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Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

Celia Zárraga‐Oberty and Petra De Saá‐Pérez

To provide evidence about that the process called knowledge management can happen in work teams, but only if they have the necessary characteristics to be considered communities…

4029

Abstract

Purpose

To provide evidence about that the process called knowledge management can happen in work teams, but only if they have the necessary characteristics to be considered communities of practice.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the paper identifies the characteristics of the work team that favor knowledge management from a revision of existing literature about communities of practice. Second, by means of an empirical study of 363 individuals working in permanent teams, the paper obtains confirmation that those characteristics exercise a favorable influence on knowledge management. The empirical study is carried out by means of statistical analysis: exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach's α analyses were carried out to check the validity and reliability of scales; conducted correlation analyses were also conducted to test the six hypotheses regarding direct relationships and multiple regression analyses to assess the relative importance of each of the characteristics of the work team in knowledge management.

Findings

Empirical evidence is obtained that knowledge management is favored in work teams that possess certain characteristics: self‐management, leadership, individual autonomy, climate of trust, common understanding, and the members' heterogeneous and complementary skills. The paper also provides a detailed examination of that relationship. Evidence is obtained about what characteristics of work teams favor the knowledge management process in its different phases (i.e. creation of knowledge, and transfer and integration of knowledge).

Research limitations/implications

On the one hand, the group rather than the individual would have been a more suitable unit of analysis. So, it should be noted that our findings are to be interpreted as individual perceptions. On the other hand, our scales represent new measures. So, they must be interpreted cautiously.

Practical implications

The paper provides evidence that will help companies to understand the value of knowledge to their success and to obtain maximum performance through the organization of their human resources into teams with the appropriate characteristics to become communities of practice.

Originality/value

This paper fills an empirical gap in the literature around communities of practice and knowledge management.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 July 2014

Ram Manohar Singh and Meenakshi Gupta

This paper aims to develop a scale to measure knowledge management holistically at team level and to provide an empirical integration to a fractured body of literature on knowledge

2319

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a scale to measure knowledge management holistically at team level and to provide an empirical integration to a fractured body of literature on knowledge management.

Design/methodology/approach

Ten concepts commonly studied under the umbrella term “knowledge management” were reviewed. On the basis of literature review, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 24 information technology (IT) professionals. A scale was developed based on the literature review and the interviews. The scale was tested in two phases, on samples of 91 and 699 IT professionals. Team knowledge management was analysed on 512 respondents, belonging to 34 teams.

Findings

Findings suggest that the newly developed scale is a reliable and valid measure of knowledge management. Exploratory factor analysis of the 27-item scale suggests that knowledge management should be measured along four dimensions: knowledge creation, sharing, retention and actionable knowledge support.

Practical implications

Organizations expect their teams to make the best use of knowledge resources. This scale would help organizations diagnose knowledge management practices in teams and develop interventions according to the needs of each team. The scale and four-factor model will provide a framework and a tool to investigate relationship of knowledge management with other variables.

Originality/value

The attempts to integrate literature on knowledge management have largely been theoretical, and there has been little empirical work to provide an integrative framework for knowledge management concepts. This paper presents an empirical basis for the integration of knowledge management concepts. The paper also presents development of a scale which measures knowledge management practices in teams.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 November 2020

Xiongfei Cao, Ahsan Ali, Abdul Hameed Pitafi, Ali Nawaz Khan and Muhammad Waqas

The purpose of this study is to extend the existing literature on knowledge management, which generally focuses on knowledge sharing. The model of this article explains how…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to extend the existing literature on knowledge management, which generally focuses on knowledge sharing. The model of this article explains how knowledge creation and team performance can be increased through the integration of social and technological factors

Design/methodology/approach

To empirically test the model, multi-wave and multi-source data were collected from 80 teams whose members use social media as a tool for communication and interaction.

