Knowledge Sharing, Conversations And Relationships

Worth reading. I've always called the content-centric approach to KM the "supply-side theory" and I'm not a fan of it. It has value, but I much prefer to recommend people place more emphasis on the the informal, conversational, narrative and story-telling aspects of KM. This aspect of KM is especially true in the analyst business. I find that I gain an extraordinary amount of additional insight through participation rather than browsing through information in some document library. 

Good article by Martine Haas (Wharton management professor) and Morten Hansen (professor of entrepreneurship at INSEAD).

We find that using codified knowledge in the form of electronic documents saved time during the task, but did not improve work quality or signal competence to clients, whereas in contrast, sharing personal advice improved work quality and signaled competence, but did not save time," Haas says. "This is interesting because managers often believe that capturing and sharing knowledge via document databases can substitute for getting personal advice, and that sharing advice through personal networks can save time. But our findings dispute the claim that different types of knowledge are substitutes for each other. Instead, we show that appropriately matching the type of knowledge used to the requirements of the task at hand -- quality, signaling or speed -- is critical if a firm's knowledge capabilities are to translate into improved performance of its projects."

Does Knowledge Sharing Deliver on Its Promises? - Knowledge@Wharton