International Journal of Information Management 31 (2011) 121–127 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Information Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijinfomgt Knowledge management and communication in Brazilian agricultural research: An integrated procedural approach Tércia Zavaglia Torresa, Ivo Pierozzi Jr. a, Nadir Rodrigues Pereirab, Alexandre de Castroc,∗ a Laboratório de Organizac¸ ão e Tratamento da Informac¸ ão Eletrônica, Centro Nacional de Pesquisa TecnológicaemInformática para a Agricultura (Embrapa Informática Agropecuária), Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA), Campinas, SP 13083-886, Brazil b Assessoria de Comunicac¸ ão e Negócios, Centro Nacional de Pesquisa Tecnológica em Informática para a Agricultura (Embrapa Informática Agropecuária), Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA), Campinas, SP 13083-886, Brazil c Laboratório de Matemática Computacional, Centro Nacional de Pesquisa Tecnológica em Informática para a Agricultura (Embrapa Informática Agropecuária), Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA), Campinas, SP 13083-886, Brazil a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Knowledge management Research networks Business communication Organizational learning RD&I institution management a b s t r a c t The great contemporary organizational challenge for enterprises is to create a conceptual and methodological framework allows the management of knowledge by means of networks designed for social interaction. This statement is based on the premise that the competitive drive and sustainable success of the company depend on the introduction of new forms of production innovative processes, which can only be ensured through integrated approaches to knowledge management and the incorporation information technologies (IT). This is a reality that has already been accepted by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa, its acronym in Portuguese), a Brazilian research, development, and innovation (RD&I) institution supporting agricultural sector. For some years now, Embrapa has been incorporating what it has learned about knowledge management into its strategic planning process. In this paper, we present a new approach to managing knowledge and information, and we analyze the need for research institutions to administer the knowledge they produce through an RD&I management model based multi- and inter-disciplinary teams, and multi-institutional research networks. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Since the beginning of the evolution of man, knowledge has been a driving force in the achievements of civilization. The development of knowledge now takes place largely in the organizational space, where its advancement and the incorporation of technologies are responsible for the introduction of new forms of production and of work organization. This new model has changed the industrial dynamic in the developed world and highlighted the central importance of innovative processes, which have become dependent on technological, organizational, and institutional evolution. Moreover, the major economic, social, environmental, political, and cultural phenomena permeate all dimensions of human life, including the corporate world. Organizations, guided by new management paradigms, are attempting to survive in a highly competitive and globalized environment. It can be said that the XXIst century is being marked by profound changes in manufacturing processes, based on new models of human and inter-institutional relationships with a focus on innovation. In a context of uncertainty, worsened by a major international economic crisis with conse- ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (A. de Castro). quences that have yet to be measured, there is a need for rapid and strategic adaptation of political, economic, and social organizations to ensure survival in an extremely vulnerable environment. What we are facing is a changing techno-economic paradigm requiring a new and integrated management approach. A relevant option that emerges in this scenario is knowledge management, because it enables the strategic use of information to build consensus and promote organizational learning, in turn creating new knowledge to facilitate decision-making (Choo, 1998). A concrete way for companies to increase their competitiveness is to understand that all their knowledge, either embedded in their products and organizational processes or stored in the minds of their people, can be managed, because it is the result of a social interaction dynamic. Those companies that dominate in the field of knowledge management show greater capacity for technological innovation, which results from the creation of processes, products, new skills and technical expertise, infrastructures, and technologies that facilitate the creation, transformation, and dissemination of knowledge. The great contemporary business challenge is to create a conceptual and methodological framework that enables a company to manage its knowledge in a web of social interaction. This paper is aimed at analyzing, from a theoretical and exploratory point of view, the way in which the conceptual ideas embodied in the current approaches to knowledge management 0268-4012/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.07.001