Analysis of the Current State of Knowledge Management Methods and Techniques Applied in Argentinian Work Cooperatives

Abstract

The developments in the international context together with the experiences and theoretical studies in the area of knowledge of the cooperative sector in Argentina and Latin America have fostered the interest of this research in exploring the need to promote collaborative knowledge societies from the perspective of information and knowledge management in Cooperative companies. The main objective of this study is to describe the current situation of Argentine work cooperative companies concerning knowledge management. The literature review revealed that there are almost no articles that refer to knowledge management under a formal definition, however, it is possible to identify the presence of testimonies about how the aforementioned concept was developed within cooperatives in Argentina through the analysis of the processes of emergence of cooperatives and the transformations that the projects promoted by each of them, guided by the transmission of explicit and tacit elements.

Keywords

• eol>Knowledge Management
• Work Cooperatives
• Cooperatives
• Argentina

1. Introduction

Work cooperatives are undergoing a transition due to government policies and world demands, causing the evolution of knowledge management to be the subject of analysis.

Knowledge as a resource is as old as humanity itself, which is why the knowledge society has come to consider it one of the pillars of the development of organizations [ 1 ].

With the internal communication processes of an organization, knowing, valuing, and applying it are the epicenter of innovative activities, because they are considered as the capacity of a company to generate new knowledge, spread it among its employees, and materialize it in products or organizational improvements [ 2 ].

The present work intends to carry out a systematic literature mapping about applied knowledge management in cooperative companies in Argentina by assessing current approaches, challenges, and best practices published in recent academic literature. Furthermore, this study attempts to identify trends as well as possible areas for future research in this domain of study.

The paper shows the theoretical grounding of the investigation, including important definitions such as cooperativism, cooperative companies, work cooperatives, and knowledge management in Section 2. In Section 3 the procedures employed to carry out the mapping are discussed. Section 4 presents the discoveries of systematic mapping, containing approaches, challenges, and best practices reported in the literature. In Section 5 concrete and theoretical efects of these discoveries are reviewed, along with the limits of the examined literature, plus the areas for future research. Section 6 shows the research ifndings, including the conclusions recap. The references used are presented in the last section.

2. Theoretical framework

The theories and models that back up the current work are presented in this section. Diverse concepts are explained: cooperativism, cooperative enterprises, work cooperatives, knowledge, and knowledge management.

2.1. Cooperativism

Cooperativism is a participatory movement in which wills and eforts are associated with a common purpose to improve the living conditions of the members of the cooperative. Its development therefore requires the active participation of the members and an enormous capacity for leadership from its management. A cooperative social movement is only conceivable in terms of the possibility of multiplying experiences, of permanent correction and evaluation, and of education [ 1 ].

2.2. Cooperative companies

The International Cooperative Alliance defines a cooperative as “an association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically managed enterprise” [ 2 ].

Juan Pablo Terrara describes four modes of birth of cooperative companies, which are interesting to analyze thinking about the Latin American context in which this work is based [ 3 ]: • cooperatives that were created from the transfer of power to workers from public and private companies that were in deficit; • cooperatives that were born from an autonomous impulse of the members themselves in search of overcoming the capitalist production models and obtaining a new form of social and productive relationship; • cooperative organizations created by an external organization, not itself cooperative but very motivated and highly competent, which gave it business eficiency and guided the training and gradual transfer to self-management, once the creative stage was over and consolidation was achieved; and • cooperatives promoted by state action. In the countries of the region, we frequently observe public policies that promote the formation of cooperatives.

Cooperatives can be classified in many diferent ways, depending on various factors. This reflects the economic and sociopolitical trends of recent decades and the specific contexts in which cooperatives function. According to Morillas Carrillo [ 4 ] cooperatives can be grouped into three types: • consumer cooperatives: they associate to produce or buy from third parties the products and/or services to satisfy their needs, • production cooperatives: they associate to work together in the production of goods and/or services, contributing their personal, physical or intellectual work and • work cooperatives: they associate to work in collective self-employment and develop their activity in any area of the economy.

2.3. Work Cooperatives

Work cooperatives are characterized by bringing together people who work together to produce certain goods or services, thereby achieving a stable or convenient source of employment for the participants. These people, by free choice, stop being wage earners and become owners of their shared work and the results of it [ 5 ].