Findings

The analysis results provide insights into some interesting findings. The results show transactive memory system (TMS) as an important factor that can significantly contribute to knowledge creation in teams. Especially, the TMS strengthens the significant positive effect of enterprise social media (ESM) and insignificant positive effect of knowledge complementarity on knowledge creation. Furthermore, knowledge creation is found to be a significant predictor of team performance

Originality/value

Much of the knowledge management literature focuses on the ways to increase the quantity of accessible knowledge to organization members. Such knowledge management studies are more relevant to knowledge exchange among individual employees, teams and organizations. However, this study takes a nuanced approach to explore how knowledge creation can be increased in teams by implementing a knowledge integration mechanism. A general model of knowledge creation is proposed, but the strength of this model lies in the moderating effect of TMS which strengthens the effect of knowledge complementarity and ESM on knowledge creation in teams which eventually increases team performance.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 34 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 June 2023

Mingjun Yang, Tuan Trong Luu and Dan Wang

Internal knowledge transfer is crucial for firms to improve their employees’ abilities and improve their work performance. However, there is still a gap in the knowledge management

Abstract

Purpose

Internal knowledge transfer is crucial for firms to improve their employees’ abilities and improve their work performance. However, there is still a gap in the knowledge management field regarding whether internal knowledge transfer can leverage employee personality traits and service performance in service-oriented organizations. To address this gap, this study aims to validate a multilevel model of the mediating (i.e. internal knowledge transfer as a mediator) and moderating (i.e. task interdependence as a moderator) mechanisms underlying personality traits and employee service performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Multilevel structural equation modeling was applied for model validation using an original data set from 45 team leaders and 333 employees working in Chinese hotels.

Findings

Internal knowledge transfer mediated the link between extraversion and employee service performance and the link between openness to experience and employee service performance. Task interdependence played a moderating role that strengthened both the impacts of extraversion and openness to experience on internal knowledge transfer.

Originality/value

Through the use of an original data set, this study advances the knowledge management discipline by investigating the mediating impact of internal knowledge transfer between personality traits and employee service performance and revealing the moderating impact of task interdependence that underlies the links between personality traits and internal knowledge transfer.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2019

Sanjay Kumar Singh, Shashank Mittal, Atri Sengupta and Rabindra Kumar Pradhan

This study aims to examine a dual-pathway model that recognizes two distinct (formal and informal) but complementary mechanisms of knowledge exchanges – knowledge sharing and…

1189

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine a dual-pathway model that recognizes two distinct (formal and informal) but complementary mechanisms of knowledge exchanges – knowledge sharing and knowledge helping. It also investigates how team members use their limited human and psychosocial capital for prosocial knowledge effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey-based approach was used to examine the hypotheses of the study. A moderated-mediation model was proposed and tested using bootstrap approach.

Findings

Knowledge sharing and knowledge helping were found to be the significant links through which human capital (capability) and psychosocial capital (motivation and efficacy) significantly predict prosocial knowledge effectiveness. Post hoc analysis suggests that human capital through knowledge sharing influences team learning, whereas the psychosocial capital through knowledge helping influences team leadership.

Originality/value

The present study found two distinct but complementary and yet necessary mechanisms of knowledge exchanges to be linked as the important outlay for the human and psychosocial capital to be effective in the prosocial knowledge behaviours.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 23 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 November 2021

Weiwei Wu, Zhou Liang and Qi Zhang

Nowadays, faced with increasingly dynamic and fierce competition, knowledge is considered to be the core to survive and maintain competitive advantages in both managerial…

Abstract

Purpose

Nowadays, faced with increasingly dynamic and fierce competition, knowledge is considered to be the core to survive and maintain competitive advantages in both managerial practices and academia. Against this background, this study analyzed the influence of technological capabilities (TC) and technology management (TM) on corporate economic performance in the contexts of corporate internal governance mechanisms and external institutional environment from the institutional perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collected data on Chinese publicly listed manufacturing firms in Shenzhen and Shanghai stock markets from 2008 to 2017 and the final data included 3,679 firm-year observations. Ordinary least square regression was used in both regression analysis and robustness tests.

