Knowledge diffusion and management in the case of Taiwan´s scanner industry

Summary form only given. The process of rapidly disseminating, generating, and diffusing the engineering knowledge in the product and process development (PPD) has been a key imperative for the sustained growth of technology-based firms. Taiwan´s personal computer (PC) image scanner industry serves as a good example. They have established, in the past decade, a high degree of proficiency in the process, as demonstrated in their rapid product development, seamless process integration, and efficient technology dissemination and diffusion. Their effectiveness in capturing the dynamics and leveraging the asset in the process, however, still leaves much to be desired. This study is directed to investigating a knowledge diffusion and management (KDM) model designed to illustrate the ways to leverage both the R&D asset and the knowledge capital to further enhance the product development performance. Central to the model is an ontology-based knowledge mapping process, which is formulated to govern the knowledge flow and to mediate the discourse between KDM and PPD systems. A prototype model built on top of the knowledge-based knowledge flow system is developed to illuminate the co-evolution of PPD and KDM systems. Applications to the scanner PPD processes is demonstrated to evaluate the various ways the KDM model can be used to enhance the capabilities of a PPD organization in knowledge generation and diffusion