Knowledge Creation in the Hypertext Organizations: Multi-Membership Practices in the University

Abstract

Hypertext organization perspective (Nonaka, 1994) is focused on knowledge creation and transfer between the main organization and project organization. However, initial hypertext organization perspectives did not take into the account the role of multi-membership in the project work. This article studies hypertext organization in the context of the multi-project case basing the analysis on the viewpoints of project-as-practice and auto-ethnography with the context of University. Auto-ethnography reveals the features of knowledge transfer in the multi-membership. Knowledge transfer of projects is not only based on the linkages between the separate education unit, the research unit and the unit of project activities, but also based on individual attitudes, features and capabilities on the multi-membership level. This study shows, instead of the externalization of knowledge, that plenty of knowledge creation activities - associated with hypertext organization - remain behind the individual actors in the form of tacit knowledge.