Lemma. This article argues that for Knowledge Management it is not important how knowledge is defined but how it is conceptualized.
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In this paper we turn to the field of innovation management and the use of metaphors to address the question: what kind of alternative metaphors and narratives have some open-innovation organizations introduced highlighting and fostering knowledge-intensive organizational change? First we draw a comparative overview of characteristics of knowledge flows in general, that are specific for open innovation strategies, and that organizations want to highlight. Then we describe the use of metaphors by Philips, Pfizer, Chevron and RABO on their way towards open innovation strategies. Methodologically, the interpretation of the described metaphors will be based on a metaphor theory derived from the works of Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Carl Gustav Jung and Eugen Drewermann. Our analysis concludes by providing guidelines for necessary future research about the aptness of innovation metaphors for idea generation and knowledge creation.
Metaphors are common phenomena intellectual capital and knowledge management theories and practice. An important question to ask is: what are the ‗best‘ metaphors we can use in our theorizing on intellectual capital and knowledge management? This paper addresses the question of the aptness of knowledge related metaphors. It concludes that the aptness of metaphorical expressions depends on three factors: the richness of the semantic field of the source domain, the validity of the mapping, and the ideological implications of the mapping. This conclusion results in a research agenda on the aptness of metaphor in knowledge management and intellectual capital theory and practice.
