Knowledge Creation in Organizations: an Agent-based Demographic Perspective

This paper considers the relation between organizational demography and organizational learning. It focuses on communication and consciousness as the knowledge creating process of organizations and individuals, respectively. Demography relates to communication structures in that these become inert with increasing tenure of participants; likewise, individuals adopt a specific communication style at the time of entry into the organization. The paper uses computer-based simulations to examine the effects of different tenure distributions on organizational learning. The results implicate a need to reconsider managerial practice concerning the development of organizational knowledge creation. Personnel turnover is recommended as the primary feature in the management of organizational demography to the benefits of organizational learning.