Knowledge Management Research & Practice

Narratives, or stories, have been identified as one of the ways in which knowledge might be transferred, shared or exchanged in organisational settings. Beyond their identification, little consideration has been given to the ways in which narrative approaches can increase our understanding of the creation and dissemination of knowledge in organisations. This paper reflects upon some of the ways in which narrative approaches might contribute towards a better understanding of organisational knowledge management. It contributes to the debate on the nature and significance of the contextual features of organisational knowledge, particularly the role of tacit knowledge, and identifies some of the distinctions between formal and informal knowledge transfer mechanisms, which operate (with or without effective management) within organisations.

The ability to access and exploit knowledge resources is one of the key challenges for today’s multinational corporations (MNCs). However, there is still a lack of consensus about the exact nature of the role played by culture in affecting knowledge transfer in multinational contexts. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the dynamics of national culture influence an organization operating in a cross-cultural business environment and how the company can benefit from cultural differences. We focused on a holistic single case study, the Generali Group, by performing content analysis of the evidence collected with qualitative coding techniques. We propose a framework, based on the integration of intercultural competences and the use of specific knowledge facilitation mechanisms, which allows knowledge to spread in a more easy and fluid way in multinational environments and supports MNCs in reconciling the knowledge transfer dilemma.

This paper reviews some issues associated with knowledge sharing, and identifies what the author considers to be potentially interesting and fruitful avenues of future research. The inadequacy of the common distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge is examined, and the importance of providing experience in which the tacit knowledge of the individual can be generated is highlighted. Storytelling, in particular, is identified as one such generation mechanism. The differing ways in which communities of practice may support knowledge sharing and generation are discussed. A link between the health of the communities of practice in an organisation, the nature of its organisational memory, and the ability of the organisation to operate flexibly is hypothesised.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of knowledge management (KM) maturity of credit unions. The application of a maturity model to 15 credit unions in North America revealed that an overall level of KM maturity is at an early stage of development, but there are signs of future improvement. Credit unions operate in a highly competitive, knowledge-intensive financial industry and experience various pressures to increase their efficiency, which they can achieve through the implementation of KM solutions. Despite the absence of official KM strategies, KM projects were introduced locally in order to fill particular knowledge gaps. The availability of IT infrastructure and the implementation of KM-related technologies alone are insufficient to ensure universal success of organizational KM activities. Credit union managers periodically access and use academic research in their decision making. At the same time, they prefer accessing scholarly knowledge in translated form from books, practitioner magazines, and consultants. It was concluded that organizations competing in the knowledge-intensive sector have an inner need for KM solutions.

Knowledge sharing can be viewed as an organizational innovation that has the potential to generate new ideas and develop new business opportunities through socialization and learning process of knowledge workers. Moreover, numerous scholars have proposed that interpersonal trust is an important facilitator of knowledge sharing. This study aims to develop a research model examining how organizational support influences the intention to facilitate knowledge sharing through organizational perceptions of innovation characteristics (perceived relative advantage and compatibility) and interpersonal trust. Data from a survey of senior executives in Taiwan were used to test the proposed research model. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the validity of the measurement model, and the structural model also was analyzed to test the associations hypothesized in the research model. The results showed that organizational support is positively associated with organizational perceptions of innovation characteristics (perceived relative advantage and compatibility) and interpersonal trust, which in turn are positively related to organizational intention to facilitate knowledge sharing. Implications for organizations are also discussed.

Faced with demanding time constraints and the need to compete and communicate across a global market, firms have engaged in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to accomplish various objectives, including, but not limited to, increasing growth potential and expanding product lines. Given the vital role of knowledge in the M&A context, the aim of this case study is to explore the literature in the area of M&As from a knowledge perspective and to investigate the knowledge variable in the local Hellenic Post-Merger Integration (PMI) of the Roche Consumer Health division acquired by Bayer, both leading multinational pharmaceutical companies. The study focuses on whether the stakeholders think that one specific factor, namely knowledge transfer, has helped them develop towards one high-performance body, and, if so, what were the most significant experiences leading to this development. We followed a number of employees from both. The results of the study provide a better understanding of the key drivers of the knowledge transfer in a PMI. The critical factors (macro and micro) encourage or discourage knowledge transfer in integrating organizations. The assessment took place approximately six months after the contractual completion of the acquisition and was based on the management and co-workers’ perception of how integration at the Greek Bayer company had progressed. The Orton case study was developed as a complement to the theoretical framework on intangible synergies in the M&A context. It provides a practical perspective regarding the complexities and peculiarities involved in each M&A operation by confronting the conceptual framework with field realities.

Awareness levels of individuals about various aspects of the collaborative processes can be achieved by effective promotive interactions among them. Cultural structures are regarded as one of the major determinants of knowledge sharing patterns and awareness levels of individuals in collaborative contexts. Through an exploratory review of the literature, the present study points to the two rival organisational structures of cooperation and competition that coexist in any organisation in different intensities and mixtures. Finding a desirable mix of the above two structures is currently a challenging task and no explicit method exists for determining such an ideal mix. This study provides further theoretical insights into the analysis of incompatible impacts of several factors on the awareness levels of individuals in collaborative contexts. Drawn from the findings in the current body of literature, a conceptual model is developed. The proposed model relates cooperative and competitive structures, task dimensions, and group characteristics as potential factors that determine the awareness levels of individuals. The face validity of the proposed model is checked by employing an expert focus group. As a result, a number of enhancements and improvements to the model are proposed. Pragmatic aspects of the proposed model are then discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.