[62] Brown John Seely and Duguid Paul. . 2000. . The Social Life of Information . , Boston , MA : : Harvard Business School Press. .

[63] Noble D. F.. 1998. . 'Digital diploma mills: the automation of higher education'. . First Monday . , Vol. 3((1))

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