Argentine legislation defines a work cooperative as one that organizes and provides its members with the service of giving them employment or the opportunity to work. Its purpose is to take on its account, using the personal work of its members, the activities necessary for the production of certain goods or services; changing from a dependency relationship to an associative one [ 6 ].

According to the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) [ 7 ] at present, there are around 3 million cooperatives in more than 100 countries, representing 10% of the work of the entire planet and what is even more surprising: more than 12% of the world’s population is cooperative member.

In Argentina, cooperativism and mutualism are equally significant: more than 8,600 cooperatives employ almost 200,000 people and involve more than 17 million members [ 8 ].

2.4. Knowledge

Knowledge, for an organization, can be conceptualized as a simultaneous process of knowing its environment and dynamically intervening in it, supported by its experience (learning curve) and its skills, this process includes its values, attitudes, and beliefs [ 9 ].

The importance of knowledge as a valuable resource for the company is an argument that has been gaining progressively greater interest in the literature on business management. In this sense, authors such as Venzin, von Krogh, and Roos [ 10 ] point out a series of reasons that highlight the importance of this asset and the implications that its nature and management have for organizations. These authors point out, among others, the following reasons: • involves a heterogeneous and sustainable distribution of resources, which stems from its complex and idiosyncratic nature; • changes the nature of resource investment decisions. A company must be able to identify current knowledge within and outside the company and decide on knowledge development projects; • changes the nature of work and ownership, and this leads to the development of new working relationships; and • emphasizes the social context making it necessary to share experiences and knowledge with other workers.

According to Mercedes Segarra Ciprés, despite the advances made in the literature on knowledge management, it is still dificult to assess the importance of knowledge for the organization, but she understands that it is an intangible asset that is part of diferent elements and processes of the organization and can take diferent forms. This asset can be subjected to diferent management activities, its mobility is possible (inside and outside the organization), the possibility of being transformed (through codification processes), stored, and applied, and it can become a strategic asset of the organization [ 2 ].

Walsh and Ungson conceive that knowledge is present in the members of the organization, the roles and the organizational structure, the procedures and practices, the culture, and the physical structure of the workplace [ 11 ].

Those who have been interested in studying the subject of knowledge management have accepted and used the taxonomy proposed by Polanyi. According to this author, knowledge can be tacit or explicit [ 12 ].

Studies on tacit knowledge are diverse and there is a lack of consensus regarding the meaning and use of this knowledge. In diferent studies, the definition of tacit knowledge is not provided, although it is described and is sometimes part of the results as a fortuitous finding [ 13 ]. Tacit knowledge is used in association with other concepts, such as experience [ 14 ], and diferent terms are used, such as “experiential knowledge”, “transferred knowledge” [ 15 ] and “aesthetic knowledge” [ 16 ].

It is also considered practical knowledge and its acquisition through practice, experience, and transfer between peers or equals is described as an intuitive, interpersonal, and interactive process, which includes the intuitive understanding of “how we do things here” [ 17 ].

Natalia Pérez-Fuillerat highlights that this process takes place on a personal and social level. The personal perspective includes intuition, while on a social level, interpersonal and interactive elements are framed. The interpersonal nature would explain the way of sharing information between people using transfer processes focused on a specific task [ 18 ].

According to Nonaka, this type of knowledge is dificult to express and verbalize because it is expressed through skills based on actions and cannot be reduced to rules or recipes, it is deeply rooted in individual action and experience, as well as in ideals, values or emotions that the subject adopts [ 19 ].

Explicit knowledge is that which can be expressed in words and numbers and is easily communicable and shared. The mere analysis and observation of these objects and rules allows us to know a great deal of the explicit knowledge existing in the organization [ 20 ], that is, it is that which can be easily codified, replicated, emulated, and therefore expressed to others [ 21, 22 ].

2.5. Knowledge Management

Initially, Nonaka and Takeuchi [ 23 ] approach knowledge management as a process through which organizational skills are strengthened concerning the transformation and creation of base knowledge for the generation of innovative ideas. This procedure is fulfilled through the materialization of four phases called socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization [ 24 ]. However, both authors emphasize multiple times that in organizations tacit knowledge refers to ideas, values, intuitions, and emotions of human capital. This relationship between knowledge management and human capital is highlighted by Gerlero [ 12 ].

