Identification of the Constraints and Obstacles to the Creation and Sharing of Knowledge

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

IHU

Abstract

In today's dynamic environment, knowledge sharing among employees has become a key component of gaining competitive advantage for organizations. Given this, the identification of the effective constraints on knowledge sharing has also become very important. These constraints are composed of factors that prevent proper knowledge sharing. This research is intended to identify and classify the limitations of knowledge creation and sharing, and to investigate the impact of these limitations on knowledge sharing in organizations. The research consists of two stages: in the first stage, the limitations of knowledge creation and sharing are identified through the content analysis of the knowledge management literature. In the second part, applying a questionnaire, the data are collected. Using the analysis of variance and Kruskal-Wallis test, the researchers investigated the effects of these constraints on knowledge creation and sharing. Due to the limitations of total population sampling, the statistical population of this study included all 40 managers and employees of Keshavarzi Bank of Nahavand. The findings revealed that that there are eight constraints on knowledge creation and sharing, including inherited systems, difficult relationship, distance, costs of knowledge, knowledge application strategy, available technology, and uncertainty and distrust. The findings also indicated that the impact of strategy constraints on knowledge application, distance, uncertainty and distrust vary along the different supply chain processes.

Keywords

References

Abrahamson, D. E., & Goodman-Delahunty, J. (2014). Impediments to Information and Knowledge Sharing Within Policing. SAGE Open, 4(1).
Adler, P.S. (2002). Market, hierarchy, and trust: The knowledge economy and the future of capitalism. In C.W. Choo & N. Bontis (Eds.). The strategic management of intellectual capital and organizational knowledge (pp. 23–46). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Awang, M., Ismail, R., Flett, P., & Curry, A. (2011). Knowledge management in Malaysian school education: Do the smart schools do it better? Quality Assurance in Education, 19(3), 263-282.
Barson, R., Foster, S., Pawer, F. and Wunram, m. (2000). “Inter and intra organizational barriers to sharing knowledge in the extended supply chain”, e2000 conference proceedings.
Choi, B.; Simon K.P. & Davis J.G. (2008). Effects of knowledge management strategy on organizational performance: A complimentary theory-based approach, Omega, No. 36, 235-251.
Cohen, W. M., & Levinthal, D. A. (1990). Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative science quarterly, 128-152.
Coleman, D. and Hartmann, E. (1999), "Editorial: Research topics and strategies in socio-technical systems", Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 241-3.
Davenport, T. (2005), Thinking for a living, Harvard Business Press, Boston, MA.
Davenport, T. H., & Prusak, L. (1998). Working knowledge: Managing what your organization knows. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
Day, G.S. (1994), "The capabilities of market driven organizations", Journal of Marketing., pp. 37-52.
Dealtry, R. (1998): Building and sustaining a learning organization, the learning organization.vol.5, No1, pp.47-60.
DeLong, D.W. and Fahey, L. (2000), "Diagnosing cultural barriers to knowledge management", Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 113-27.
Fisher, K. M. (1992). SemNet: A tool for personal knowledge construction. In Cognitive tools for learning (pp. 63-75). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Guan, J. C., Yam, R., Mok, C. K., & Ma, N. (2006). A study of the relationship between competitiveness and technological innovation capability based on DEA models. European Journal of Operational Research, 170(3), 971-986.
Gunsel, A., Siachou, E., & Acar, A. Z. (2011). Knowledge management and learning capability to enhance organizational innovativeness. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 24, 880-888.
Gupta, A. and Michailova, S. (2004), "Knowledge sharing in knowledge intensive firms", CKG Working Paper No. 12/2004.
Husted, K. and Michaiova, S. (2002), "Diagnosing and fighting knowledge sharing hostility", Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 31 No.1, pp. 60-73.
Kluge, J., Stein, W. and Licth, T. (2001), Knowledge Unplugged: The McKinsey & Co Survey on Knowledge Management, Palgrave, and London.
Krogh, J., Setein, W. and Nonaka, I. (2000), Enabling Knowledge Creation, Oxford Press, London.
Leal-Rodríguez, A., Leal-Millán, A., Roldán-Salgueiro, J. L., & Ortega-Gutiérrez, J. (2013). Knowledge management and the effectiveness of innovation outcomes: The role of cultural barriers. Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 11(1), 67-71.
 Lucas, E. (2000), "Creating a give and take culture", Professional Manager, Vol.9 No. 3, pp. 11-13.
Malhotra, Y. (2001), knowledge management for the new world business, available at: www.brint.com/km/ whatis.htm.
Massa, S. & Testa S. (2009). A knowledge management approach to organizational competitive advantage: Evidence from the food sector, European Management Journal, No. 27, 129-141
McLaughlin, S., Paton, R.A. and Macbeth, D. (2008), "Barrier impact on organizational learning within complex organizations", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 107-23.
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of management review, 23(2), 242-266.
Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation, oxford press, London.
Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1997). The knowledge-creating company. 1995.
Paulin, D., & Suneson, K. (2012). Knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing and knowledge barriers-Three blurry terms in KM. The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 10(1), 81-91.
Polanyi, M. (1997). Tacit knowledge. Knowledge in organizations, 135-146.
Quinn, J.B., Anderson, P. and Finkeltein, s. (1996), “managing professional intellect”, Harvard business review, vol. 71, No. 2, pp. 71-81.
Rajan, K. (2008). Combinatorial materials sciences: Experimental strategies for accelerated knowledge discovery. Annu. Rev. Mater. Res., 38, 299-322.
Riege, A. (2005). Three-dozen knowledge-sharing barriers managers must consider, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 18-35.
Sveiby, K. E. (1997). The new organizational wealth: Managing & measuring knowledge-based assets. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Szulanski, G. (1996), “Exploring internal stickiness: impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, pp. 27-43
Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic management journal, 28(13), 1319-1350.
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management.
 
Scientific Journal of Strategic Management of Organizational Knowledge
Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 4
Serial No.4- Spring Quarterly
April 2019
Pages 103-129

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 23 February 2019
  • Revise Date: 09 June 2019
  • Accept Date: 10 June 2019

Share

How to cite

Statistics