Thinking Differently about Knowledge-Intensive Firms: Insights from Early Medieval Irish Monasticism

Abstract

This paper sets out to explore the organization and management practices within early medieval Irish monastic communities. Focusing on the inter-related themes of monastic structures, strategy, control, identity and community, the paper examines the peculiar parallels between these ancient religious communities and contemporary knowledge-intensive firms. The paper then goes on to highlight the key contributions of this medieval monastic perspective for the understanding and study of contemporary knowledge-intensive firms.