Transfer of changing production know-how

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ferdows, Kasra
• 署名单位: Georgetown University
• 刊物名称: PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1059-1478
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 1-9
• 关键词: transfer of production know-how; KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT; absorptive capacity; production networks; codified versus tacit knowledge

摘要

Even with the rich literature on knowledge management, we still don't know enough about how the rate of change in production-know-how affects the choice of mechanisms for its transfer. Codifying tacit know-how helps, but codification becomes more challenging as the know-how changes more frequently. Transfer of tacit know-how becomes much more complicated when it changes often. We need more research in this area, particularly to help production and operations managers who must ultimately use the new know-how and change their companies' production processes. The paper suggests a framework as a step in that direction. The framework focuses on the interplay between the level of codification and the rate of change of production know-how, and identifies four zones for classifying production know-how: slow and codified, slow and tacit, fast and codified, and fast and tacit. Examples from McDonald's, Club Med, Intel, and AOL are used to illustrate primary transfer mechanisms for each zone (manuals and systems, people, joint-development, and projects, respectively). Appropriate absorptive capacities in the production units for each zone are also identified. Since the ultimate responsibility of operations managers is to improve (i.e., change) their production know-how as fast as possible, they would be wise to adopt policies that are closer to those suited for the fast and codified zone. Intel and Toyota show good models.