Knowledge and Discourse Matters

8THEMATIC CATEGORIES OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING

8.1 INTRODUCTION

The critical appraisal of the knowledge management (KM) field reveals knowledge sharing (KS) to be one of the most significant organizational imperatives, frequently nominated as a key marker of success in the strategic practice of organizational KM (see Chapter 3 for discussions). There is also a notably strong theme of the “social world” in accounts of KS, which connects to the crucial importance of language accomplished in social practice in all aspects of the organization. This is a theme that is making more and more of an appearance in the “toolset” of the KM consultant, for instance. Consequently, person-to-person meetings, physical proximity, shared narratives, the idea of “Ba,” and all other conceivable mediators and facilitators of social interaction are, according to this contemporary perspective, given a central role to effective KS. Building on this theme, links can be unambiguously formed with notions of the social group, networking, and of course learning. These are fundamental organizational practices that in turn invoke the foundational nature of KS. From the behavioral perspective, there is also the claim made by psychologist Thomas Suddendorf that KS is an innate aspect of human nature and behavior.

Yet, as we discussed in Chapter 3, KS is also widely seen as problematical. According to Gee-Woo Bock and his colleagues, who study influencing factors on intentions to share knowledge, examples of extensive ...