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The importance of understanding organizational culture has been emphasized in all research and consultancy practices in the facilitation of organizational development and change. Questions remained unanswered as to what is needed to know about and what is to be found out of an organization culture, as the issue can be addressed from the perspectives of different disciplines. Despite their differences, they have one thing in common, i.e., most of them come from the researchers’ hermeneutics or their personal interpretation of the situations. A systematic method called Group Reflection and Inquiry Protocol (GRIP) based on the organizational complexity theory and narrative technique has been developed to elicit the perceptions of organizational culture from various interest groups in an organization. The approach is different from the first person research or third person research in social sciences.

The methodology consists basically of reciprocal interviews among staff in an organization and storytelling for organization members to recall their most impressive incidences or anecdotes. Workshops are conducted in which participants drop down their mental associations of the stories in keywords and phrases on post-it notes, which are then randomized for participants to group them into clusters that make the best sense to them. The themes thus surfaced from the clusters are prioritized, and attractors and barriers which bear impact on the themes are identified.

A case of applying the GRIP to formulate a knowledge management strategy for an organization in Hong Kong is presented. The technique is able to capture vast amount of data within a short period of time from a large number of people and is non-intrusive in nature. Such approach is different from the traditional first or third person research of the action inquiry theory, and opens a new dimension of research into the group mental models of the participants.

Stream: Change

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Professor Lee established the Knowledge Solution Laboratory in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Microsoft Enterprise Systems Centre, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, and has pioneered research and practice of KM in various industrial sectors ranging from manufacturing, public utilities to healthcare. Professor Lee is the Past President of the Hong Kong Advancement of the Association of Science and Technology and the Past Chairman of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) Hong Kong. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Asian Pacific Academy of Productivity Innovation and a Council Member of the International Society of Knowledge and Systems Science. He teaches on various courses in knowledge engineering and management, organizational learning, technology & innovation management, and manufacturing strategy. Professor Lee and his team have launched the first online MSc Program in Knowledge Management in the Asia Pacific region.