Repositories of Knowledge in Franchise Organizations: Individual, Structural, and Technological
- 29 November 2001
- book chapter
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP)
Abstract
Where is knowledge embedded in organizations? The chapter describes results on the persistence and transfer of knowledge in fast food franchises, and presents the results on the productivity of the franchises and on the timeliness of their service. It is shown that the qualitative evidence about where knowledge was embedded in the franchises suggests that knowledge gained from experience at the franchises was embedded in individual workers and in the organizations’ routines, structures, and technologies. It is argued that the fast food franchises were able to realize significant productivity gains in the face of extraordinarily high turnover because a significant component of the knowledge was embedded in the organization's structure and technology rather than in individual employees. Further, embedding knowledge in structure and technology appeared to facilitate the transfer of knowledge across organizations.Keywords
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