Findings

The empirical results showed that the interaction between TC and TM was positively related to corporate economic performance and both corporate incentives and monitoring mechanisms strengthened this positive relationship; the positive moderating effects of corporate governance were stronger under a more developed corporate external institutional environment.

Originality/value

This research provides a better understanding of the economic effect of TC and TM from the perspective of knowledge integration by indicating that the interaction between TC and TM can enhance corporate economic performance and delimiting the boundaries of this relationship from the institutional perspective.

Article
Publication date: 10 May 2023

Jijiao Jiang, Xiao Yang and Cong Zhou

This article explores how the social media usage affect team creative performance via transactive memory system, knowledge interaction and expertise coordination.

Abstract

Purpose

This article explores how the social media usage affect team creative performance via transactive memory system, knowledge interaction and expertise coordination.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on the perspective of transaction memory system and expertise coordination theory. A research model was constructed and tested, involving 289 individuals from 67 distributed agile software development teams.

Findings

The results indicate that social media usage is positively correlated with transactive memory system, and social media usage and transactive memory system have positive relations to knowledge interaction and expertise coordination. Moreover, this analysis shows that knowledge interaction has a positive relationship with expertise coordination, and expertise coordination positively affects team creative performance. However, knowledge interaction has no direct relationship on team creative performance, and its indirect impact on team creative performance was fully mediated by expertise coordination. This research shows that social media usage by distributed agile software development teams can support the development of transactive memory system and promote expertise coordination. In addition, knowledge interaction alone is not enough, and expertise coordination must be achieved to increase team creative performance.

Originality/value

First, this paper explores the mechanism of transactive memory system in distributed Agile Software Development teams from the perspective of social media, which is different from the previous information processing theory framework that confined transactive memory system to the cognitive aspects of knowledge coding, storage and retrieval. Second, this research focuses on the knowledge interaction and expertise coordination formed by team members in the process of communication in the context of social media usage, which confirms the crucial roles of social media usage and transactive memory system in team knowledge management and team creative performance. Then, this research also shows that the development of transactive memory system in the team is indeed an important factor to promote knowledge interaction and professional expertise coordination.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 May 2022

Sarra Berraies and Abdelhak Chouiref

Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this paper aims to investigate the impact of team climate (TC) supporting trust, cohesion and innovativeness on knowledge

1041

Abstract

Purpose

Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this paper aims to investigate the impact of team climate (TC) supporting trust, cohesion and innovativeness on knowledge management (KM) in teams through the mediating role of teamwork engagement (TWEG).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 246 employees working in Tunisian knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) and involved in 69 service R&D teams. The authors applied the partial least squares-structural equation modeling approach for data analysis using SMART PLS 3.2 software.

Findings

Findings provide evidence that TWEG mediates the link between TC characterized by trust, cohesion and innovativeness and KM in teams. In the line of the JD-R model, results also show that such TC provides job resources to team members that act as vitamins nurturing TWEG, which in turn boosts KM in teams.

Originality/value

To shed light on the micro-level foundations of KM, this paper enriches the KM literature through pioneering the examination of the effect of TC on KM in teams. It proposes an extension of the JD-R model through highlighting the TWEG’s mediating role in the motivational pathway leading teams to invest in KM activities under a supportive TC. It provides key insights into the importance for managers to implement team-oriented policies toward cultivating trust, innovativeness and cohesion within teams to create more dedicated, vigorous and absorbed teams in which intrinsically motivated knowledge workers are likely to collectively engage in KM activities.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2018

Mariama Baldé, Aristides I. Ferreira and Travis Maynard

The purpose of this paper is to examine employees’ knowledge creation processes by leveraging a conceptual framework based on the socialisation, externalisation, combination and…

