A methodology for studying knowledge creation in organizational settings: A phenomenological viewpoint

Abstract

Recent research of knowledge creation suggests, that knowledge is created in interaction, especially in the events of interaction between two or more persons Research has indicated, that the atmosphere and form of these events is crucial-they determine if knowledge is created or not While the importance of the event of interaction has been acknowledged, it has not, thus far, been the focus of empirical studies The aim of this chapter is to present a theoretically consistent methodology for increasing understanding and examining empirically knowledge creation in organizational settings The line of argumentation is based on the phenomenological viewpoint in which the conceptualization of human Being by Martin Heidegger is combined with the hermeneutic ideas of communication and interaction of Hans-Georg Gadamer A focus is placed on identifying the implications of the proposed hermeneutic phenomenological viewpoint to the empirical study of knowledge creation as well as appropriate methods with which to do so As a result, a methodology is presented for examining the knowledge creating interaction as an experience and an event (the empirical study remaining beyond the scope of this chapter) As the phenomenon of knowledge creation is fundamental for organizations to contribute to the positive development of society, it is important to test the methodology and its explanatory power in empirical studies in different types of organizational environments.