"Organizational learning" is currently a subject of intense debate in the study of corporate dynamics. But how can such a concept be used effectively without a thorough understanding of the way in which organizations produce and distribute knowledge? An in-depth analysis of expert system projects afforded a choice opportunity for studying such questions. Drawing on four case studies, the authors identify and explore the dynamics of three basic types of expertise. They simultaneously reveal the crisis in expertise experienced by firms facing the demands of product variety and innovation. In such industrial contexts, organizational and managerial theories clearly have to include new approaches, presented here, which focus on the dynamics of expertise.

It is often claimed that we live in an expert society, a society where more and more individuals take expert roles in increasingly narrow fields. In contrast to more traditional experts most of these new experts lack generally accepted mechanisms for the certification and legitimation of their expertise. This book focuses on these new as well as established experts and the efforts undertaken to secure and legitimate their expertise. We view these efforts as organizing attempts and study them on four different levels – the society, the market, the organization and the individual. Based on empirical studies on these four levels of analysis, The Organization of the Expert Society makes the argument that current organizing initiatives in the expert society are based in an objectifying view of expertise that risks concealing and downplaying key aspects of expertise. Well-intended organizing initiatives in the expert society thus run the risk of promoting ignorance rather than securing expertise. Focusing on a current, general and global phenomenon, the rise and organization of an expert society. The Organization of the Expert Society will be key reading for scholars, academics and policy makers in the management fields of Organizational Theory, Management Consulting, Organizations & Society, Critical Management Studies as well as the disciplines of Sociology, Political Science and Social Anthropology.

This edited volume advances existing research on the production and use of expert knowledge by international bureaucracies. Given the complexity, technicality and apparent apolitical character of the issues dealt with in global governance arenas, ‘evidence-based’ policy-making has imposed itself as the best way to evaluate the risks and consequences of political action in global arenas. In the absence of alternative, democratic modes of legitimation, international organizations have adopted this approach to policy-making. By treating international bureaucracies as strategic actors, this volume address novel questions: why and how do international bureaucrats deploy knowledge in policy-making? Where does the knowledge they use come from, and how can we retrace pathways between the origins of certain ideas and their adoption by international administrations? What kind of evidence do international bureaucrats resort to, and with what implications? Which types of knowledge are seen as authoritative, and why? This volume makes a crucial contribution to our understanding of the way global policy agendas are shaped and propagated. It will be of great interest to scholars, policy-makers and practitioners in the fields of public policy, international relations, global governance and international organizations.

This influential book establishes the enduring vocabulary and concepts in the burgeoning field of knowledge management. It serves as the hands-on resource of choice for companies that recognize knowledge as the only sustainable source of competitive advantage going forward. Drawing from their work with more than thirty knowledge-rich firms, Davenport and Prusak--experienced consultants with a track record of success--examine how all types of companies can effectively understand, analyze, measure, and manage their intellectual assets, turning corporate wisdom into market value. They categorize knowledge work into four sequential activities--accessing, generating, embedding, and transferring--and look at the key skills, techniques, and processes of each. While they present a practical approach to cataloging and storing knowledge so that employees can easily leverage it throughout the firm, the authors caution readers on the limits of communications and information technology in managing intellectual capital.

The guide for all leaders and senior managers, offering the answers to critical questions on organizational design and management. Every year, over 10,000 business books are published-and that's before you add in the hundreds of thousands of articles, blogs, and video lectures that are produced. Leaders can't possibly hope to digest it all, and writers increasingly sensationalize and spin their ideas in order to be noticed. The result? Put quite simply, the field of management thinking is in danger of losing the plot. In this new book, Scott Keller and Mary Meaney-Senior Partners at McKinsey & Company, the world's preeminent management consultancy-cut to the chase by answering the 10 most important and timeless questions that every leader needs to answer in order to maximize the performance and health of their organization. What's more, the authors recognize that great leaders may not have time for long-winded business books. In Leading Organizations, answers are kept to the essentials-hard facts, counter-intuitive insights, and practical steps-all presented in an accessible and highly visual format. If there's one essential business book you should read-ever-it's this one.