2973

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine employees’ knowledge creation processes by leveraging a conceptual framework based on the socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation (SECI) model introduced by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). Given that many employees work within teams, in the current study, the authors examine the impact that team-level trust and intrinsic motivation have on an employee’s SECI model and, in turn, the relationship between SECI model and individual creativity. As such, this work represents one of the first works to examine team-level factors that shape individual knowledge creation and creativity. Additionally, building on and extending previous SECI research, the authors develop a scale to measure SECI models that uses peer-rated assessments.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 431 employees who worked in 59 teams drawn from 51 companies in a variety of industry sectors, both SME’s and corporate. To minimise common method bias, the SECI model questionnaire was adapted to the individual level through peer ratings instead of self-ratings (each employee rated three peers). To assess the hypotheses, hierarchical linear models using IBM SPSS were applied. The questionnaires were completed using both paper and online versions.

Findings

Results showed that SECI mediates the relationships between individual-level creativity and both team-level intrinsic motivation and trust. Furthermore, findings suggest that the scale developed is a reliable measure of SECI.

Practical implications

Knowledge creation and sharing practices should take into account both, a team’s trust and its intrinsic motivation, which would result in creativity.

Originality/value

This paper examines the impact that team-level factors (i.e. team trust and team intrinsic motivation) have on individual SECI and creativity across a variety of industries. As such, this work is one of the first to examine the impact of team-level factors in shaping individual knowledge creation and creativity. Given the support that the study found for this hypothesis, this work demonstrates that team trust and intrinsic motivation are salient factors in shaping individual employee knowledge creation and creativity. Given the novelty of this work, the authors hope is that this study will be the foundation upon future cross-level studies of individual-level SECI and individual creativity can be built so as to improve SECI models.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 22 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 March 2012

Roland A. Pfister and Martin J. Eppler

In this paper, the authors aim to review the benefits of sketching or ad‐hoc, collaborative hand drawings for knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge documentation.

3215

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper, the authors aim to review the benefits of sketching or ad‐hoc, collaborative hand drawings for knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge documentation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a comprehensive literature review in the fields of design, psychology, and computer science that documents the multiple advantages of sketch‐based approaches for managing knowledge in organizations, especially on the team‐level. The authors argue for the complementary use of this “low‐tech knowledge management” approach with existing digital infrastructures and tools. The literature survey is based on a search for the title term “sketching” on the ISI Web of Knowledge online database. After topic filtering and eliminating all articles where sketching was used in the sense of a project proposal or a theoretical sketch, there were only 48 articles left related to the keyword “sketching”. Based on the authors' awareness of important contributions in the field of sketching, which did not appear in the database search, they extended their inclusion criteria to include grey or conference literature and examined the reference sections of highly cited articles. The article concludes with a set of propositions for practitioners regarding the use of sketching in different knowledge management contexts and with implications for future research in this area.

Findings

Knowledge creation contexts, such as innovation management or problem solving sessions, provide participants with the opportunity to jointly devise large scale sketches in order to integrate their views and experiences on joint frameworks. Knowledge sharing situations, such as in team briefings or debriefings, in hand‐over processes, or in strategic alliances, equip all participants with pens and paper tablecloths to augment their knowledge dialogues with visible means that facilitate interaction and turn‐taking, increase vividness and memorability, and allow for an authentic and personal follow‐up documentation.

Research limitations/implications

An implication for research is to study sketching in knowledge management through interdisciplinary research efforts. This could be done by paying attention to the way that digital and hand‐drawn sketches affect interactions differently among professionals and the way that they share, defend, and integrate their knowledge. Specifically researchers with a background in organizational psychology could work jointly with human computer interaction specialists to study differences among analogue and digital sketching activities. In this way one can learn about the respective advantages and risks of hand‐drawn versus computer‐supported sketching for knowledge‐intensive group collaboration tasks.

Originality/value

The literature review resulted in an extended list of benefits which support three relevant tasks in knowledge management, namely knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge documentation. This compilation shows simple and effective ways in which the use of hand drawings can enhance existing knowledge management practices.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

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