Technological systems of knowledge and competency in different organizational forms: The dynamic between diffusion and appropriation

This work discusses the relationship between diffusion and appropriation of knowledge in terms of the development of competitive advantages. This relationship is analized in diverse organizational forms: from isolated firms to knowledge networks. The main hypothesis is that the inverse association between diffusion and appropriation of knowledge depends on the interaction of technological specificities, the knowledge management style and the predominant market structure. The paper also considers that the creation of competitive advantages depends on the development of cognitive capacities that allow agents a greater knowledge appropriation. The development of these complex cognitive capacities enables the management of tacit and codified knowledge and raises the minimum thresholds for its appropriation. These thresholds may refer to minimum decodification capacities that hinder the entrance of new firms.