Out of sight, out of mind? A study about how individuals perceive online knowledge sharing without physical proximity and informal encounters.
(2020) BUSN49 20201Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- Background: Knowledge sharing within an organization is one of the main focuses of the knowledge management research field. In today’s globally dispersed business units, and multinational corporations (MNCs), information and communication technology (ICT) tools play an essential role in facilitating knowledge sharing. Previous research has argued the vital role informal contexts as well as physical proximity play in building relational proximity and enabling tacit knowledge sharing. However, recently, and due to the coronavirus, sharing knowledge within organizations is becoming challenging as meeting coworkers in person becomes an exception rather than the normal.
Aim: The aim of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of how... (More) - Background: Knowledge sharing within an organization is one of the main focuses of the knowledge management research field. In today’s globally dispersed business units, and multinational corporations (MNCs), information and communication technology (ICT) tools play an essential role in facilitating knowledge sharing. Previous research has argued the vital role informal contexts as well as physical proximity play in building relational proximity and enabling tacit knowledge sharing. However, recently, and due to the coronavirus, sharing knowledge within organizations is becoming challenging as meeting coworkers in person becomes an exception rather than the normal.
Aim: The aim of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of how individuals perceive tacit knowledge sharing in an online context and the impact of ICT tools and physical proximity, in relation to the lack of informal context on the process of knowledge sharing.
Method: A qualitative case study following an interpretive and critical approach to build on individuals' perception of knowledge sharing. An abductive approach is utilized which allows us to move between inductive and deductive approaches. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted online, in addition to one introductory interview at our research site IKEA Food located in central Malmö.
Contributions: This thesis contributes to the existing literature by illustrating individuals’ perceptions of online knowledge sharing. The aspect of informal interactions is found to be a prerequisite for tacit knowledge sharing and is not facilitated through ICT tools despite the high contextual quality provided by available tools. Establishing relational proximity via ICT tools have been shown to be time-consuming and challenging. Moreover, we contribute by shedding light on the importance of acknowledging the informal aspect with close physical proximity when setting strategies for managing tacit knowledge. Our empirical data proves that ICT tools do not fully replace social interactions and the informal aspect of tacit knowledge sharing that usually takes place in an office setting. Hence, we encourage organizations to bring the notion of informal encounters to the frontline when discussing online knowledge sharing and taking into consideration the learnings from the current situation with the coronavirus. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9024589
- author
- Drak Alsebai, Lara LU and Ekelund, Frida LU
- supervisor
-
- Anna Jonsson LU
- organization
- course
- BUSN49 20201
- year
- 2020
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Knowledge, Online Knowledge Sharing, Physical Proximity, Relational Proximity, Informal Encounters, IKEA Food.
- language
- English
- id
- 9024589
- date added to LUP
- 2020-09-01 14:59:41
- date last changed
- 2020-09-01 14:59:41
@misc{9024589,
abstract = {{Background: Knowledge sharing within an organization is one of the main focuses of the knowledge management research field. In today’s globally dispersed business units, and multinational corporations (MNCs), information and communication technology (ICT) tools play an essential role in facilitating knowledge sharing. Previous research has argued the vital role informal contexts as well as physical proximity play in building relational proximity and enabling tacit knowledge sharing. However, recently, and due to the coronavirus, sharing knowledge within organizations is becoming challenging as meeting coworkers in person becomes an exception rather than the normal.
Aim: The aim of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of how individuals perceive tacit knowledge sharing in an online context and the impact of ICT tools and physical proximity, in relation to the lack of informal context on the process of knowledge sharing.
Method: A qualitative case study following an interpretive and critical approach to build on individuals' perception of knowledge sharing. An abductive approach is utilized which allows us to move between inductive and deductive approaches. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted online, in addition to one introductory interview at our research site IKEA Food located in central Malmö.
Contributions: This thesis contributes to the existing literature by illustrating individuals’ perceptions of online knowledge sharing. The aspect of informal interactions is found to be a prerequisite for tacit knowledge sharing and is not facilitated through ICT tools despite the high contextual quality provided by available tools. Establishing relational proximity via ICT tools have been shown to be time-consuming and challenging. Moreover, we contribute by shedding light on the importance of acknowledging the informal aspect with close physical proximity when setting strategies for managing tacit knowledge. Our empirical data proves that ICT tools do not fully replace social interactions and the informal aspect of tacit knowledge sharing that usually takes place in an office setting. Hence, we encourage organizations to bring the notion of informal encounters to the frontline when discussing online knowledge sharing and taking into consideration the learnings from the current situation with the coronavirus.}},
author = {{Drak Alsebai, Lara and Ekelund, Frida}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Out of sight, out of mind? A study about how individuals perceive online knowledge sharing without physical proximity and informal encounters.}},
year = {{2020}},
}