Knowledge management can be defined as a process of transforming information and intellectual assets into lasting value [ 25 ]. Some authors define it as the “ability of a company to increase tacit knowledge and create the preconditions for the exchange of information between employees within an organizational unit and between units of the organization” [ 12 ]. For other authors, it is “an organized process of creation, capture, storage, dissemination, and use of knowledge within and between organizations to maintain a competitive advantage” [ 26 ]. It is also developed within the framework of the so-called “Knowledge Economy”, in which academics and businessmen recognize the importance of knowledge to achieve and maintain the competitive advantage of organizations. Knowledge management processes in organizations have been proposed and developed at national and international levels through the expositions of tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge, the relationship between knowledge management and organizational structure, giving relevance to intellectual capital as a driving force and great added value to organizations.

Macintosh maintains that the development of capabilities, determined by intangibles, is the only way to achieve sustainable competitive advantages, likewise, the development of new products requires knowledge about the needs of consumers, new scientific discoveries, new technology, marketing, etc [ 27 ].

It is important to highlight that knowledge management does not simply demand its identification for its subsequent processing, but also requires the development of mechanisms that enable its insertion within the organization under study, through various activities such as [ 28 ] proposed in their knowledge management model.

Based on Eduardo Bueno’s [ 29 ] Conceptual Triad, [ 30 ] propose diferent views or perspectives to consider in knowledge management: individuals, organizational culture, activities (and processes) required, technology, and the measurement of each of these views.

It is important to highlight the characteristics of knowledge management that are reached, where it is highlighted that it seeks to understand how it is generated, how it can be increased, and, ultimately, how knowledge can be used so that the organization enhances its capabilities, makes more efective use of its resources and gains an advantage over potential competitors [ 31 ]. In the case of cooperative companies, these characteristics will be of great help in dealing with the dificulties that arise daily.

2.6. Knowledge management in cooperative companies

We could consider a first step in knowledge management based on the first experiences of knowledge transfer through associations in Argentina, represented fundamentally by the first cooperatives and mutuals, which developed at the end of the 19th century. These popular assemblies were fundamentally due to the massive influx of European immigrants required by the economic model imposed in the country by the organization of the Argentine State. Daniel Plotinsky [ 32 ] relates that they contributed not only work techniques and procedures but also traditions and mutual forms of organization that introduced ideas of solidarity and cooperation through institutions in which they were grouped by nationality, community, religious faith, social class, occupation or activity.

The literature on knowledge management in various economic units and labor societies has grown in the last two decades. According to Nonaka [ 23 ], because organizations are in dynamic environments, they are required not only to process information eficiently but also to create and manage their knowledge. Adequate knowledge management allows organizations to increase their performance [ 31 ], generate new ideas for product development [ 33 ], stimulate the development of more and better relationships with other agents [ 34 ], among other benefits.

That cooperative societies assume the transfer of knowledge as a source of cooperation between peers undoubtedly strengthens their organizational capabilities, particularly because it becomes a route of learning and training for knowledge management.

Montoya proposes that cooperative societies learn and succeed in integrating the transfer of interorganizational knowledge into their institutional strengths. They should recognize the value of the formalization and systematic nature of this transfer, which makes mutual aid and solidarity efective within a framework of respect and professionalism; beyond the belief that cooperation between cooperatives has been given since their foundation as a ‘mystic’ and not as a practice [ 35 ].

3. Methodology

To adequately select the most pertinent studies within the scope of this systematic mapping, a series of rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria are established [ 36 ]. These criteria are aimed at narrowing the search and ensuring the identification and selection of those primary studies that efectively provide valuable information to answer the defined research questions. An approach followed in [ 36 ] serves as a reference, and a general overview of the approach is provided along with an explanation of the iflters used. The criteria consider key aspects such as the type of study, the methodology used, the population/research topic, the language, the date of publication, and the availability of the full text. 3.1. Scope The scope of the systematic literature mapping is limited to searching specialized academic databases, selecting and analyzing primary studies published in journals and conference proceedings of high impact in the field of Software Engineering, Information Systems Engineering, economics, and social sciences [ 37 ].

