The Justification of Knowledge

Current theories of organizational learning that emphasize knowledge creation and transformation assume, but fail to problematize, the justification of belief in new knowledge, although they admit it is an essential enabling condition for the dissemination and integration of innovative ideas and practices into organizational practice. The present article aims to correct this imbalance by (1) developing a theoretical framework for the study of organizational justification of belief, and (2) reporting on an empirical study of the processes by which quality management progressively became accepted as a solution to the economic problems encountered by enterprise during the decade of the 1980s. Grounded in a constructivist view of knowledge, we demonstrate that what Nonaka and Takeuchi refer to as a managerial intention is in fact the product of a process of learning, involving the play of both external and internal influences, channeled through the continuing association and disassociation of interests that reflect the communities of practice and discourse that are typical of every complex organization. Justification of belief is thus both a social and a rhetorical accomplishment, whose outcome is a priori unpredictable.