Management of Multiple Knowledge Creation Activities - A Case Study of Finnish Retailer

Purpose - In this paper, we shed light on the multiplicity of organizational knowledge creation activities in a company. When theories of knowledge creation are applied in organizational context it is necessary to understand the multiple knowledge creation activities and their connections. This research aims at starting a discussion about how a company can comprehensively manage its multiple knowledge creation activities. As a first step, we discuss in this paper what kinds of knowledge creation activities can be found in a company.

Design/methodology/approach - A case study approach was applied in this research. The case company is a large Finnish retailer. Research data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with various kinds of managers of the company. Then, nine knowledge creation activities were described as narratives. Finally, we classified the activities to categories.

Originality/value - The main originality of this research is that we discussed multiple knowledge creation activities in a company, while the existing literature about knowledge management tends to concentrate only on one or a few specific knowledge creation activities in a company. In addition, our research would contribute to the discussion of knowledge management by focusing specially on retail industry.

Practical implications - This research provides implications for understanding various kinds of knowledge creation activities in a company. This approach would support practitioners' adaptation of knowledge creation theory into their company.