Unbracketing (Socialized Organizational Knowledge) by a Theory of Scaling

Abstract

Knowledge is what brings forth a world, and the world is what brings forth knowledge; knowledge is a process brought forth by individuals, groups, departments, organizations, etc. We cannot say what is the chicken and what is the egg. They seem to be two sides of the same coin.¹ Dependent on our observational scheme, knowledge development is really knowledge development at various scales; autopoiesis at various scales. A theory of scaling may help us to understand the relations between individual and social knowledge development, the dynamics of individual and social autopoietic systems; in fact, it may help us unbracket (socialized organizational knowledge). The objective is not to uncover mathematical principles of scaling per se, i.e., taking a microscopic approach to scaling.² Rather, our intention is to uncover a phenomenological understanding of scaling without calculating it directly like in a scaling function.