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Knowledge, Social Energy, and Emergent Leadership in Social

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Knowledge, Social Energy, and Emergent Leadership in Social Reconceptualizing Knowledge Management: Knowledge, Social Energy, and Emergent Leadership in Social Complex Adaptive Systems Jean-Baptiste P.L. Faucher A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand August 2010 “For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” H.L. Mencken, popularized update from "The Divine Afflatus" in New York Evening Mail (16 November 1917) i ii Abstract The field of knowledge management struggles among apparent paradoxical standpoints. Beyond the facts that knowledge remains poorly defined, and is also not easily ‘managed’, theories of knowledge management propose opposing views traditionally ranging from an information science perspective to a more social orientation. There is also an epistemic gap between the concepts of knowledge and knowledge management. Although this is primarily experienced at the practitioners’ level, it is essentially due to a theoretical disintegration at the academic level between the micro and macro levels of knowledge management and a myriad of non-integrated frameworks. There is currently no integrated theory of knowledge management. This thesis employs a radical socio-cultural constructivist epistemology, adopting complexity theory as a lens to provide the first step towards an integration of the field of knowledge management. Using a disjunctive logic and a holistic approach, this thesis makes several significant contributions: • This research presents a Delphi study utilizing a panel of experts to explore existing consensus and dissension within the field of knowledge management. • This research introduces the E2E Model, a new complexity-based conceptualization of the cognitive system of knowledge which revisits the position of the traditional constructs of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom within an interlinked feedback system of increasing levels of understanding, allowing multidirectional interstate transitions, bound between two states of being: existence and enlightenment (hence “E2E”). • This research introduces the LIFE Model (Leadership Invigorating Flows of Energies) which provides a comprehensive description of the organizational Knowledge Processing System. It highlights the role of emergent leadership and flows of social energies as forces invigorating the Knowledge Processing System, and describes how knowledge is created, assimilated, and diffused dynamically within an organization through the Knowledge Processing. • This research also presents a first application of the LIFE model with the case analysis of Wikipedia illustrating why this organization can be considered as a iii social complex adaptive system and how the LIFE model facilitates its analysis. This analysis demonstrates how continuous flows of positive and negative feedback among users and the processes of the Knowledge Processing Cycle lead to the emergence of a complex feedback system that nurtures the self- organization of the Wikipedia community and its outputs. Together, the E2E Model and the LIFE Model provide a sound foundation for a reconceptualization of knowledge management. They open the path to the creation of an integrative theory of knowledge management, of which a first stepping stone is presented in this thesis. iv Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my two supervisors Rob Lawson and André Everett for their tremendous job in supporting me in my academic work and development. They have always found ways to help me improve my academic skills, and I would not be half the academic I am today without them. They have also supported me, even in the most difficult times, and for this I will always be grateful to them. I was extremely lucky to have both of them during these few years, and I wish all PhD student could have such great supervisors. I would also like to thank my fellow colleagues from the Marketing and Management departments at Otago. It has been a great pleasure to work among them, and I wish them all the best in their future endeavors. A special thanks to all the PhD students from the Marketing department with whom I shared these years of hard work. Congratulations to those who have finished before me, and good luck to all the others! A special ‘thank you’ to my family for being so supportive along all these years. It has been a great challenge for them and for me to be so far away from each other, and I am grateful they have always been there for me along this difficult path. Last but not least, I dedicate this thesis to my Dad who unfortunately was taken away from us before he could witness the end of this journey. v vi Preface It has always been my goal to produce a short thesis. There are a few reasons underlying this choice. First, I believe every academic work should be concise. If you can say the same thing in half the amount of words, then not doing so is pure laziness. Second, I hate to read long text which repeats the same thing