valuable resource for the conduct of social affairs’ (Nahapiet and Ghoshal,
1998). Social networks can be particularly important to ensure that
knowledge is shared. What is also required is another aspect of social capital,
ie trust. People will not be willing to share knowledge with those whom they
do not trust.
The culture of the company may inhibit knowledge sharing. The norm
may be for people to keep knowledge to themselves as much as they can
because ‘knowledge is power’. An open culture will encourage people to
share their ideas and knowledge.
COMPONENTS OF A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
STRATEGYA knowledge management strategy could be concerned with organizational
people management processes that help to develop an open culture in which
the values and norms emphasize the importance of sharing knowledge and
facilitate knowledge sharing through networks. It might aim to encourage
the development of communities of practice (defined by Wenger and Snyder,
2000, as ‘groups of people informally bound together by shared expertise
and a passion for joint enterprise’). The strategy could refer to methods of
motivating people to share knowledge and rewarding those who do so. The
development of processes of organizational and individual learning
including the use of seminars and symposia that will generate and assist in
disseminating knowledge could also be part of the strategy.
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