Environment, manufacturing technology, and embedded knowledge

Abstract

Abstract This article focuses on the relationship between different types of organization‐based knowledge and its application to utilizing various forms of advanced manufacturing technology. Explicit knowledge is transparent in the sense that any firm with a comparable skill and technology base can understand and apply it in a fast and similar manner. Tacit knowledge is based more on insight, practice, and cumulative learning that is deeply embedded within the organization's dynamic routines and operating systems. The effective learning and application of new types of manufacturing skills and techniques, such as computer‐integrated manufacturing (CIM) and flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), is based heavily on the firm's cultivation of tacit, embedded knowledge to build competitive advantage. A model describes the strategic application of different manufacturing technologies across varying levels of technological change and market fragmentation. In each of the four cells, the roles of workers, managers, and different subunits of the firm are discussed as they relate to understanding the nexus between types of knowledge and manufacturing activities.

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