Knowledge sharing: A review and directions for future research

Purpose – Knowledge sharing is the corner-stone of many organisations’ knowledge-management (KM) strategy. Despite the growing significance of knowledge sharing’s practices for organisations’ competitiveness and market performance, several barriers make it difficult for KM to achieve the goals and deliver a positive return on investment. This paper provides a detailed review of current KM and related literatures on a large number of possible knowledge-sharing barriers with the purpose of offering a more comprehensive and structured starting-point for senior managers when auditing their organisation’s current knowledge base and knowledge-sharing requirements. Design/methodology/approach – This article reviews and discusses over three dozen potential knowledge-sharing barriers, categorising them into three main domains of recently published works: individual/personal, organisational, and technological barriers. Findings – The extensive list of knowledge sharing barriers provides a helpful starting point and guideline for senior managers auditing their existing practices with a view to identifying any bottle-necks and improving on the overall effectiveness of knowledge-sharing activities. Practical implications – Managers need to realise, however, that a particular knowledge sharing strategy or specific managerial actions will not suit all companies and that there are differences to be expected between MNCs and SMEs, private, public sector, and not-for-profit organisations. As such, the implementation of knowledge-sharing goals and strategies into an organisation’s strategic planning and thinking will vary greatly. Originality/value – The main discussion of this paper brings together a large range of knowledgesharing barriers in an attempt to indicate the complexity of knowledge sharing as a value-creating organisational activity.

Three‐dozen knowledge‐sharing barriers managers must consider

Knowledge is now being seen as the most important strategic resource in organizations, and the management of this knowledge is considered critical to organizational success. If organizations have to capitalize on the knowledge they possess, they have to understand how knowledge is created, shared, and used within the organization. Knowledge exists and is shared at different levels in organizations. This article examines knowledge sharing at the most basic level; namely, between individuals in organizations. Based on a review of existing literature in this area, this article presents a model that identifies factors that most significantly influence knowledge sharing at this level.

Knowledge Sharing in Organizations: A Conceptual Framework

Numerous scholars and practitioners claim that motivational factors can facilitate successful knowledge sharing. However, little empirical research has been conducted examining the different kinds of motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic) used to explain employee knowledge sharing behaviors. By integrating a motivational perspective into the theory of reasoned action (TRA), this study examines the role of both extrinsic (expected organizational rewards and reciprocal benefits) and intrinsic (knowledge self-efficacy and enjoyment in helping others) motivators in explaining employee knowledge sharing intentions. Based on a survey of 172 employees from 50 large organizations in Taiwan, this study applies the structural equation modeling approach to investigate the research model. The results showed that motivational factors such as reciprocal benefits, knowledge self-efficacy, and enjoyment in helping others were significantly associated with employee knowledge sharing attitudes and intentions. However, expected organizational rewards did not significantly influence employee attitudes and behavior intentions regarding knowledge sharing. Implications for organizations are discussed.

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Effects of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on employee knowledge sharing intentions

This paper focuses on the issue of knowledge sharing, one of the key mechanisms by which knowledge transfer can take place within organizations. The aim of the paper is to identify the people manag...

/pdf/fostering-knowledge-sharing-through-people-management-4nkp99znen.pdf

Fostering knowledge sharing through people management practices

Culture is often seen as the key inhibitor of effective knowledge sharing. A study of companies where sharing knowledge is built into the culture found that they did not change their culture to match their knowledge management initiatives. They adapted their approach to knowledge management to fit their culture. They did this by: linking sharing knowledge to solving practical business problems; tying sharing knowledge to a pre‐existing core value; introducing knowledge management in a way that matches the organization’s style; building on existing networks people use in their daily work; and encouraging peers and supervisors to exert pressure to share.

Overcoming cultural barriers to sharing knowledge

At many companies, employees form groups to share knowledge and attack common problems. These communities of practice can be a powerful management tool.

Harnessing your staff's informal networks.

Purpose – This paper seeks to develop understanding of how competent practitioners develop into experts through learning expert thinking processes and how knowledge management initiatives can be used to structure this development.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review‐derived research model underpinned the semi‐structured interviews with 21 acknowledged experts from a wide variety of disciplines and sectors. A qualitative exploratory research design was used to study how the experts go about developing other professionals in the field through showing them how they learn themselves and making visible their own thinking processes. The implications for KM programs were developed in conjunction with KM practitioners.Findings – The experts used various methods to make their thinking visible through demonstration of practice and direction of structured learning activities. KM's contribution to this form of expertise development lies in structuring approaches to making work in progress more visible (t...

Richard McDermott

Papers

Overcoming cultural barriers to sharing knowledge

Harnessing your staff's informal networks.

Learning expert thinking processes: using KM to structure the development of expertise

Facilitating the handover of knowledge