Hybrid Knowledge Creation for Product Change: How Human and Machine Abilities Affect Knowledge Creation Processes in Engineering Change Management Processes

Sammanfattning: Today, knowledge is considered to be central in organizations and one way to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. It is, therefore, of academic interest to investigate knowledge creation processes within these organizations and understand them. If knowledge can be considered dynamic, then so can the organizational processes that create it. Organizational knowledge is a multitude of small pieces stored in the minds of individuals and in more explicit forms, working together in an ever-changing environment. For organizational problem solving, the right interplay between these knowledge pieces to create new knowledge can make a difference between success and failure. Therefore, this thesis investigates the abilities that affect hybrid knowledge creation, here applied in a product development setting. Two human-oriented models for knowledge creation, the SECI-model and the Four abilities model for collective intelligence are used to understand an engineering change management process at a case-study company through qualitative research with observations and 12 in-depth interviews. Results show that the two frameworks used can be combined and extended with a human-to-machine dimension to better describe the hybrid knowledge creation processes for organizational culture and IT. The extension to the combined model consists of four human and machine abilities: (1) Coaching, (2) Assistive, (3) Interoperational, and (4) Visualization. The more holistic perspective contributes to the research field within management and organization by developing the understanding of how humans and machines interact in hybrid knowledge creation processes in this type of context.