problem in management education, i.e. the quest for and make-believe of
readily applicable “plug and play models” for “want-to-be” and existing managers.
It also reflects an issue of many students, particularly at Northumbria University, of
not being able to independently locate and apply relevant studies to a specific
problem-solving situation (i.e. your assignment task(s)). However, this is an essential
skill Northumbria University wants to develop in their students and you need to be
able to do this.
Thus, let’s see if my comments below will provide you with some food for thought.
Please have a look at what your colleague wrote to me, I quote:
“Are there any theoretical models about the Practice Epistemology? I find it quite
hard to really connect theory/concepts to my chosen company from this view.
Currently, I have mostly defined the practice view”.
My comments to this are:
1) Revisit the panopto recording, where we talked about the epistemology of
practice and revisit the comparison table I disseminated in class. Then ask
yourself, what are the cornerstones of the epistemology of practice? How
does the epistemology of practice differ from the epistemology of
possession?
2) Once you have done this, ask yourself, why you might find it difficult to find a
model, such as the SECI framework (Nonaka, 1994, p. 19) (see below), which
is associated with the “epistemology of possession” for the “epistemology of
practice”?
Figure 1: SECI framework
Source: Nonaka (1994, p. 19)3) Then ask yourself, how do the “epistemology of possession” researchers
define the properties of knowledge? Note: I talked about this during the
lectures.
4) Then ask yourself, how do the “epistemology of practice” researchers define
the properties of knowledge? Note: I talked about this during the lectures.
5) Read, for instance, Orlikowsi (2002) and Gherardi (2001), then ask yourself:
How does this apply to supply chains, innovation in supply chains and the
task of the individual assignment? Are there any academic papers out there
that talk about the “epistemology if practice” in “supply chain
management”? If so, what do the authors of such papers have to say and
how might this apply to your assignment task?
I hope this helps.
Best regards,
Thomas
References:
Gherardi, S. (2001). From organizational learning to practice-based knowing. Human
relations, 54(1), 131-139.
Nonaka, I. (1994). A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation.
Organization science, 5(1), 14-37.
Orlikowski, W. J. (2002). Knowing in practice: Enacting a collective

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