دانش مدون - نهانی و دانش کلی - خاص در تقسیم کار در میان شرکت ها: مطالعه صنعت نرم افزار

This paper explores the organisation and codification of knowledge in software firms. It analyses various economic incentives to codification, including the need to improve the productivity and quality of software production and the networks of inter-firm alliances. The paper examines the experience of five Italian software firms specialising in software packages and services. It compares their capabilities, main sources of tacit knowledge, specific incentives to invest in knowledge codification and the formal development methodologies and quality control systems adopted. Finally, the paper analyses two distinct technological collaborations that two of these firms have recently established.

This study analyses the process of knowledge codification and the division of labour between software firms. Our empirical analysis aims to provide insights into the following dimensions of the production and distribution of knowledge. First, software production is often referred to as a ‘craft’ or as a ‘creative’ activity similar to industrial design. However, rising labour costs due to competition between firms for access to a relatively small skills pool and the internationalisation of the software market spur firms operating in this industry to adopt more efficient production techniques and to restructure their organisation. This in turn stimulates the codification of knowledge underlying software development activities. This paper investigates the extent to which the industrialisation of software activities leads to more codified knowledge, which types of knowledge are codified and which remain tacit.

This paper analyses the codification of knowledge in the software industry and focuses on different economic incentives to codification, including the drive to improve productivity and the quality of software production as well as the networks of inter-firm alliances. The paper examines the experience of five Italian software firms and compares their capabilities, their main sources of tacit knowledge, their specific incentives to invest in codified knowledge, their use of formal development methodologies and the quality control systems adopted. Finally, the paper analyses two distinct technological collaborations that two of these firms have recently established. Our sample includes firms that differ in two main ways — type of product and complexity (size) of organisation. Two firms (Think3 and Geographics) specialise in ‘simple’ or stand-alone products (CAD and GIS packages) and are relatively smaller. The other three firms (Formula, ESA Software and TXT) specialise in complex products (ERP solutions) and have larger, multi-plant complex organisations. We found significant differences between these two categories of firms, regarding their perception of which type of knowledge is tacit and which one is not. The first category of firms tend to consider the analysis of user requirements and system design as the main source of tacit, uncodified knowledge. For the second category of firm, on the other hand, the main source of tacit knowledge is represented by the experience accumulated in adapting its platform to specific user needs, project management skills and post-sales services.