-effective knowledge management depends not merely on information-technology platforms but more broadly on the social ecology of an organization
-social ecology refers to the social system in which people operate
-it drives an organizations formal and informal expectations of individuals defines the types of people who will fit into the organization, shapes individuals freedom to peruse actions prior approval and addresses how people interact with others both inside and outside the organization.
-determinants are culture, structure, information systems, reward systems, processes, people and leadership
-IT plays a center role
-IT platforms are neither proprietary nor unique and provide a temporary advantage
-task of accumulating knowledge broken down into 3 tasks
-1. knowledge creation
-2. knowledge acquisition
-3. knowledge retention
-knowledge mobilization broken into sub tasks
-1. knowledge id
-2. knowledge outflow
-3. knowledge transmission
-4. knowledge inflow
-Nucor excelled by becoming and remaining the most efficient steel producer in the world by developing and constantly upgrading three competencies that were both strategic and proprietary: plant construction and start-up know how, manufacturing process expertise and the ability to adopt breakthrough technologies earlier and more effectively than competitors
-Nucor's social ecology allowed the company to excel at the three sub tasks associated with accumulating knowledge: creating knowledge from direct experimentation, acquiring external knowledge, and retaining internally created or externally acquired knowledge
-Nucor was able to gain access to superior human capital by locating plants in rural areas that had an abundance of hard-working mechanically inclined people
-offered a top of the line compensation package
-high powered incentive system for every employee
-incentives were a function of production output
-incentive payouts motivated workers to develop innovations that would help them do things right the first time
-people were challenged to expand the frontiers of process know-how
-Nucor fosters experimentation within a context of accountability
-retained knowledge by not laying people off
-relies on group based incentives
-incentives motivated people to share their own best practices with peer units
-goal was to build a social community within each plant
-achieved this by keeping the employee numbers down and holding dinner meetings
-Nucor transferred knowledge between plants
-maximize knowledge creation and acquisition
-set stretch goals
-provide high-powered incentives
-cultivate empowerment and provide "slack" resources
-equip every unit with a well-defined "sandbox" for play
-cultivate a market for idea within the company
-maximize knowledge sharing
-ban "knowledge hoarding" and turn "knowledge givers" into heroes
-rely on group-based incentives
-invest in codifying tacit knowledge
-match transmission mechanisms to type of knowledge
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