MANAGEMENT IN KNOWLEDGE SERVICE NETWORKS

Knowledge is a key to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. Changes in customer needs and expectations demanding from companies complex solving of their problems result in the fact that more and more services are offerd by networks. As a consequence, individual firms can concentrate on their distinctive competencies and by combining them with the distinctive competencies of partner firms, such a network is able to offer complex knowledge services of high quality. The success of such a network depends mainly on the effective and efficient combination and use of the distinctive competencies of the network partners The objective of this paper is to analyse management problems in knowledge networks. We raise the question how to ensure an effective and efficient combination and use of services trasferred in knowledge service networks. We identify possible problems evolving among partners in particular phases of their cooperation: in the process of knowledge generation, knowledge transferring, knowledge storage and knowledge adaptation. Recommendations in personal, technological, organisational and cultural aspects on how to reduce and eliminate problems arising among partners in the network have been developed as a way towards effective network collaboration.