Knowledge Sharing In Organizations by Dr. Magdalene Bore.

The twenty-first century is the era of the knowledge-based economy. As explained by Eom and Lee (2010)  the term 'knowledge-based economy' has emerged from a fuller recognition of the pivotal role that knowledge and technology play in economic growth, as embodied in human capital, innovations, and technology.  Information technology and the sharing of knowledge in organizations has become very important.  The acceptance of the human resources managers’ role as knowledge managers has become the vision of the organizations which are interested in keeping their competitive advantage. According to Cranfield (2011) in the past traditional economies, many organizations relied upon assets such as capital and land having physical values. The scholar further expounds that in the modern economy this trend has changed and knowledge management is now the key factor in gaining competitive advantage. 

The concept of Knowledge sharing (KS) which is a branch of knowledge management has become a key area in the management of organizations today. Tacit knowledge sharing has been embraced by organizations that desire to have a cutting edge in their operations. Hu and Randel (2014) aver that knowledge sharing refers to the process by which knowledge is conveyed from one person to another, from persons to groups, or from one organization to another organizations. Tacit knowledge is acquired through experience and can be shared through, on the job training, mentoring, coaching, communities of practices, peer assistance, knowledge sharing forums which include seminars, conferences, workshops, after-action reviews, knowledge network, and knowledge fairs (Aswath & Gupta, 2009).  Liebowitz (2008) explains that tacit knowledge can also be passed from one person to another or from one group to another. The group may consist of members engaged in a formal institution, for instance, among colleagues in a workplace or informal setups for instance among friends. Paliszkiewicz and Koohang (2013) argue that the underlying purpose of tacit knowledge sharing is to utilize available knowledge to improve the groups or individual performance. 

When managed properly, knowledge sharing can greatly improve the performance of organizations (Yi, 2009). As indicated by Bhatt (2009) there are two ways of sharing knowledge in organizations; closed-network sharing which involves person-to-person sharing and open-network sharing which involves sharing through a central open repository. Hislop (2009) further explains that in the closed sharing, an individual has the freedom to decide the mode of sharing and choose partners to share his or her knowledge. Hu and Randel (2014) posit that this type of interaction allows more personal touch and more directed sharing is expected.  On the other hand, open-network sharing refers to the sharing of knowledge among members of a group through a knowledge management system, typically a central database system. It involves multiple individuals sharing multiple knowledge assets in a system. Bhatt (2009) clarifies that tacit Knowledge sharing leads to higher organizational performance especially when knowledge sharing capabilities are combined with organizational resources. 

The intensity and effectiveness of tacit knowledge sharing practices largely depend on the willingness of the person sharing knowledge, friendliness of the information technology system (IT) created, the incentive system as well as the organizational culture established over time as observed by Bhatt (2009).  Knowledge sharing is considered to be the main process of knowledge management as explained by Hong, Mosca, and Luo (2012). Joia and Lemos (2010) point out that tacit knowledge is embedded in the day to day activities of the organization, in the form of intuition, feelings, insight, and personal abilities which are internalized in an individual through experiences and reflections.  

Cheng (2009) explains that tacit knowledge is very important to individuals and organizations as a whole if knowledge is shared properly. Tacit knowledge is a major source of breakthroughs that offers organizations a competitive advantage. This is only possible if tacit knowledge is shared and passed from an expert employee to a beginner thus ensuring organizational growth (Hong, Mosca, & Luo, 2012). However, little or no emphasis has been enforced in the sharing of tacit knowledge in many organizations.

References

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