ifkad articles

Organizational Hybridity and Fluidity: Possibilities and Challenges for Knowledge Management

Harri Laihonen, Jukka Huhtamäki

Hybridity and organizational fluidity are theoretical approaches that are increasingly challenging our thinking about management. These phenomena blur the previously clear institutional boundaries separating professions and organizational entities and will inevitably have implications for intellectual capital (IC) management as well as knowledge management (KM) more broadly. However, there has been little discussion about these implications, despite the practice of KM, and management more generally, have evolved and changed rapidly during the last decades. This paper embarks on a journey to weave connections to the theoretical discussions on hybridity and fluidity as a purpose of analysing their possible implications on management and especially managing knowledge. The research question this paper provides perspectives to is whether and how knowledge management approaches need to be adjusted to maintain their managerial relevance also when organizational environment gets hybrid and fluid. The main contribution of the paper lies in the recognition of avenues for future research in the areas of intellectual capital management and knowledge management.

IN: Proceedings IFKAD 2019 – Knowledge Ecosystems and Growth
PP: 793-802