Vadybininko žinių struktūros pokyčiai diegiant organizacijoje informacines technologijas: elastingų žinių atvejis
Structural Changes of Manager’s Knowledge Caused by the Implementation of Information Technology in Organisation: a Case of Elastic Knowledge

Summary/Abstract: As enterprises improve implementing new information technology (IT), sometimes the use of IT seems to be not so effective as enterprises imagine at first. Despite of employees efforts to learn everything, the more IT is implemented the more it appears to be some braking points or resistance points. In this paper author tries to find the reasons of resistance to the new information with the help of elastic knowledge concept. Elasticity is the feature of knowledge, which causes knowledge to resist to its own growth and structural change. The knowledge is considered as elastic if it is capable to preserve its state, or to return to its previous state when a disturbing influence is ceased. Elasticity takes place only if the accumulation ends in forming certain closed area of knowledge. The definition of elasticity helps to clarify such a phenomena of closed area of knowledge as the resistance to learning, inertness of knowledge, difficulties to master new knowledge. In this paper familiar researches are overlooked in this area, such as schema theory, including schemes and previous learning, modification of schemes, supplantive learning, technology acceptance model (TAM). Direct researches are notified too – model of elastic knowledge extensively conducts this feature. Two groups of managers of enterprise are compared in experimental part of this paper: group of experts and group of ordinary managers. Implementation of the same IT product by these groups was analyzed. Two groups were given the same IT software, and after a period of time another new IT software. Knowledge acquisition from new IT product was analyzed with the purpose to find cases of elastic knowledge. We tried to test a hypothesis: if knowledge of expert was elastic, she would master new IT knowledge harder than novice. As it was supposed during experiment both groups of managers rejected new IT software, despite its novelty and modernity and better usability comparing to the first one. But novices tried new software and rejected it after some time, and experts didn’t try to use new software at all. We could state, that experts knowledge was very elastic, or according to definition it had marginal elasticity because their knowledge didn’t change at all. The degree of rejection by both groups was a bit unusual, because the ignorance of software was big, and it let us draw two statements of conclusions: the knowledge of managers were very elastic and didn’t responded to stress, or the stress of new information was too weak, to change the knowledge structure of managers. More detailed research is planned in the future, in a purpose of clarification of outside factors influencing managerial knowledge to the more extent degree.

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