Knowledge management and innovation: networks and networking

TLDR

Knowledge management literature often emphasizes IT-driven network structures, which may constrain knowledge sharing across social communities. The study advocates a community-based knowledge management model for interactive innovation, contrasting it with the prevailing cognitive-based, IT-centric approach. The authors contrast two cases of interactive innovation, one IT-centric and one community-oriented. The IT-centric case produced many independent intranets that reinforced organizational boundaries, while the community-oriented case leveraged IT but also emphasized face‑to‑face interaction and active networking among dispersed communities, avoiding reliance on IT networks.

Abstract

Begins with a critical review of the literature on knowledge management, arguing that its focus on IT to create a network structure may limit its potential for encouraging knowledge sharing across social communities. Two cases of interactive innovation are contrasted. One focused almost entirely on using IT (intranet) for knowledge sharing, resulting in a plethora of independent intranets which reinforced existing organizational and social boundaries with electronic “fences”. In the other, while IT was used to provide a network to encourage sharing, there was also recognition of the importance of face‐to‐face interaction for sharing tacit knowledge. The emphasis was on encouraging active networking among dispersed communities, rather than relying on IT networks. Argues for a community‐based model of knowledge management for interactive innovation and contrasts this with the cognitive‐based view that underpins many IT‐led knowledge management initiatives.