Open-System Orchestration of Knowledge Networks

De Kort, Charlotte [UCL] Ritala, Paavo Gailly, Benoît [UCL]

Knowledge networks involve organizations that seek to exchange, integrate and generate valuable knowledge and insights through direct personal interactions of their representatives. Such networks benefit from deliberate facilitation and coordination activities, often referred to as “orchestration”. A promising emerging but under-researched approach is open-system orchestration, which pursues open-ended value capture by network members whilst facilitating joint knowledge exchange and creation. Based on an in-depth qualitative study involving interviews with 51 members of a Belgian knowledge network, we explore the roles and activities entailed by open-system orchestration and the ensuing benefits for network members. We identify four distinct orchestration roles that enable brokering of the knowledge network in different ways, leading to three types of outcomes: knowledge generativity, cross-domain discovery, and social capital accumulation. Based on these findings, we develop an integrative model of open-system orchestration in knowledge networks.