Hi orglearners!
>One of the main issues in the "knowledge-based" company seems to be how
>to keep the competence. Naturally many companies become sceptical towards
>investing in the "human factor" to increase the company's knowledge if
>the person invested in can leave the organization at any time, taking the
>investment with him/her. We ask ourselves to what extent this is really a
>problem. Isn't it really a matter of trying to convert much of the
>individual capital into structural capital so that it stays in the
>organization independently of its actors? Doing this however raises a new
>question: Are the individuals interested in "giving" their knowledge to
>the organization?
I am most interested in the context of competence in this extract. For a
layperson, a competence is a unique skill that usually cannot be
replicated or copied in any other context. There is no question of keeping
the competence. The `uniqueness' of the competence vanishes over a period
of time when competitors are able to imitate (against copy) the competence
or when the dynamics of the context itself change. i.e. the competence is
no longer a source of competitive advantage...(a competence would become a
source of competitive advantage only when the competence is internally
sustainable and appropriate to the competitive forces).
If the organisation in question is a learning organisation, I would say
that the conversion of individual knowledge into organisational knowledge
wouldn't be a problem. One must also realise that an organisation's
relationship with a knowledge worker is special: It is not only the
organisation that invests in the person; The person, too, invests himself
or herself in the organisation. Then comes the question of the person
"giving" knowledge to the organisation. I would suggest a review of
postings on ``Are humans resources?'' There are some excellent inputs from
those postings regarding this inquiry.
As this is my first message to learning-org, I would also like to
introduce myself: I am a research analyst with The Hindu Business Line, a
major business newspaper in India. My current responsibilities include
co-ordinating, writing, editing, design and production of Praxis -- a
Quarterly Journal on Management Themes (themes have been `Managing
Knowledge Workers', `Do Indian Companies Learn?', `How has Corporate India
Used Freedom?' and `Managing Customers'. Future themes will be `Infotech'
and `Managing Bureaucracy'. Suggestions are welcome) and Urban Pulse - - a
biannual survey on consumer segments.
N Nagaraj
e-mail: nagaraj@thehindu.co.in
--"N. Nagaraj" <GARCIA@thehindu.co.in>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>