The Significance of Distinctiveness : A Proposal for Rethinking Organizational Knowledge

In this article we attempt to provide some reorientation for theuse of the concept of knowledge within management studies. The point ofdeparture is the striking discrepancy between the great importance nowadaysattributed to knowledge (knowledge economy, knowledge resources,knowledge societies, knowledge-intensive fi rms, etc.) on the one handand the vague and blurring conceptualizations of knowledge on the otherhand. Informed by philosophy of science a revised concept of knowledgeis suggested that basically draws on communication and refl ection. Thecore idea is that knowledge should be treated as a distinctive term whichallows for a differentiation between knowledge and non-knowledge. Thesuggested concept therefore makes discursive examination a central partof the notion of knowledge. In the fi nal part we attempt to demonstrate thepossible benefi ts of such re-orientation by analysing both its theoreticaland practical implications.