Ch. 4 Flashcards
knowledge economy
wealth is increasingly created by effective management of knowledge workers instead of by the efficient control of physical and financial assets
intellectual capital
intellectual capital
the difference between a firms market value and book value - that is, a measure of the value of a firms intangible assets
- reputation, employee loyalty and commitment, customer relationships, customer values, brand names, and the experience and skills of employees
How do companies create value in the knowledge-intensive economy?
1- human capital - individual capabilities, knowledge, skills, and experience of company
2- social capital - network of relationships with individuals in organization
3- knowledge - explicit -codified, documented, easily reproduced; tacit - minds of employees are based off their experiences and backgrounds
human capital: three interdependent activities
attracting human capital, developing human capital, and retaining human capital
developing human capital can be done by ….
mentoring - valuable influence
360 degree evaluation and feedback systems
superiors, direct reports, colleagues, and even internal and external customers rate a persons performance
retaining human capital can be done by ….
- identifying with an organizations mission and values
- challenging work and a stimulating environment
- Financial and non financial rewards and incentives
Enhancing Human Capital can be done by ….
- managing diversity
- cost argument: have a cost advantage over firms that are not diverse
- resource acquisition argument: excellent reputation = top talent
- Marketing Argument: multinational firms - insight from members rooted in that company
- creativity argument: less emphasis on conformity to norms of the past and a diversity of perspectives will improve level of creativity
- problem solving argument: produce better decisions because of wide range of perspectives
- organizational flexibility argument: with effective programs to enhance workplace diversity, systems become less determinate, less standardize, and therefore more fluid
social network analysis
depicts the pattern of interactions among individuals and helps to diagnose effective and ineffective patterns
- identifies groups/clusters that comprise the network, diagnose communication patterns
closure
the degree to which all members of a social network have relationship with other members
birding relationships
stress the importance of ties connecting people; employees who bridge disconnected people
-contrast to closure
structural holes
social gap between two groups.
social network can provide:
private information, access to diverse skill sets, and power
private information
can give managers an edge, though it is more subjective than public information since it cannot be easily verified by independent sources
groupthink
a tendency not to question shared beliefs
- occur with networks with high levels of closure where there is little input from people outside the network
Social Capital Limitations
1 - groupthink
2- deep rooted mindsets - develop dysfunctional HR practices
3- socialization process can be expensive ( Orientation, training)
4- person using contacts to pursue their own interests and agendas
electronic teams
a team of individuals that completes tasks primarily through email communications
Two main differences between E-teams and more traditional teams
- e-teams- work at different times, working in different spaces, multinational team
- e-teams- interactions through electronic communication channels such as fax machines and groupware tools such as email and chat
advantages of e-teams
- less restricted by geographic constraints like face to face teams – have potential to acquire a broader range of human capital
- effective in generating social capital - quality of relationships, wider range of social contacts
challenges of e-teams
- members identify who among them can provide the most appropriate knowledge and resources
- e-team leaders and key members know how to combine individual contributions in the most effective manner for a coordinated and appropriate response
aka communication amongst the team is crucial to the function
and increases complexity of establishing effective interaction and exchanges
tacit knowledge
embedded in personal experience and shared only with the consent and participation of the individual
Explicit Knowledge
or codified - knowledge that can be documented, widely distributed, and easily replicated
intellectual property rights
more difficult to define and protect than property rights for physical assets (ex: plant, equipment, and land)
-significant development costs and very low marginal costs
dynamic capabilities
a firms advantage to build and protect a competitive advantage
- rests on knowledge, assets, competencies, and complementary assets and technologies as well as to generate new knowledge
- adapt to the changing world and innovate
