Managing Knowledge for Product-Service System Innovation: The Role of Web 2.0 Technologies

Abstract

OVERVIEW:In the emerging service economy, many traditional product manufacturing companies are seeking innovative ways to do business, focusing on product-service combinations. Development of these offerings requires the integration of a wider span of expertise from several companies, which poses new challenges in the way knowledge is captured and managed. On the basis of a case study from an aerospace supply chain, this paper first identifies the limitations of current knowledge-management systems in such a setting and then discusses the role of Web 2.0 technologies in managing knowledge across the knowledge life cycle. Web 2.0 technologies have potential to lower barriers to leveraging informal and unstructured knowledge, contextualized information, networks of connections, and collective creation and maintenance of knowledge assets, which could complement current knowledge-management systems in multicompany product development efforts.KEYWORDS:: Knowledge managementWeb 2.0Product-service systemsKnowledge life cycle