Knowledge management 01: Describing an organizational context

Introducing an organization or context, describing its sectors and activities, and how the chosen context relates to the whole organization.

It will be analyzed the case of a small design firm, based in northern Greece and specialized mainly in architectural, interior and product design. The activities of the firm are not restricted to the design services but are extended into several other areas like the authoring of technical books, the publication of an e-journal, the organization of events, etc. A project is usually undertaken after a client’s request. However, a member might present an interesting idea, and then the rest of the working team agree to embark collaboratively on this concept.

The structure of the design firm is flexible consisting of small working groups in which participants share a common concern and interact on an ongoing basis. These groups could also fit to the notion of the communities of practice. 

Selecting a specific context in the organization

            The design firm consists of several sub-groups that are divided by area of expertise (product design, architectural design, etc). Since each of these communities faces different knowledge management issues, it was decided to select only a particular context and more specifically the context of product design. The main reason for this selection was that in this area numerous, innovative ideas emerge, while the achievability and the successful development of them is never guaranteed. 

Although many characteristics of the context might change (workplace, targets, etc), the participants, know each other well, acting like ‘insiders’ in a close-knit community.