Why is a knowledge sharing a concern for organizations?
Knowledge sharing has become a very important activity that is vital for any organization. This is as far as the exchange of skills, information, and expertise in the organization are concerned. In this case, it can be said that knowledge sharing has become a major concern for organizations because of the need to enhance sustainable completive advantages. This is based on the fact that they have realized that knowledge constitutes intangible assets that are always valuable.
Knowledge sharing is supposed to be supported by sustainable activities that will guarantee good results that are desirable as far as the organization’s goals and objectives are concerned (Dalkir 2005, p. 24). This means that organizations have discovered that there are factors that enhance knowledge sharing, which therefore requires attention. Most notably, it is a concern for many organizations because of aspects that are involved like trust, organizational culture, and different incentives.
As a matter of fact, it should be known that this activity is a concern because it constitutes a major challenge as far as knowledge management in organizations is concerned. There are employees who might desist from sharing of information with their fellow employees, which therefore presents a big challenge that needs to be looked at and evaluated for long term sustainability. This is a concern to many organizations because the information is supposed to flow freely.
All in all, knowledge sharing is a concern to many organizations because understanding the practice of sharing information is complex. Organizational strategy can only be effective and sustainable through knowledge sharing, which underlines its importance. Knowledge sharing offers a lot of solutions to complex problems, and that is why organizations should be concerned when it’s non-existent (Garvin 2000, p. 46). In fact, knowledge should be treated as a flow instead of being treated as an object. This means that it will mostly be related to the concepts of tacit knowledge. Envisioning the future of a business can be done through effective knowledge sharing among employees who will ensure that this is enforced and owned.
Practices that might limit knowledge sharing
As much as every organization might desire to have sustainable knowledge sharing as an activity, there are other practices that might limit its ability to stimulate knowledge sharing effectively. The most notable practice that might limit this activity is organizational culture. In this case, it should be understood that every organization has its culture or way of doing things, which might be a bottleneck to the proper flow of information, especially when it comes to new employees. The culture of doing things might be limiting the ability to enhance knowledge sharing.
In such instances, an organization can change its way of doing things as far as operations are concerned for sustainable knowledge sharing. Practices of people in the organization might limit knowledge sharing in a broadway, which is understandable. In addition, dimensions of knowledge can also limit this activity because knowledge sharing is supposed to be effectively stimulated (Dalkir 2005, p. 57). An organization’s culture should be able to encourage innovation and discovery, which will remove obstacles and therefore promote knowledge sharing.
Lack of managerial direction and leadership are practices that have limited the ability of many organizations to enhance knowledge sharing. This is because knowledge sharing is supposed to be the cornerstone of an organization, meaning that it should not lack effective managerial direction in any way. As a matter of fact, the ability to adapt to the working environment as far as new employees are concerned can also limit the ability of an organization to stimulate knowledge sharing effectively. The stages of implementing knowledge management in an organization can limit knowledge sharing if they are not effectively coordinated.
In this case, the difficulty of sharing information will be seen in the transference of knowledge from a given entity to the other. Another obstacle is the practice of looking at knowledge as a property instead of looking at it as an object. This is based on the fact that many individuals are mostly rewarded for what they know instead of being rewarded for what they share (Dalkir 2005, p. 93). Because of this, isolation and resistance to ideas are likely to occur as time goes by, which is not sustainable for any organization.
How organizational culture affects knowledge sharing
Organizational culture can have an impact on the ability of an organization to share knowledge effectively in a broadway. This means that there are various aspects that relate to an organizational culture that need to be evaluated and looked at for long term sustainability. In this case, the ability to gain employee buy-in can also be affected. This means that the pace of change as far as organizational culture is concerned affects knowledge sharing.
Every organization reacts to changes in different ways, which means that information sharing when it comes to such aspects might affect its ability to gain employee buy-in (Garvin 2000, p. 66). This means that the ability of an organization to adapt to different changes is always determined by flexibility and speed. As a matter of fact, understating organizational culture can support change efforts that are initiated as far as sharing of knowledge is concerned. For success, there should be a proper assessment of culture, which will, therefore, enable people to understand how knowledge sharing is done.
It should be understood that organizational culture affects knowledge sharing through different organizational units that might be existing. Knowledge sharing revolves around different activities that are supposed to be understood in relation to the existing organizational culture. The organizational culture revolves around aspects like vision, trust, goals, and social networks, implying that they can ultimately affect employee knowledge sharing activities that are always important.
An organization can either have a culture that encourages information sharing or not, thereby determining its impact. When an organization is evaluated from a cultural point of view, it will help in designing management plans that always have an impact on knowledge sharing. Successful implementation of knowledge sharing activities depends upon various factors that revolve around people who are supposed to enact the process (Dalkir 2005, p. 85). Barriers to information and knowledge sharing can, therefore, emanate from the inability to understand the culture.
Methods that an organization can use to capture knowledge
There are different methods that an organization can use to capture knowledge, depending on what is supposed to be achieved. Management methods are avenues that can be used to capture knowledge based on different aspects. In this case, the management knows the information that is needed to move the organization forward as far as the achievement of different goals is concerned, meaning that there should be better mechanisms that will help to achieve this. The use of technology to transfer knowledge is another method that can be used to capture knowledge in a broadway. This is because technology has become the core of different organizations, which underlines its importance in relation to growth that is always desired (Dalkir 2005, p. 123). Knowledge networking is also important because it can help to capture knowledge through experience that will be gained.
Reference List
Dalkir, K. (2005). Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice. Jordan Hill, Oxford: Elsevier Inc.
Garvin, A. (2000), Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.