In search of an alternative framework for the creation of actionable knowledge: Table-tennis research at Ericsson

Abstract

This study describes a research methodology that evolved as a result of a longitudinal participative research effort at Ericsson. The study lasted six years and is built upon ten different, but interrelated research projects. The methodology developed was labeled table-tennis research to capture the intense interactions between researchers and organizational members throughout the life cycle of the study. This chapter reviews and briefly examines alternative interactive research approaches for knowledge creation and knowledge utilization in the context of the knowledge-based firm. The table-tennis research approach is advanced as an alternative inquiry approach for the generation of actionable knowledge. Through an in-depth inductive study, three clusters crucial to the development of actionable knowledge emerged: (1) the contextual dimensions, (2) the quality of the effort's focus, and (3) the quality of the table-tennis process itself. Within these clusters, variables and processes were inductively derived and linked together to form the process-model. Implications for the design of the knowledge-based firm, continuous innovation, change, learning and actionable knowledge creation are discussed.

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