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In the era of the knowledge economy, knowledge-based work has replaced regular, sequential work with its characteristics of flexibility, complexity, and high uncertainty (Shieh-Chieh et. al., 2005). Within this context, an organisation’s ability to effectively implement knowledge-based activities becomes increasingly vital for the development and sustenance of competitive advantage (De Carolis, 2003; Grant, 1996). Knowledge-based activities include the creation and integration of knowledge, the accumulation and utilisation of knowledge, and the learning and sharing of knowledge, and together these comprise knowledge management (Shieh-Chieh et. al., 2005). Among these, knowledge sharing is the cornerstone of knowledge management (Szulanski, 1996; Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000).
Geraint (1998) contended that too much faith has been invested in technology at the expense of people issues. Despite the fact that factors affecting the behaviour of knowledge sharing have been quite heavily investigated (Wasko and Faraj, 2000; Ardichvili et. al., 2003), most studies have focused either on social or technological dimensions. Few studies integrating both dimensions have been conducted (Fu and Lee, 2005).
This paper looks at how organisations can become more sophisticated at supporting knowledge sharing, by identifying antecedents of knowledge sharing. The premise of this paper is that effective knowledge sharing has three interrelated links. The first relates to knowledge values held by organisational members, i.e. learning orientation which describes organisational values routinely associated with the predisposition of the firm to learn. The second relates to market orientation which typically focuses on: customer focus, competitor focus and inter-functional coordination. The final link relates to the organisation’s absorptive capacity which is defined as ‘the ability to recognise the value of new external information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends’. The paper also argues that the successful sharing of knowledge requires enablers in the form of information technology infrastructure, a reward system that reinforces and encourages knowledge sharing activities and a positive social interaction that creates trust among organisational members.
Keywords:
knowledge sharing, learning orientation, market orientation, networks, reward, technology
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