Sharing Scientific and Social Knowledge in a Performance Oriented Industry
The chapter evaluates the contribution of shared knowledge and information technology to manufacturing performance. For this purpose, a theoretical model was built and tested in praxis through a research study among manufacturing, quality and R&D groups. The social character of science is perceived as a matter of the aggregation of individuals, not their interactions, and social knowledge as simply the additive outcome of mostly scientists, members of the three groups, making sound scientific judgments. The study results verify the significant contribution of shared knowledge to the manufacturing group performance. They also demonstrate that information technology influences notably the manufacturing group performance and, in a less significant way, the sharing of knowledge. Study results are useful to researchers and the business community alike as they may be used as a springboard for further empirical studies and can help put together strategies involving knowledge management and information technology.