Knowledge, Technology and Fluids-Developing a Model to View Practices of Knowledge and Technology in the Telecom Industry

In knowledge and technology intensive industries such as the telecommunications industry, “practices” tend to be a mixture of knowledge and technology. Research however has been largely treating these two entities separately, addressing one while black boxing the other. This paper in reviewing how knowledge and technology have been categorized shows that the distinction between the two entities is not so clear with common terms having been used to describe both. We examine a youth segmentation model of a mobile operator to show that such practices are a mixture of knowledge and technology. We use the “fluid” framework to examine this practice. Fluids consist of mixtures and have unclear boundaries, multiple identities, continuity, and robustness. The fluid concept fits the knowledge and technology practice we describe. We then use the characteristics of the fluid concept to propose a model, called IBRO, as a means for organizations to develop and manage such practices.