Leveraging Knowledge Creation Through Failure Analysis: An Ontological Orientation

Knowledge has become a substantial intangible asset of firms, and perhaps their most critical resource. As such knowledge management has emerged as a critical research field for Information Systems (IS). This paper addresses the need for additional research relating to the creation of knowledge in an organizational context. We leverage knowledge creation through use of a surrogate, the process of failure analysis and failure identification (FA/FI). Considering FA/FI as a characterization process, we employ an ontological orientation to improve intraand inter-organizational knowledge creation activities with an empirical investigation at a large, semiconductor-manufacturing organization. This paper examines an emerging challenge for IS (knowledge creation). Additionally, it combines theory and related extant research with empirical investigation to create a set of constructs for knowledge creation, subsequently framed as a set of propositions. Second, by mapping these constructs to a specific process instantiation, we provide a measurable foundation to test the knowledge creation constructs. Finally, we instantiate a process for knowledge creation via ontological modeling. In the development of the knowledge ontology, we identified the need for defining the knowledge unit and have instantiated a process for its development via the knowledge lens. These artifacts can enable researchers and practitioners to approach a complicated, yet critical, organizational obligation.