Macro process of knowledge management for continuous innovation

Purpose The purpose of this research is to understand the mechanisms of knowledge management (KM) for innovation and provide an approach for enterprises to leverage KM activities into continuous innovation. Design/methodology/approach – By reviewing the literature from multidisciplinary fields, the concepts of knowledge, KM and innovation are investigated. The physical, human and technological perspectives of KM are distinguished with the identification of two core activities for innovation: knowledge creation and knowledge usage. Then an essential requirement for continuous innovation –an internalization phase is defined. The systems thinking and human-centred perspectives are adopted for providing a comprehensive understanding about the mechanisms of KM for innovation. Findings – A networking process of continuous innovation based on KM is proposed by incorporating the phase of internalization. According to the three perspectives of KM, three sources of organizational knowledge assets in innovation are identified. Then based on the two core activities of innovation, a meta-model and a macro process of KM are proposed to model the mechanisms of KM for continuous innovation. Then, in order to operationalize the KM mechanisms, a hierarchical model is constructed by integrating three sources of knowledge assets, the meta-model and the macro process into the process of continuous innovation. This model decomposes the complex relationships between knowledge and innovation into four layers. Practical implications – According to the lessons learned about KM practices in previous research, the three perspectives of KM should collaborate with each other for successful implementation of KM projects for innovation; and the hierarchical model provides a suitable architecture to implement systems of KM for innovation. Originality/value – The meta-model and macro process of KM explain how the next generation of KM can help the value creation and support the continuous innovation from the systems thinking perspective. The hierarchical model illustrates the complicate knowledge dynamics in the process of continuous innovation.