Organizational Knowledge Creation: The Autism Enigma

Abstract

A manager's role is to increase organizational knowledge creation. The concern is not that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not have the performance skills; the concern is they do not socialize well with others (McIntosh, 2016), and it is the social environment that impacts knowledge creation (Amabile, Conti, Coon, Lazenby, & Herron, 1996). According to Baron-Cohen (1988), cognitive theory is a better predictor for how we socially interact with each other than how we feel toward each other. Cognitive Style, according to Zhang and Sternberg (2005), “is one's preferred way of processing information and dealing with tasks.” The abilities and behaviors of individuals with autism are highly linked to their cognitive style (Grandin, 1995). According to Zhang and Sternberg (2005), cognitive styles are at least partially socialized, suggesting that styles can be cultivated and modified to fit the social and organizational environment. According to Downs and Smith (2004), individuals with ASD are capable of cooperative behavior, and the best news of all is that all individuals with ASD's cognitive styles are trainable to fit the social, organizational environment.

Citation

Saylors, J. (2022), "Organizational Knowledge Creation: The Autism Enigma", Giannantonio, C.M. and Hurley-Hanson, A.E. (Ed.) Generation A (Emerald Studies in Workplace Neurodiversity), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 19-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-256-020211003