Exploiting Information: Seeking Long-term Preservation of organisational knowledge

Long-term preservation of organisational knowledge gives the business opportunities to reuse stored knowledge. This preservation of knowledge is present both in the organisation as such, found explicitly in the organisational stock, and also in the individual workers, implicit in their flow of action. Theoretically have the reuse of knowledge been named organisational memory and also been addressed in knowledge management. In a single case-study of a manufacturing company, the authors study the utilisation of product configuration information (PCI) and its role in meeting requirements on long-time preservation of product-related knowledge. This structured and standardised information is used throughout the organisation, serving as a base for both organisational and individual knowledge for the entire company. Since the information has been used in the same way for decades it is a part of the organisation ́s culture and influences structures and procedures connected to the information base. The result of the study implies that usage of PCI grants the individual worker a high degree of task-related freedom as well as intra-organisational mobility. The downside for the individuals is the long time period it takes to get familiar with PCI due to its complexity. For the organisation as such, PCI provides a stable stock of knowledge which is available over extended periods of time, drastically reducing dependence upon individual workers.