TY - JOUR
T1 - Why organizations fail to share knowledge: An empirical investigation and opportunities for improvement
AU - Israilidis, John
AU - Siachou, Lia
AU - KELLY, STEPHEN
PY - 2020/9/24
Y1 - 2020/9/24
N2 - Purpose: This paper explores critical failure factors (CFFs) in the context of knowledge sharing. It provides further insights into what can cause knowledge- sharing failures, inflexible knowledge-sharing strategies and ineffective knowledge- sharing mechanisms. It also examines how practitioners can reduce or even mitigate such dysfunctions. Design/methodology/approach: A case-based inductive approach was conducted. Data were collected from two studies applying mixed methods. The first data set included nine in-depth, semi-structured interviews with highly skilled personnel from an aerospace and defense organization. The second data source included 375 successfully completed questionnaires from participants employed at the same organization. Findings: The paper identifies six CFFs with an impact on knowledge sharing. It also reveals that managing organizational ignorance can play a key role in generating new knowledge and averting failure. Study findings provide insights into the importance of identifying these failures when sharing knowledge and propose relevant mitigation strategies. Originality/value: This paper identifies a range of empirically validated CFFs that complement the extant work on the complexity of knowledge sharing and have hitherto not been seen in the literature. It also provides a more nuanced understanding of why both organizations and their people often fail to share knowledge by exploring the role of organizational ignorance.
AB - Purpose: This paper explores critical failure factors (CFFs) in the context of knowledge sharing. It provides further insights into what can cause knowledge- sharing failures, inflexible knowledge-sharing strategies and ineffective knowledge- sharing mechanisms. It also examines how practitioners can reduce or even mitigate such dysfunctions. Design/methodology/approach: A case-based inductive approach was conducted. Data were collected from two studies applying mixed methods. The first data set included nine in-depth, semi-structured interviews with highly skilled personnel from an aerospace and defense organization. The second data source included 375 successfully completed questionnaires from participants employed at the same organization. Findings: The paper identifies six CFFs with an impact on knowledge sharing. It also reveals that managing organizational ignorance can play a key role in generating new knowledge and averting failure. Study findings provide insights into the importance of identifying these failures when sharing knowledge and propose relevant mitigation strategies. Originality/value: This paper identifies a range of empirically validated CFFs that complement the extant work on the complexity of knowledge sharing and have hitherto not been seen in the literature. It also provides a more nuanced understanding of why both organizations and their people often fail to share knowledge by exploring the role of organizational ignorance.
KW - Aerospace and defense industry
KW - Critical failure factors (CFFs)
KW - Knowledge sharing
KW - Mixed methods
KW - Organizational ignorance
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/8f750713-e772-3fc6-9c61-06adac1887d8/
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091306555&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85091306555&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/ITP-02-2019-0058
DO - 10.1108/ITP-02-2019-0058
M3 - Article (journal)
SN - 0959-3845
SP - 1
JO - Information Technology and People
JF - Information Technology and People
ER -