In terms of thematic scope, studies that focus directly on specific aspects of knowledge management applied to work cooperatives are considered exclusively. However, works that explore peripheral or tangential topics not directly oriented to the problem of knowledge management are not excluded, since many of the articles analyzed use the concept of knowledge management in work cooperatives, but base their research on some experience of a particular company that uses this methodology. The same occurs with the research contemplated in the elaboration of the theoretical framework of this report, which does not specifically cover a fusion between the concept of knowledge management and cooperative companies but were isolated documents that helped to delve deeper into each area of study.

In summary, the scope is limited to primary studies published in recent years, in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, with full-text access available, that directly, empirically, and systematically address diferent theoretical and practical aspects of knowledge management in cooperative work companies.

3.2. Research Queries

The chosen research queries for this investigation are on approaches and challenges in knowledge management in Argentinian cooperatives. These queries are displayed in Table 1: RQ RQ1

Research Query How is knowledge management in Argentine work cooperatives?

Is knowledge management carried out in RQ2 the same way in Argentine work cooperatives as in the rest of the world?

What challenges does applying knowledge RQ3 management present for Argentine work cooperatives?

Justification To determine the degree of knowledge management in Argentine work cooperatives.

Identify diferences between knowledge management in Argentine work cooperatives compared to other countries.

Finding existing challenges in the field of knowledge management in work cooperatives in Argentina.

Based on these questions, a systematic mapping of the literature is carried out, giving rise to the following proposed phases.

3.3. Query String

A carefully designed search string is created to address the research focus, ensuring the inclusion of relevant studies on knowledge management and work cooperatives. The Boolean operators AND and OR are used to ensure the inclusion of studies that contemplate both terms: knowledge management and work cooperatives. The use of AND ensures the presence of both topics, while OR allows for variations in terminology, such as "Cooperatives" or "Cooperativism".

It is important to note that the query parameters and operators were adjusted depending on the database. The search strings used were primarily applied to the title of the publications, and depending on the volume obtained, the search was continued on the abstract of the publication. The search was carried out on both international and Spanish-speaking sites, so the search strings had to be adapted to each language, as required by the portal. In the case of searches on international portals, the strings were adapted to the English language, however, since the subject matter was Latin American, Portuguese was also used.

The final search string used is ("Knowledge Management" OR "Knowledge Economy" OR “Intellectual Capital”) AND ("Cooperatives" OR "Cooperativism" OR "Social Economy").

3.4. Eligibility Criteria and Search Filters

Eligibility criteria are the guidelines employed in the study selection process to determine the relevance and inclusion of studies in the mapping [ 38 ]. These criteria may be based on factors such as study type, methodology employed, study population, and relevance to the research questions [ 39 ].

Table 2 outlines the eligibility criteria established for this systematic literature mapping, drawing upon [ 40 ]. These criteria were crucial in delineating the scope of the mapping and guaranteeing the inclusion of relevant studies that ofer valuable information.

These criteria enable the selection of studies that align with the research topic and contribute valuable insights to the investigation.

3.5. Filters

Five filters (1F to 5F) are applied to refine the search results: • 1F: Search string “knowledge management in cooperatives”. • 2F: Results published in years after 2001. • 3F: Journal articles, conference, article, undergraduate thesis, master’s thesis, and doctoral thesis. • 4F: Open access documents.

• 5F: Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, English.

In the case of Spanish-language articles, due to the large volume of articles obtained, an additional iflter (6F) had to be applied.

• 6F: Quick reading: title, summary, subtitles, and conclusions.

3.6. Information seeking Execution

Since this is a Latin American topic, the literature search focused on Spanish-language search engines such as DialNet, Redalyc, Scielo, CONICET Digital Institutional Repository, SNRD, SEDICI, and La Referencia. The numbers shown represent the cumulative filtered studies after searching each database.

However, as detailed in the search string definition section, international portals were also used, due to their high impact on the academic community. The search engines used for this stage were: Springer Link, World Wide Science, and IEEE Explore.

