The role of spirituality in organizations has received increasing attention over recent years. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to take up this shift and develop the foundations for an alternative approach to knowledge management: Spiritual Knowledge Management. A key question in spirituality concerns the unfolding of the identity (of an organization) or the self toward a “higher end” or purpose. We propose the concept of the phronetically enacted self (understood here both in an individual and an organizational sense) that helps us conceive of how this unfolding can be achieved in a thriving and sustainable manner. The self is conceptualized as a highly dynamic and emergent “entity” that is grounded in a continuous process of becoming and of transitions transforming a state of potentiality into a state of actuality and fulfillment. Insights from the theory of spirituality, enactive cognitive science, the theory of potentials/possibility studies, phronetic organizations, and resonance theory lead us to a novel understanding of knowledge-driven organizations embodying a spirituality-based and, as a consequence, (regenerative) sustainable approach. Finally, we will develop the basic characteristics and leverage points for transformative shifts toward sustainability in organizations.

A focus on needs and the ability to generate knowledge about needs is highly valuable for organizations because it extends the range of possible solutions and therefore enables them to create more innovative and sustainable products and services. Our paper will explore how a framework based on an abductive reasoning process for the creation and discovery of knowledge about needs in organizations can look like and what the main steps of such a framework are, in order to integrate this approach into the model of the knowledge-based firm. Moreover we will present empirical findings from a project with Austrian companies where this framework has been used.

The ability to generate new knowledge and to transfer, use and apply existing knowledge is a crucial factor for systems in general and for companies in particular if they want to be capable to meet the future. One of the essential requirements for this process is the vision of the system. This vision has to adhere to certain criteria, i.e. transcendence of existing boundaries, commonly shared commitment and reflection of absolute values serving a common good. Our paper will explore how knowledge-based management and organizational learning from the future can interlock in order to generate an attractive and forward looking overall vision of the system. Moreover this approach should make possible the generation of new knowledge or the sharing and use of existing knowledge possible. The aim of this paper is introducing a framework for knowledge-based vision development in systems and analyzing its aspects of knowledge flows, transfer and sharing.

In his recent work, Nonaka argues that what differentiates firms from one another is their vision of the future and their practical ability to act out and to realize that future vision (Nonaka / Toyama 2008: 2). Thus, the development process of a future vision is crucial for the long-term well-being of a company or of an organization. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new method of a knowledge-based vision development process called VIKOBAMA (Vision development and knowledge-based management). The main focus of this new approach is on the development of a knowledge vision, together with a mission statement on a collective level (of organizations, firms, teams or communities). There are three important and groundbreaking aspects of VIKOBAMA:the creation of self-transcending knowledge is most vital for the whole processthe individual visions of the employees are of high importance, and are therefore well integrated into the overall vision of the systema radical bottom-up approach is implemented on a collective levelThese three aspects are essential steps for the development of a sustainable overall vision of any system.Furthermore, this paper describes some experiences with the method of VIKOBAMA, mainly taken from several case studies with medium-sized companies in Austria. In addition, the paper at hand is one of a few studies which both, theoretically and practically, deals with the aspect of self-transcending knowledge in the context of vision development processes and knowledge-based management on the individual level as well as on the collective level. The paper is organized into three parts. Part 1 points out the importance of a sustainable knowledge vision in companies and gives a short overview on how to create a knowledge vision in the context of the SECI/ba model of Nonaka and his colleagues as well as on the context of the fifth disciplines of organisational learning (system thinking) by Senge. Part-2 introduces the VIKOBAMA method itself and describes the main steps of this knowledge-based vision development process. Moreover it deals with the most important aspects of the creation of self-transcending knowledge, as well as with knowledge transfer and with knowledge distribution of implicit and explicit knowledge.In part-3 several case studies with medium-sized companies in Austria will be analysed, in which we have applied the VIKOBAMA method.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce a new type of ba, called “vocation ba” and to describe the main aspects of this type of ba as well as its methods.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the literature in the field of self‐transcending knowledge and the concept of ba and shows the main aspects for the design of a new methodology and framework. Additionally it analyzes experiences with the new method from several case studies.FindingsFirst the concept of vocation ba describes a space on the individual level as well as on the collective level for the generation of self‐transcending knowledge. Second the method of Vocation‐coachingWaVeis a helpful method within the vocation ba. The experiences with these two new concepts from several case studies are very encouraging.Research limitations/implicationsThe number of case studies at the collective level is still limited, as the authors have been working with the method of Vocation‐coachingWaVeat the collective level for two years. At the moment further research is done in larger systems.Practical implicationsThis study gives insight and information about the method of Vocation‐coachingWaVeand the concept of vocation ba.Originality/valueThe paper presents one of the few studies, which theoretically and practically deals with the aspect of self‐transcending knowledge in the context of vision development processes and knowledge‐based management on the individual level as well as on the collective level. The method of Vocation‐coachingWaVeat the collective level is a continuous approach of a bottom‐up vision development process.