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The paradoxical property of knowledge in organizations

A dominant view in knowledge management (KM) over the last two decades has been that knowledge in the organization is a highly beneficial resource. Complex in nature, this resource is difficult to imitate and thus, gives an organization strategic advantage. In this paper I discuss that knowledge that helps an organization attain success can also drive its failure by inducing a sense of inertia in the face of environmental change and biasing decisions towards those taken in the past. This paradoxical property of knowledge, though hinted at in various literatures, has not been discussed in much detail. Using the story of Indian automaker Hindustan Motors Limited, and its well-known car model, the Ambassador, I attempt to highlight this property of knowledge. I argue that the paradox makes inquiry into management of knowledge problematic, and call for further research on the phenomenon.