Creation, Transfer and Utilization of Knowledge: A Case Story of the "Knowledge Gardening" Process for Survival

Abstract

A company does not only consist of machines, plants and technology as resources. It also includes people with knowledge. This human capital added with ambitions and creativity to build strategies make the company survive in the international context. Even though internationalization has been much studied the main attention has lied in the focus of crossing a national border, which also is the traditional definition of internationalization. But the internationalization of businesses also includes how to make sense, building strategies to survive. The internationalization of businesses must therefore be looked upon as a longitudinal "never-ending" process. This paper presents a case study of the Swedish company CA Clase. It shows how creation, transfer and utilization of knowledge were necessary to over-win barriers and build strategies to make sense and survive in the international context. The knowledge process is looked upon as a strategic communication tool. The knowledge had been accumulated and embedded during many years. Through meetings, interviews, reading of protocols and written notes the knowledge could be reconstructed. The work-perspective was hermeneutical and could at the same time be looked upon as a resource based view. That work was here called knowledge gardening, which was a way to collect and sort out implicit and explicit internal as well as external knowledge.