IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iburev/v24y2015i1p43-54.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Discourses of knowledge across global networks: What can be learnt about knowledge leadership from the ATLAS collaboration?

Author

Listed:
  • Mabey, Christopher
  • Nicholds, Alyson

Abstract

Writing on knowledge management (KM) and leadership studies tends to take place in parallel; both fields are prolific yet they rarely inform each other. A KM view tends to take a positional view of leaders and a functionalist view of firms: so it regards those with the ascription or status of leaders as pivotal, and knowledge as a commodity to be leveraged with the help of leaders to improve firm performance. But as the global reach of organizations in the knowledge-based economy become more stretched, as their operations become more networked and as their workforces become more mobile, the task of deploying and deriving value from knowledge becomes ever more challenging and calls for a qualitatively different approach which is termed knowledge leadership. In contrast to the instrumentalist approach of KM we offer some alternative discourses of knowledge and explore the implications of these for knowledge leadership. We then use interpretive discourse to examine the way knowledge activists enact and experience the exchange of knowledge in the ATLAS collaboration, part of the largest scientific experiment in the world at the Large Hadron Collider, near Geneva. We find this apparently democratic and homogeneous global network to be populated by quite different perceptions concerning the way knowledge is viewed, the way knowledge leadership is exercised and the impact of this on the global collaboration. We discuss the wider significance of these findings for knowledge leadership in other international knowledge-based enterprises and R&D businesses.

