Perspective Making and Perspective Taking in Communities of Knowing

Abstract

Communication in knowledge intensive firms involves perspective making and perspective taking within and between their communities of knowing. In this paper we 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. The role of narrative in perspective making and of reflexivity in perspective taking are highlighted. Two models of communication, the conduit model and the language games model, are proposed for guiding the design of electronic communication media, and their relative strengths and weaknesses are considered.

Knowledge Adoption in Online Communities of Practice

“…They reflect those cognitive perspectives jointly held by all community members (Boland and Tenkasi 1995).Within an online COP, members are accustomed to using a certain genre for knowledge sharing, and the norms of using this genre for knowledge sharing are reinforced by the community in its practice. A competent member needs not only to possess valid domain knowledge, but also to be able to use the correct genre to communicate knowledge.…”

The importance of context in store forecasting: The site visit in retail location decision-making

“…It is therefore essential to understand how these differing perspectives and narratives concerning knowledge management are played out. 88 Contextual knowledge has to be suffi ciently valued within the forecasting process even if it cannot be formally introduced within computational models that seem to provide ' validity ' or ' truth ' . This, in turn, must also be considered, valued and refl ected within the site assessment literature as it is only when modelling is employed in context can we really evaluate its worth.…”

Thinking about You: Perspective Taking, Perceived Restraint, and Performance

“…Our focus on perspective taking makes several contributions and suggests directions for future research. First, with few exceptions (e.g., Boland and Tenkasi, 1995;Parker & Axtell, 2001), perspective taking by organization members has received little empirical attention (Parker, Atkins & Axtell, 2008). It may, however, reflect a powerful mechanism for understanding how people proactively navigate their interactions with others and avoid unnecessary conflict.…”

“…Perspective taking has been linked to better communication, increased cooperation, more flexible responses to others' needs, greater valuing of others' welfare, and the ability to avoid cognitive biases such as anchoring (Blumer, 1969;Batson et al, 1995;Boland and Tenkasi, 1995;Galinsky & Mussweiler, 2001;Mead, 1934;Krauss & Fussell, 1991;Parker and Axtell, 2001). Perspective taking also has the potential to provide perspective takers with an anticipatory understanding of what others are likely to find harmful, and it is this Perspective Taking and Perceived Restraint 5 understanding may allow perspective takers to proactively influence the elements of a situation that others perceive as injurious (Williams, 2007;Belkin & Williams, 2013).…”