The knowledge retrieval matrix: codification and personification as separate strategies

TL;DR: Virtual communities of practice are suggested as a strategy for internationally‐operating corporations that cannot develop regular face‐to‐face contact between employees, but still need some degree of personification for efficient knowledge transfers.

Abstract: Purpose – Proposes that multinational companies (MNCs) establish virtual communities of practice, i.e. intranet‐based collaborative forums, and thereby benefit from a combination of codification and personification strategies in order to solve knowledge retrieval problems for the knowledge worker.Design/methodology/approach – Based on an overview of the problems related to retrieval (i.e. individual decoding and interpretation of knowledge), a literature review on individual memory, databases, social capital and virtual communities of practice reveals a knowledge retrieval means matrix, paying respect to retrieval processes.Findings – Virtual communities of practice are suggested as a strategy for internationally‐operating corporations that cannot develop regular face‐to‐face contact between employees, but still need some degree of personification for efficient knowledge transfers.Research limitations/implications – Being a conceptual paper, quantitative/qualitative integration will enrich the debate furt...