Suggested Citation

  • Mabey, Christopher & Nicholds, Alyson, 2015. "Discourses of knowledge across global networks: What can be learnt about knowledge leadership from the ATLAS collaboration?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 43-54.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:24:y:2015:i:1:p:43-54
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2014.05.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593114000754
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2014.05.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Gooderham & Dana B. Minbaeva & Torben Pedersen, 2011. "Governance Mechanisms for the Promotion of Social Capital for Knowledge Transfer in Multinational Corporations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 123-150, January.
    2. Ulrike Schultze & Charles Stabell, 2004. "Knowing What You Don’t Know? Discourses and Contradictions in Knowledge Management Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 549-573, June.
    3. Lee Fleming & David M. Waguespack, 2007. "Brokerage, Boundary Spanning, and Leadership in Open Innovation Communities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 165-180, April.
    4. Stanley Deetz, 1996. "Crossroads---Describing Differences in Approaches to Organization Science: Rethinking Burrell and Morgan and Their Legacy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 191-207, April.
    5. Li, Li, 2005. "The effects of trust and shared vision on inward knowledge transfer in subsidiaries' intra- and inter-organizational relationships," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 77-95, February.
    6. Moore, Fiona, 2012. "Identity, knowledge and strategy in the UK subsidiary of an Anglo-German automobile manufacturer," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 281-292.
    7. Hong, Jacky Fok Loi & Snell, Robin Stanley & Easterby-Smith, Mark, 2009. "Knowledge flow and boundary crossing at the periphery of a MNC," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 539-554, December.
    8. Stephen Gourlay, 2006. "Conceptualizing Knowledge Creation: A Critique of Nonaka's Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(7), pages 1415-1436, November.
    9. Chompalov, Ivan & Genuth, Joel & Shrum, Wesley, 2002. "The organization of scientific collaborations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 749-767, July.
    10. Adenfelt, Maria & Lagerström, Katarina, 2006. "Knowledge development and sharing in multinational corporations: The case of a centre of excellence and a transnational team," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 381-400, August.
    11. Kasper, Helmut & Lehrer, Mark & Mühlbacher, Jürgen & Müller, Barbara, 2013. "On the different “worlds” of intra-organizational knowledge management: Understanding idiosyncratic variation in MNC cross-site knowledge-sharing practices," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 326-338.
    12. Stephen Tallman & Aya S. Chacar, 2011. "Knowledge Accumulation and Dissemination in MNEs: A Practice‐Based Framework," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 278-304, March.
    13. Mäkelä, Kristiina & Andersson, Ulf & Seppälä, Tomi, 2012. "Interpersonal similarity and knowledge sharing within multinational organizations," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 439-451.
    14. Wanda J. Orlikowski, 2002. "Knowing in Practice: Enacting a Collective Capability in Distributed Organizing," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 249-273, June.
    15. Choi, Soon-Gwon & Johanson, Jan, 2012. "Knowledge translation through expatriates in international knowledge transfer," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 1148-1157.
    16. Mats Alvesson, 2011. "De‐Essentializing the Knowledge Intensive Firm: Reflections on Sceptical Research Going against the Mainstream," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(7), pages 1640-1661, November.
    17. Georg von Krogh & Ikujiro Nonaka & Lise Rechsteiner, 2012. "Leadership in Organizational Knowledge Creation: A Review and Framework," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 240-277, January.
    18. Mark Easterby‐Smith & Marjorie A. Lyles & Eric W. K. Tsang, 2008. "Inter‐Organizational Knowledge Transfer: Current Themes and Future Prospects," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 677-690, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. de Vasconcellos, Silvio Luis & Garrido, Ivan Lapuente & Parente, Ronaldo Couto, 2019. "Organizational creativity as a crucial resource for building international business competence," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 438-449.
    2. Abdelzaher, Dina & Fernandez, Whitney Douglas & Schneper, William D., 2019. "Legal rights, national culture and social networks: Exploring the uneven adoption of United Nations Global Compact," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 12-24.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tippmann, Esther & Sharkey Scott, Pamela & Mangematin, Vincent, 2014. "Subsidiary managers’ knowledge mobilizations: Unpacking emergent knowledge flows," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 431-443.
    2. Ferlie, Ewan & Crilly, Tessa & Jashapara, Ashok & Peckham, Anna, 2012. "Knowledge mobilisation in healthcare: A critical review of health sector and generic management literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(8), pages 1297-1304.
    3. Esther Tippmann & Pamela Sharkey Scott & Vincent Mangematin, 2014. "Subsidiary managers’ knowledge mobilizations: Unpacking emergent knowledge flows," Post-Print hal-00864324, HAL.
    4. repec:hal:gemwpa:hal-00864324 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Park, Chansoo & Vertinsky, Ilan & Becerra, Manuel, 2015. "Transfers of tacit vs. explicit knowledge and performance in international joint ventures: The role of age," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 89-101.
    6. Dasí, Àngels & Pedersen, Torben & Gooderham, Paul N. & Elter, Frank & Hildrum, Jarle, 2017. "The effect of organizational separation on individuals’ knowledge sharing in MNCs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 431-446.
    7. Majuri, Matti, 2022. "Inter-firm knowledge transfer in R&D project networks: A multiple case study," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    8. Fiona Kun Yao & Kaifeng Jiang & Danielle R. Combs & Song Chang, 2022. "Informal institutions and absorptive capacity: A cross-country meta-analytic study," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(6), pages 1091-1109, August.
    9. Reza Dabestani & Allahvirdi Taghavi & Mohammad Saljoughian, 2014. "The Relationship between Total Quality Management Critical Success Factors and Knowledge Sharing in a Service Industry," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 39(1), pages 81-101, February.
    10. Fortwengel, Johann & Gutierrez Huerter O, Gabriela & Kostova, Tatiana, 2023. "Three decades of research on practice transfer in multinational firms: Past contributions and future opportunities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(3).
    11. Sajjad Jasimuddin & Jun Li & Nicholas Perdikis, 2015. "Linkage between geographic space and knowledge transfer by multinational enterprises: a structural equation approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(3), pages 769-795, May.
    12. Achcaoucaou, Fariza & Miravitlles, Paloma & León-Darder, Fidel, 2014. "Knowledge sharing and subsidiary R&D mandate development: A matter of dual embeddedness," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 76-90.
    13. Daniel Geiger & Jochen Koch, 2008. "Von der individuellen Routine zur organisationalen Praktik — Ein neues Paradigma für die Organisationsforschung?," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 60(7), pages 693-712, November.
    14. Liubertė Irina, 2019. "On Social Knowledge and Its Empirical Investigation in Contemporary Organisations," Management of Organizations: Systematic Research, Sciendo, vol. 81(1), pages 21-37, June.
    15. Gabriela Gutierrez-Huerter O & Jeremy Moon & Stefan Gold & Wendy Chapple, 2020. "Micro-processes of translation in the transfer of practices from MNE headquarters to foreign subsidiaries: The role of subsidiary translators," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(3), pages 389-413, April.
    16. Li Li & Haifen Lin & Yibo Lyu, 2022. "Technology cluster coupling and invulnerability of industrial innovation networks: the role of centralized structure and technological turbulence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(3), pages 1209-1231, March.
    17. Chris Kimble, 2013. "Knowledge management, codification and tacit knowledge," Post-Print halshs-00826911, HAL.
    18. Michailova, Snejina & Mustaffa, Zaidah, 2012. "Subsidiary knowledge flows in multinational corporations: Research accomplishments, gaps, and opportunities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 383-396.
    19. Michael E. Cummings & Hans Rawhouser & Silvio Vismara & Erin L. Hamilton, 2020. "An equity crowdfunding research agenda: evidence from stakeholder participation in the rulemaking process," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 907-932, April.
    20. Li, Shenxue & Easterby-Smith, Mark & Lyles, Marjorie A. & Clark, Timothy, 2016. "Tapping the power of local knowledge: A local-global interactive perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 641-653.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:24:y:2015:i:1:p:43-54. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/133/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.