3.7. Study Selection Process

This process, involving the review of filtered articles in the information-seeking phase, assesses their significance concerning the research questions [ 38 ]. This process is undertaken in multiple phases, beginning with the removal of duplicates and the review of study titles and abstracts to identify those that align with the research topic [ 41 ].

Following this, a thorough examination of the full text of selected studies from the previous phase is conducted to assess their quality and relevance comprehensively [ 38 ]. This involves the evaluation of various factors, including the methodologies employed, the validity and reliability of the findings, and the contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the research field [ 41 ].

The conceptual categories utilized for document classification were established based on the key topics covered in the research questions, including migration approaches, challenges, antipatterns, and best practices. Subsequently, studies that fulfill the established criteria for quality and relevance were selected and incorporated into the data synthesis and results analysis [ 38 ].

3.8. Information selection

In this phase, relevant data derived from selected studies is gathered and analyzed to explore the research questions and provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of the field under investigation. This process encompasses identifying trends within the content, correlating outcomes, and identifying areas of agreement and distinction through the literature [ 41 ].

4. Findings

Since this is a Latin American topic, the literature search focused on Spanish-language search engines such as DialNet, Redalyc, Scielo, CONICET Digital Institutional Repository, SNRD, SEDICI, and La Referencia. The numbers shown represent the cumulative filtered studies after searching each database.

Figure 1 was generated, illustrating the study filtering process

Figure 2 illustrates the filtering process and the number of resulting studies at each stage on international portals that yielded matches in the first search run.

4.1. Knowledge management in Argentine work cooperatives (RQ1)

The literature review reveals that there are almost no articles that refer to knowledge management under a formal definition, however, throughout the various studies analyzed, one can notice the presence of testimonies about how the aforementioned concept was developed within the cooperatives of Argentina through the analysis of the processes of emergence of the cooperatives and the transformations that the projects promoted by each of them brought about.

It is interesting to cite the example of the cooperative La Comunitaria, belonging to the Rivadavia district (province of Buenos Aires), which recognizes that knowledge management not only allowed the group to negotiate, make transparent, and manage resources but also to enter the institutional world with the capacity for autonomous management and to dispute spaces for political construction [ 39 ].

Another article that places special emphasis on knowledge management in cooperatives, but without mentioning it explicitly, is that of Juan Pablo Martí [ 42 ], where he highlights that in many of the companies surveyed in his study, this involved assuming new responsibilities: in addition to the tasks, they carried out in the production process, they had to take charge of administrative tasks and even the cleaning and maintenance of the plant.

Anticipating some responses to question RQ2 of this research work, Martí mentions that the first diferential agent in the participation of knowledge management to be considered is the State, both at the national and local levels. In Argentina, within the framework of a generalized disbelief in the political system and its institutions, the State has been absent in active policies. Denise Kasparian complements this question by arguing that political support is essential to advance the ownership of the productive unit and the restart of production (judicial negotiation, expropriation of properties, obtaining registration as a cooperative and commercial permit, etc.) [ 43 ].

A common denominator, which runs through all the articles analyzed, is the search for various feasible alternatives to provide answers to the needs of work cooperative members, through the incorporation and transfer of knowledge.

4.2. Diferences between knowledge management in Argentine work cooperatives compared to other countries (RQ2)

It is important to highlight the participation of the State in countries such as Malaysia, where in addition to providing the financial support previously studied, the rise of worker cooperatives has led its government to establish a statutory body to formulate relevant strategies and programs that can contribute to the economic growth of the country [ 44 ], among which stands out the creation of a commission specialized in the subject, in addition to the Ministry of Business and Cooperative Development. In studies carried out in that country, three variables were measured to observe the level of implementation of knowledge management, such as culture (human resources), governance structure, and existing technology. The findings reveal that cultural factors have a greater influence on organizational efectiveness. Governance factors, on the other hand, include regulations, procedures, reporting sequence, relationships, incentive systems and scope of governance of a department in a cooperative [ 44 ].

