Valuing knowledge: Meaning and identity in organizational activities

Abstract

Knowledge assessment represents a gap in the area of organizational knowledge. This article seeks to determine what means are adopted by individuals in evaluating the knowledge of organizations. The research employed the grounded theory method and was carried out by human resources (HR) professionals. The results suggest that the process of providing individuals with an organizational identity occupies a central place in knowledge valuation. The organization has emerged as ̈the other̈ by means of senior management or organizational routines and this appears to have led to the guidelines that must be followed as well as the type of knowledge to be appraised and evaluated - a kind of knowledge with which the members of the organization can seek to be identified. Individuals devise mechanisms of self-affirmation, cultural adaptation or reconstruction with regard to their identities, with the aim of bringing about, explaining or denying their identification with a company. It is suggested that the vertical control model still prevails over horizontal integration and this makes it difficult to ensure that the emerging knowledge is established among the members of the organization.