Optimizing knowledge reuse within firms: frameworks, strategies and emerging tools

Abstract

Optimizing knowledge reuse is critical for firms to sustain competitive advantage. This thesis, comprising three studies, contributes to decision-making for optimizing knowledge reuse within firms in three different but related aspects: the first study proposes an integrative framework that serves as a starting point for firms to analyze the problem of knowledge reuse; the second study, by introducing a Markov Decision Process perspective, develops a formal approach for decision-making of the optimum knowledge management strategy according to the analysis of benefits and costs in specific context for knowledge reuse; and the third study, by understanding whether and how the use of social media influences knowledge reuse at the individual level, provides some insights on integrating social media for knowledge reuse purposes. The survey results show that firms should recognize the different needs of employees as knowledge producers and knowledge consumers at different stages of the knowledge reuse process.