It is important to highlight the case of the analysis carried out in Colombia [ 45 ], which concludes by saying that the competitive sector most afected by the weak development of knowledge management is the environmental sector. There is significant progress concerning the science and technology sector, which has been recognizing the importance of knowledge management in its development, but like other sectors, it has much to improve, especially with stimuli and appropriation of knowledge. According to the study, companies must incorporate knowledge management to innovate through the targeted management of knowledge processes (identify, share, generate, retain and apply knowledge), training human capital in information and documentation management, innovation and change management, in organizational learning management, in the design of digital tools and communication management.

Maribel Franco adds that Colombian small and medium-sized enterprises are characterized by a very high mortality rate [ 46, 47 ]. According to the latter, the mortality rate of Colombian SMEs is 50% in their first year of life, and 75% in the second. Few companies manage to survive, and of those that do survive, many only achieve marginal performance. In work cooperatives, the mortality rate is lower than that of Colombian SMEs.

In the context of the analysis of responses to the defined research questions, it is important to cite another question raised by Denise Kasparian: to what extent did this revitalization of work cooperativism promoted by the State open possibilities for the formation of productive alternatives and interstitial strategies of social change? A first step to provide answers to such a question was to discern the socioproductive forms that the program and the organization of power configured within such formations [ 48 ].

In the case of the cooperatives of the Argentina Trabaja Program, it was argued that a hybrid noncommercial form of production with a predominance of state power tends to take shape. However, this form enables certain degrees of social empowerment through collective self-appropriation and the relative self-determination achieved by workers [ 49 ].

A recurring assertion sustained in the spheres of cooperativism -albeit with its nuances, at a global level- is that it must avoid the loss of its autonomy by ignoring "politics", understood as that exercised by state apparatuses. However, Denise Kasparian maintains in her research that the State can be a powerful way of generating associativism in the territories [ 48 ].

4.3. Challenges presented by knowledge management applied to cooperative work companies in Argentina (RQ3)

The organizational structure of a cooperative must combine “two completely diferent logics: one based on values, trust and mutual relationships between members, and another based on money and formal relationships (contracts) with a “competitive outside” [ 50 ].

As Lucía García points out, diversity, new ways of organizing knowledge, the rapid pace at which it is produced, as well as the plurality of science, and the complexity of new knowledge, make its transmission diferent today from its traditional forms. Thus, these changes must be conceived integrally, with a view to a much more collective and transdisciplinary work [ 51 ].

In turn, Montoya Herrera also mentions that the transfer of knowledge presents three barriers: • Ambiguity: it is related to the absence or scarcity of understanding between the impact that knowledge has, that is, what actions to take; • Lack of clarity: it refers to the dificulty that exists for knowledge to flow between the sender and the receiver.

This in turn can be caused by a lack of absorption capacity and lack of motivation of the participants. • Complexity: Since each organization is made up of various individuals, these, in turn, have a series of practices within the organization that can provide them with skills or a lack of skills to transfer knowledge.

The origins of this factor may be due to mistrust, lack of credibility, lack of communication, and dificulty in relationships. If two people feel mistrust, they will hardly exchange their knowledge; the same could occur with a lack of credibility.

5. Discussion

Based on the results, approaches, and tactics for applying knowledge management to cooperative work companies in Argentina are compared, highlighting advantages and disadvantages. Consequently, and given their importance, research implications are presented. In the latter subsections, feedback is given about limitations in the reviewed studies along with future research areas.

5.1. Research Implications

The objective of carrying out the knowledge transfer process is to distribute the right knowledge to the right people at the right time. This process is developed through the exchange of knowledge between diferent organizational actors and at diferent levels (for example, between groups, departments, divisions, teams, people, organizations, etc).

The diferent authors and models analyzed in this work identify knowledge management as a process that allows the development of organizations and favors their learning.

To ensure that knowledge management acts as a source of innovation in organizations, it is necessary to develop the capacity to carry out transfer processes efectively. In this sense, elements such as the acquisition and appropriation of knowledge, problem-solving, implementation and integration of solutions, experimentation, and generation of prototypes, afect the transfer of knowledge, a fundamental aspect of knowledge management.

Figure 3 shows the knowledge transfer process according to Nofal Nagles, which is structured around four phases that allow the knowledge management strategy to be implemented to energize the business strategy and strengthen innovation activities in the organization [ 52 ].

