Abstract
Vicious and Virtuous Circles in the Management of Knowledge: The Case of Infosys Technologies
Raghu Garud and Arun Kumaraswamy
Volume 29, Special Issue on IT and Knowledge Management
A systems perspective is adopted to explore the challenges that organizations face in harnessing knowledge. A systems perspective draws attention to mutually causal processes that have the potential to generate both vicious and virtuous circles. Based on a longitudinal study at Infosys Technologies, we conclude that knowledge management involves more than just the sponsorship of initiatives at and across different organizational levels. It also involves an active process of steering around and out of vicious circles that will inevitably emerge.
Keywords: Knowledge management, increasing returns, systems dynamics, vicious circles