Knowledge management, HRM and the innovation process

Abstract This paper aims to explore Castells ’ proposition that the innovation process is being progressively intensi ed by developments in technological and organizational forms – that knowledge is being applied to the generation of knowledge. The paper focuses on the emergence and implementation of knowledge management (KM), and its particular application in Ebank. A global approach to KM focussing on intranet technology proved unsuccessful. In explaining this outcome, the paper focuses on the constraints posed by the social embeddedness of knowledge as having a crucial effect. In this case, such embeddedness seemed to be linked to the lack of extensive intra-organizational networks and the disparate identities developed by the different business units of the rm. These ndings highlight several implications for KM’s role in the innovation process.