5.2. Opportunities for practical application of the results

Although most of the articles analyzed do not explicitly state the presence of knowledge management according to the definition established by Nonaka and Takeuchi [ 23 ], it is understood based on the experiences reported that there was a transfer of tacit knowledge, although without the presence of a regulatory framework.

Through the bibliography studied, it can be concluded that most of the cooperative work companies in Argentina use tacit knowledge to carry out the tasks required by the various jobs that a cooperative company has. This is strengthened through the transfer of knowledge through experience, and infrequently based on an established methodology or some type of documentation that supports the employee’s actions.

The concept of good practices or best practices frequently appears in the literature of the business sector and public management concerning an efective action that has facilitated a process or has been an alternative to a problem. Marianela Armijo points out that good practices are experiences with good results and that are oriented towards concrete and efective solutions that enable a performance improvement [ 53 ].

Cooperatives as business organizations must develop plans that allow them to improve their position in the market.

Along with this, Denise Kasparian points out that it is necessary to analyze the experiences that have managed to sustain themselves and provide knowledge that allows overcoming the identified limitations, both for existing cooperatives and to nourish possible state interventions. In this sense, the implementation of policies that promote cooperative production for the market could generate greater scale and autonomy and also configure the foundation for the construction of a cooperative market [ 54 ].

Lajara-Camilleri also highlights that one of the problems that has traditionally been attributed to the sector is the lack of professionalization or training [ 55 ].

In this work, it is evident that correct management of knowledge in cooperative work companies will help nourish this survival and significantly improve their competitiveness.

6. Conclusions

Innovation serves as a pivotal catalyst for progress within organizations, societies, and nations that measure their success by their ability to generate novel ideas and systematically integrate these ideas into products, processes, or services. Such innovation acts as a driving force for economic growth, job creation, and the promotion of societal well-being.

From the generation of solutions that satisfy the market and add value to the organization, it is necessary to create devices that ensure a positive exchange with the environment where the organization operates, and thus, identify and understand the problems, dificulties, and challenges that people, organizations and society face, so that this is the starting point of innovative actions, to produce and deliver new or improved products and services to the market and design and develop new processes and management systems that optimize the use of resources and capabilities of organizations and society in general.

The definition of knowledge has evolved greatly from the first doctrines developed by Greek philosophers, then through the interpretations made in the Renaissance period, to the continuous speculations and dissertations that are made daily in the modern age, especially those theories that relate it to technological advances, which change the way of seeing and applying knowledge.

Regardless of all the definitions that may exist and those that were developed in the report, it is considered that knowledge is more than a set of data and information stored through experience. The true utility of knowledge management does not lie in the mass distribution of documents or the exploitation of enormous databases. The true value lies in people, in the possibility of sharing ideas and visions that are not documented. This tacit knowledge is very dificult to explain and sometimes only appears when faced with the resolution of a particular problem.

7. Future Research

It is important to conduct new reviews to identify how knowledge management is presented in diferent contexts, whether explicit or tacit.

Based on the literature review, it can be identified that there are few studies carried out to develop a knowledge management methodology in Argentina.

We can afirm that, due to how they emerged, most cooperative companies base their knowledge management on informal learning techniques, that is, those that were transmitted from generation to generation, or that were acquired at the time of doing the task and did not require training that carefully safeguarded the methodology or the procedures to follow to carry it out.

At the same time, regardless of the almost non-existent existence of studies referring to the subject, it is not observed that a work methodology has been developed that should be replicated. It is interesting to be able to develop in a future investigation a guide of good practices for knowledge management that ofers a base structure or tools for the transfer of tacit knowledge within a work cooperative, in a more eficient and rapid manner.

Unlike explicit knowledge, which is known in the organization and is codified and documented in its rules and procedures, tacit knowledge is not easily explained and generally, the organization does not know that it exists or who possesses it. Its nature is illustrated by the well-known phrase of the executives of the Hewlett Packard company when they expressed: “If we only knew what we know we could conquer the world” [ 56 ].

The process of converting tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge is of great importance for the organization that requires it, but it raises the following question: How can tacit knowledge be converted into explicit knowledge and, in this way, become an important asset of the organization? This is, without a doubt, one of the important challenges that organizational knowledge management must face in cooperative companies.

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