Knowledge Governance and its Effects on Knowledge Mobilization
Summary
The ability of an organization to mobilize knowledge when and where it is needed is fundamental for organizational performance. When done effectively, this ability can help organizations reduce repeated mistakes, spread innovation and best practices, and avoid dedicating resources to problems that have been solved previously. To date, various organizational mechanisms to govern knowledge have been proposed and implemented, yet they have had limited and varying effects on knowledge mobilization. Thus, there is a pressing need to better understand how to govern knowledge and effect knowledge mobilization across the entire organization.
Knowledge governance is concerned with how the deployment of organizational mechanisms influences knowledge processes, i.e., the creation, retention, and sharing of knowledge. Traditionally, knowledge is governed in organizations through social and control mechanisms through the implementation of Communities of Practice (CoPs) and hierarchical reporting structures. In addition to these traditional mechanisms, this research will analyze the creation of a new form of knowledge governance - a knowledge market, where knowledge is created, priced and sold internally - within a multinational engineering organization. Thus, this research builds from institutional theory, transaction cost economics and the knowledge-based view of the firm to:
analyze the design and evolvement of an internal knowledge market
compare and contrast the governance of knowledge through internal knowledge markets and traditional Communities of Practice
analyze how different forms of governance affect knowledge mobilization
Funding
College of Engineering and Applied Science Dean’s Graduate Assistantship
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Doctoral Assistantship
Research Questions
How is an intra-firm knowledge market created?
How does an organization govern internal knowledge exchange?
How do different governance mechanisms affect knowledge mobilization?
Research Methods
A mixed-method analysis will be used to answer the three proposed questions. To answer “How does an organization create an internal knowledge market?” we will document and analyze the creation of a market through the triangulation of data collected from interviews, documents, and observations with managers and users of the knowledge market. To answer “How does an organization govern internal knowledge exchange?” we will collect, analyze, compare and contrast data obtained through interviews and surveys with both managers and users of CoPs and the knowledge market. We will transcribe the interviews and import these transcriptions, along with the collected documentation and observations, into NVivo. To answer “How do different governance mechanisms affect knowledge mobilization?” we will once again collect, analyze, compare and contrast data obtained through interviews and surveys with managers, contributors, and users of the two organizational forms. We will focus on the key constructs of: knowledge creation, renewal, and efficiency of knowledge transactions. We will also statistically compare the differences between the knowledge exchanged through CoPs and that exchanged though the knowledge market, along dimensions such as codifiability, complexity, and novelty. We will analyze whether the company governs knowledge exchanges in a discriminating way, where knowledge transactions, which differ in their characteristics (codifiability, complexity, etc.), are aligned with governance structures (CoPs versus internal market), which differ in their cost and benefits.
Findings
This research is expected to expand upon theories of intra-organizational knowledge governance. Specifically, by analyzing a new form of knowledge governance (i.e., internal knowledge markets), this research introduces market mechanisms into intra-organizational analysis. In addition, this research will create a theoretical framework for analyzing and comparing different forms of knowledge governance (e.g., centralized approaches vs. CoPs vs. internal knowledge markets) and determining the effects of these governance strategies on knowledge creation, renewal, reach within an organization.
Do boundary spanners of knowledge-based subgroup have increased individual performance?
The research team used data from the entire IT department at a large engineering organization to identify whether boundary spanners in knowledge networks are likely to have increased individual performance ratings. First, using a modularity optimization algorithm, we identified knowledge-based subgroups, subgroups that share more knowledge internally then externally. Second, to validate the performance benefits of sharing knowledge across these subgroups, we analyzed different types of boundary spanning roles to individual performance. Our results demonstrate that performance is enhanced for individuals that bridge knowledge-based subgroups. Specifically, different types of boundary spanners (itinerants (individuals who connect two unconnected individuals in one external subgroup), liaisons (individuals who connect two unconnected individuals from two different external subgroups) and gatekeepers (individuals who connect an external subgroup to their own subgroup)) were significant and positive to their performance ratings. These findings show the importance of sharing knowledge across structural holes for individual performance and help validate structural hole theory in engineering organizations. This paper is under review in the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering.
Visual Representation of the Subgroups
Evaluating network ties and positions for time benefits
Social network research has shown that network ties and positions facilitate access to valuable resources. However, little is known about the type of network ties and positions of knowledge providers that save knowledge seekers the most time on their daily tasks—does information unavailable within one’s strong, local network save the most time due to its novelty? does information