The Role of Information Resource Management in Enabling the 24-Hour Knowledge Factory

Abstract

The term 24-Hour Knowledge Factory connotes a globally distributed work environment in which teammates work on a project around the clock. The 24-Hour Knowledge Factory is a special case of a globally distributed team in which the different teams work on a sequential basis that has been clearly defined in advance. Whereas a manufactured item was the end product in the case of the factory which emerged as a consequence of the industrial revolution, knowledge-based services and knowledge-based products are the end deliverables in the case of the current information revolution; hence, the term 24-Hour Knowledge Factory. Work can be decomposed by task style or by organizational style, and allows for greater specialization of workers. A case study from IBM details surprising differences between colocated and distributed teams, and leads to a future state analysis for organizations seeking to study or implement the 24-Hour Knowledge Factory.