TY - JOUR
T1 - Managing orphan knowledge
T2 - Current Australasian best practice
AU - Caddy, Ian
AU - Guthrie, James
AU - Petty, Richard
PY - 2001/12/1
Y1 - 2001/12/1
N2 - To date, managing intellectual capital has focussed on maximising possibilities to create knowledge, while minimising chances of losing knowledge. However, effective intellectual capital management should consider another dimension: orphan knowledge. Orphan knowledge relates to questions such as: Do organisations “unlearn” things or forget things and repeat past mistakes? Do some organisations unnecessarily duplicate equivalent activities within different areas of the organisation? If orphan knowledge exists, then organisations need to understand their potential for creating orphan knowledge. This paper defines orphan knowledge, and provides evidence of its potential by developing various scenarios and relating case-study analysis from a sample of Australasian organisations. Indications are that even in organisations considered current “best practice” in managing intellectual capital, there is a medium to high potential for orphan knowledge to be created. Future research will determine whether different knowledge types, namely explicit versus tacit knowledge, have differing potentials for knowledge orphaning. Further research will consider the chief knowledge officer's role in preventing and recovering organisation orphan knowledge.
AB - To date, managing intellectual capital has focussed on maximising possibilities to create knowledge, while minimising chances of losing knowledge. However, effective intellectual capital management should consider another dimension: orphan knowledge. Orphan knowledge relates to questions such as: Do organisations “unlearn” things or forget things and repeat past mistakes? Do some organisations unnecessarily duplicate equivalent activities within different areas of the organisation? If orphan knowledge exists, then organisations need to understand their potential for creating orphan knowledge. This paper defines orphan knowledge, and provides evidence of its potential by developing various scenarios and relating case-study analysis from a sample of Australasian organisations. Indications are that even in organisations considered current “best practice” in managing intellectual capital, there is a medium to high potential for orphan knowledge to be created. Future research will determine whether different knowledge types, namely explicit versus tacit knowledge, have differing potentials for knowledge orphaning. Further research will consider the chief knowledge officer's role in preventing and recovering organisation orphan knowledge.
KW - Information
KW - Intangible assets
KW - Intellectual capital
KW - Liability
KW - Management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84986174506&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/14691930110409679
DO - 10.1108/14691930110409679
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84986174506
SN - 1469-1930
VL - 2
SP - 384
EP - 397
JO - Journal of Intellectual Capital
JF - Journal of Intellectual Capital
IS - 4
ER -