Richard J. Boland, Jr. and Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi explain that distributed cognition is manifest when individuals in an organization act autonomously, yet have interdependencies and must take knowledge of each other into account if a coordinated organizational outcome is to emerge.
Research and Insights Archive
Research and Insights from the Center for Effective Organizations
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Raising Awareness of Interpretive Processes in Knowledge Work
Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi, Richard J. Boland, Jr., and Ronald E. Purser argue that in contrast to routine work systems such as traditional manufacturing where work is defined, repetitive, and embedded in clear, shared goals, knowledge work or non-routine work as in new product development is an inherently complex, uncertain and ambiguous process.
Supporting Knowledge Diversity in Knowledge Intensive Firms: A New Frontier for Information System Design
This paper by Richard J. Boland, Jr., Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi, and Anil K Maheshwari argues the need for information systems that actively value the diversity of differentiated knowledge and that provide mechanisms for the integration of knowledge which respects the separateness of each expertise and way of knowing.
Perspective Making and Perspective Taking in Communities of Knowing
In this paper, Richard J. Boland Jr. and Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi look to science as an example of knowledge work in a community of knowing, and draw implications for the design of electronic communication systems and policies to support perspective making and perspective taking.
Locating Meaning in Organizational Learning: The Narrative Basis of Cognition
Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi and Richard J. Boland Jr. call for a fundamental reorientation of our understanding of human cognition and its relation to organizational learning, a turn that sees the basic organizing principle of cognition as essentially narrative and not schematic or representational.