over and over again; it is just a waste of time for the reader. Looking at the limited time everyone has in his/her hands, it is simply unacceptable. Third, I believe in quality, not quantity. I have therefore tried my best to make this thesis as concise as possible, and I hope this will be appreciated. Consequently, this thesis only features the discussion of concepts that seemed necessary to understand the critical issues at the core of my argumentation. I have voluntarily omitted several discussions of secondary issues related to my work. I have tried to be upfront about these omissions in the text and it is hoped that these possible injustices for other academic works are neither crucial nor injurious. If it is, then I am deeply sorry as it was not my intention. The reader might find a few puns in this thesis, and wonder what they are doing in such a serious piece of work (i.e., a doctoral thesis). I believe that even a serious work such as this one should not take itself too seriously. For the sake of conciseness, I have restrained myself to a maximum, but some slippages may still remain, yet, I won’t apologize for them. Finally, I have not used any ‘cook book’ on how to write a thesis. While I do not think I have reinvented the wheel either, I have produced a structure and content that fit the purpose of my academic journey. I hope this thesis will surprise my readers by its approach and essence, and that its contribution to academia will shine through the midst of the too many words composing it. vii viii Notice of Publication of Related Work Some of the research described in this thesis has undergone peer review and has been published in, or at the date of this printing is being considered for publication in, academic journals, books, and conferences. This notice serves to indicate that certain parts of the material presented here have already been described by the author in the literature, and some parts are therefore subject to copyright by either publishers or the author outside this volume. Coauthors are in all instances the researcher’s thesis supervisors. "What Do We Know About Knowledge?" By Jean-Baptiste P.L. Faucher, André M. Everett, and Rob Lawson. In Alex Koohang, Keith Harman, and Johannes Britz, eds., Knowledge Management: Theoretical Foundations. Santa Rosa, California: Informing Science Press, 2008, pp. 41-78. ISBN 978 1 932886 061. "Reconstituting Knowledge Management." Journal of Knowledge Management, 12:3, 2008, pp. 3-16. By Jean-Baptiste P.L. Faucher, André M. Everett, and Rob Lawson. "Modeling the Knowledge Processing System through the Lens of Complexity Theory: Social Energies, Leadership, and the LIFE Model." 3rd International Conference on IT Applications and Management, The Korea Database Society, Seoul, Korea, 30 October 2009. By André M. Everett, Jean-Baptiste P.L. Faucher, & Rob Lawson. Proceedings, pp. 111-123. "Knowledge Intrapreneurship in a Complex Adaptive Organization: The Case of Wikipedia." 11th McGill International Entrepreneurship Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand, 6-8 December 2008. By Jean-Baptiste P.L. Faucher, André M. Everett, and Rob Lawson. Proceedings published on USB drive, pp. 546-567. "Applying a Modified Delphi Approach to Determine the Current State of the Concept of Knowledge." 39th Annual Meeting of the Decision Sciences Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, 22-25 November 2008. By Jean-Baptiste P.L. Faucher, André M. Everett, and Rob Lawson. Proceedings published on CD only, ISBN 0-9667118-0-7, pp. 4801-4806. "Applying Complexity Theory to the Foundation of Knowledge Management: Recasting the DIKW Pyramid as the E2E Model." International Conference on ix IT Applications and Management of the Korea Database Society, Seoul, Korea, 31 October 2008. By André M. Everett, Jean-Baptiste Faucher, & Rob Lawson. Proceedings, pp. 171-184. "A Complex Adaptive Organization Under the Lens of the LIFE Model: The Case of Wikipedia." 4th Organization Studies Summer Workshop: 'Embracing Complexity: Advancing Ecological Understanding in Organization Studies,' Pissouri, Cyprus, 5-8 June 2008. By Jean-Baptiste P.L. Faucher, André M. Everett, and Rob Lawson. One-page summary in book of abstracts; full papers online only (24 pages). "Examining Successful Complex Adaptive Organizations via the LIFE Model: The Case of Wikipedia." 38th Annual Meeting of the Decision Sciences Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, 17-20 November 2007. By Jean-Baptiste Faucher, André M. Everett, and Rob Lawson. Proceedings published on CD only, no ISBN, pp. 3181-3186. "A Proposed New Knowledge Management Framework with an Intended Validation Approach: The E2E Model." 6th International Conference on Information and Management Sciences, Lhasa, Tibet, China, 1-6 July 2007. By Jean-Baptiste P. L. Faucher, André M. Everett, and Rob Lawson. Proceedings, ISSN 1539-2023, pp. 349-355. "Extending the Knowledge Management Paradigm: The E2E Model, From Existence to Enlightenment." Pan-Pacific Conference XXIV, Dunedin/Queenstown, New Zealand, 2-4 June 2007.
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