Minding the cognition: toward a strategic knowledge management for competitive advantage

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This articles emphasizes the importance of leveraging cognition with the help of stories, metaphors that embody the inductive reasoning to build social and intellectual capital. Given the emphasis on continuous knowledge creation and sharing, there is a need for managers to develop and use appropriate social rules, verbal protocols, and communication channels that facilitate dynamic inferences and exchanges of knowledge. Fostering a climate of dialogue with the intent of exchanging ideas and learning from one another is critical for building a knowledge-based organization. Dialogue allows individuals to articulate their subjective knowledge through metaphorical puzzles, analogies, and stories. Because all stakeholders are considered signifi cant contributors to knowledge creation, it is essential that the organization distribute and receive information synergistically both inside and outside. If firms are standoffish to their employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders, communication channels become blocked and distorted with misinformation. Good working relationships with various stakeholders are vital for the flow of valuable knowledge. For example, knowledge centered organizations such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola have formed complete information ecosystems to unite employees, suppliers, and distributors into an intellectual community.

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