Advancing Theory on Knowledge Governance: From Knowledge-Based Firms to Knowledge-Based Organizations

In an exploratory case study of a university merger, this study inductively examines how governance structures in universities impact the creation and exploitation of knowledge, both in core academic activities (research and teaching) and in related and supporting administrative tasks. Similarities and differences in relation to knowledge governance in firms are identified. The findings suggest that university governance arrangements provide advantages primarily in knowledge creation through intra-disciplinary articulation of tacit knowledge, and in the transfer of such knowledge through master-apprentice type of personal relationships, but make them inferior to firms in the pursuit of innovative, inter-disciplinary combinations of knowledge. The reasons behind these similarities and differences are explained, possible extensions of the knowledge-based theory of the firm are proposed and some tentative managerial implications for the organization of knowledge work in modern universities are outlined.