the industrial economy and the knowledge economy

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Research context

The knowledge economy has become the talking point of many organisations in the new millennium. The traditional bases for economic power have shifted from land and labour to information and knowledge. The boom in the information age has led organisations to rethink their strategy in order to stay competitive. In the insurance industry the changing market place, globalisation, new governing rules, the rapid developments in new technology and customers who know exactly what they want, have driven these organisations to become more innovative than ever. New products need to be developed at a rapid pace and the go to market strategies for these life insurance organisations need to allow for rapid product releases.
The saying in the knowledge economy that the fast eat the slow is therefore even more true for life assurance organisations. In the life assurance industry today there are many opportunities and perhaps even more risks in positioning themselves in this market that the knowledge economy has created. These opportunities and risks are also a challenge for vendors who supply life assurance organisations with software systems. Software vendors need to constantly adapt their product offerings in order to meet their customers‟ needs. One of the biggest challenges for vendors and life assurance organisations alike is how to build an innovative environment that will leverage knowledge as a corporate asset, maintain customers and allow for rapid development and release of customised product offerings.

Problem statement

This research hypothesises that organisations need to be strategic innovative if they wish to survive in the knowledge economy. It is therefore critical for organisations to understand which variables could contribute to creating a strategically innovative operational environment. Although tools exist to measure innovation, most organisations innovative success is measured based on certain innovation inputs (e.g. research and development spending) versus outputs (e.g. number of patents filed) and do not take into consideration the operational environment that is needed for strategic innovation.

Learning theory

According to Ormorod (1995) and Illeris (2002) in psychology and education, learning is commonly defined as a process that brings together cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in one’s knowledge, skills, values, and world views. Learning as a process focuses on what happens when the learning takes place. Explanations of what happens constitute learning theories. A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people and animals learn, thereby helping us understand the inherently complex process of learning.
Learning theories have two chief values according to Hill (2002). One is in providing us with vocabulary and a conceptual framework for interpreting the examples of learning that we observe. The other is in suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. The theories do not give us solutions, but they do direct our attention to those variables that are crucial in finding solutions. Two main categories or philosophical frameworks under which learning theories fall: instructivism and constructivism are described in chapter 4 of this study by referring to Cronje and Burger‟s (2006) learning theory model. Instructivism focuses on learning through instruction while constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts (see addendum 3).

CONTENTS PAGE :

• CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 Chapter overview
  • 1.2 Research context
  • 1.3 Problem statement and objectives
  • 1.4 Fields of study
  • 1.5 Scope and limitations
  • 1.6 Research plan
  • 1.7 Expected results
  • 1.8 Chapter distribution
  • 1.9 Summary
• CHAPTER 2: THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
  • 2.1 Chapter overview
  • 2.2 Introduction
  • 2.3 Describing the knowledge economy
  • 2.4 Comparison between the industrial economy and the knowledge economy
  • 2.5 Impact of the knowledge economy on today‟s workplace
  • 2.6 Challenges for Africa
  • 2.7 Conclusion
• CHAPTER 3: INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL AND ITS ROLE IN THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
  • 3.1 Chapter overview
  • 3.2 Introduction
  • 3.3 Describing intellectual capital
  • 3.4 Developing intellectual capital
  • 3.5 Conclusion
• CHAPTER 4: THE STRATEGICALLY INNOVATIVE ORGANISATION
  • 4.1 Chapter overview
  • 4.2 Introduction
  • 4.3 Describing strategic innovation
  • 4.4 The corporate curriculum framework
  • 4.5 The learning theory matrix
  • 4.6 Integrating the corporate curriculum, learning theory and strategic innovation
  • 4.7 The strategic innovation matrix
  • 4.8 Measuring strategic innovation
  • 4.9 Conclusion
• CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
  • 5.1 Chapter overview
  • 5.2 Rationale for this study
  • 5.3 Characteristics of case study research
  • 5.4 Alternative methods
  • 5.5 Research questions
  • 5.6 Methodology
  • 5.7 Conclusion
• CHAPTER 6: FINDINGS
  • 6.1 Chapter overview
  • 6.2 Discussion of results per variable across all organisations
  • 6.3 Discussion of results per organisation across all variables
  • 6.4 Concluding interpretations
• CHAPTER 7: SYNTHESIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 7.1 Chapter overview
  • 7.2 Introduction
  • 7.3 Synthesis
  • 7.4 Recommendations
  • 7.5 Limitations of this research
  • 7.6 Recommendations for further research
  • 7.7 Concluding remarks
  • REFERENCES
  • ADDENDA

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