Snejina Michailova

Governing Knowledge Sharing in Organizations: Levels of Analysis, Governance Mechanisms, and Research Directions

We discuss and examine recent claims that research on knowledge processes has paid insufficient attention to micro (individual) level constructs and mechanisms and to the role of formal organization in governing knowledge processes. We review knowledge sharing research published in 13 (top academic plus top practitioner-oriented) journals in the period 1996–2006 in relation to these two propositions. The review confirms the claim that the knowledge sharing literature is preoccupied with constructs, processes, and phenomena defined at a macro (collective, organizational) level and pay comparatively little attention to micro level constructs. The review provides less support for the proposition that formal governance mechanisms have been under-researched in comparison to formal organization. Still, the multiple ways in which formal governance mechanisms may interact in influencing knowledge sharing outcomes have been under-researched, as has the interaction between more informal aspects of the firm and formal governance mechanisms. We argue that future research on knowledge sharing needs to fill these gaps.

Knowledge-Sharing Hostility in Russian Firms

This article examines knowledge sharing in business environments and cultures that are hostile to knowledge sharing, focusing on knowledge sharing as it relates to individual behavior. Knowledge hoarding, apprehension about failures, and the Not-Invented-Here syndrome are examined, drawing on the examples of six Russian companies, including three with Western ownership. In knowledge-sharing hostile environments it is inadequate to apply traditional means for managing knowledge-sharing processes. Instead of encouraging, stimulating, and aligning incentives, managers need to initially force knowledge sharing in order to transform their organizations into knowledge-embracing cultures. Concrete guidelines for overcoming the barriers to knowledge sharing are outlined.

National Cultural Influences on Knowledge Sharing: A Comparison of China and Russia

This paper presents a set of theoretical propositions regarding knowledge sharing in China and Russia. We argue that there are important national cultural similarities and differences between the two countries that result in certain similarities and differences in individual knowledge-sharing behaviour in Chinese and Russian organizations. We claim that vertical collectivism and particularistic social relations in China and Russia lead to intensive social relations among organizational members, which facilitate knowledge sharing between in-group members in organizations in both countries. We also maintain that differences in the essence of collectivism as well as in the extent of collectivism in the two cultural contexts lead to different intensities of knowledge sharing in Chinese and Russian organizations. Finally, we discuss theoretical and management implications of this research.

Blockbusters or Bridge-Builders? The Role of Western Trainers in Developing New Entrepreneurialism in Eastern Europe

Since the start of the transformation in Eastern Europe in late 1989, there has been a marked increase in training programmes and activities designed to modernize human capital in the region. Many of the initiatives are financed by the EU or other western sources and led by western training providers. This article deals with classroom training activities as a particular mechanism for developmental activity for post-socialist managers. Its empirical basis is a four-year training project that took place in Bulgaria from 1992 to 1996. The educators and trainers were from various EU countries while the trainees were Bulgarian middle and top-level managers from private and state-owned organizations. The article commences by considering why the western commitment to experiential learning appears to be compromised when trainers travel East, and relates this to broader issues of knowledge creation, ownership and transfer. As a prelude to describing the training programme itself we provide a brief insight into Bulgarian culture and then reveal trainee perceptions as to the value of the training initiative. We conclude by suggesting that if such training is to be meaningful to audiences in the post-command economies the principles of experiential learning need to be both reasserted and modified.

Knowledge transfer between Russian and Western firms: Whose absorptive capacity is in question?

Purpose – This paper seeks to challenge some assumptions that have long existed in the international business and knowledge management literature about knowledge transfer between Western and Russian firms. It aims to open a debate among scholars and practitioners in these fields on issues related to knowledge transfer in this context.Design/methodology/approach – The paper offers a critical analysis of issues regarding knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity in the context of business interactions between Russian and Western firms.Findings – The paper argues that in the later stages of post‐Socialist transition it is no longer valid to attach rigidly the roles, respectively, of sole receiver to Russian and sole transmitter to Western firms. Further, the paper questions the view that problems in the knowledge transfer process are mainly attributable to the lack of absorptive capacity in Russian firms. As post‐Socialist transition has advanced, this is no longer the typical case. While Russian firms have...

Knowledge Sharing in Consulting Companies: Opportunities and Limitations of Knowledge Codification

This paper is a study of the knowledge-sharing difficulties experienced by three departments in a knowledge-intensive firm. The case organisation is a global consulting firm that has been on the forefront of knowledge management and has won several knowledge management related international acclaims. Our analysis shows that there are strong disincentives in place for departments to share knowledge. We found that the nature of the businesses of the departments was very different and so were their knowledge requirements and their preferred ways to seek knowledge. Additionally, confidentiality agreements with clients and lack of cross-departmental interaction inhibited knowledge sharing outside departmental boundaries. Contrary to the common belief in the organisation, we found that one single IT system could not satisfy the context-specific knowledge-sharing needs of the different departments. We suggest that some very recent breakthrough technologies could be applied to facilitate cross-departmental knowledge sharing provided they are implemented at the strategic organisational level.

Russia: as solid as a BRIC?

Purpose – This introductory paper aims to outline the reasons for optimism as well as for skepticism in regard to Russias position in the group of BRIC nations and in the global economy.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a brief overview of developments in Russia. This discussion serves as a contextual introduction to this special issue by embracing some of the common themes elaborated in the other papers that are featured in the issue.Findings – The paper takes a balanced perspective by discussing both positive and negative trends in Russias development.Originality/value – The paper sets the context in which the other papers that comprise this special issue can be situated.

From group-based work to organisational learning: the role of communication forms and knowledge sharing

This paper examines the role of group-based work as a knowledge sharing mechanism in fostering organisational learning. Relying on insights from communication research, the paper develops a set of propositions highlighting the role of communication forms in mediating the effect of group-based work on knowledge sharing. Our view on group-based work is grounded in the philosophical perspective on organisational learning as occurring through interaction. This perspective emphasises the role of communication as the foundational basis for knowledge sharing and learning. Group-based work structures communication and creates conditions for sharing knowledge among organisational members. Drawing on cultural psychology research that reveals that people from different cultures have different cognitive styles and, thus, process and interpret information differently, the paper proposes a link between cognitive styles and preferences for different communication forms. It suggests that effectiveness of knowledge sharing in group-based work depends on whether the latter supports culturally preferred communication forms.

Western management training in Eastern Europe: trends and developments over a decade

This paper tracks changes in design and implementation of Western management training interventions in Eastern Europe (EE) over a period of more than a decade. The study is based empirically on three management development programmes conducted by Westerners in the transitional environments of Bulgaria and Russia from 1992 to 2003. Departing from existing literature on knowledge transfer from Western to EE, activity theory is used to identify a process of reconfiguring the zone of proximal development of East European (also abbreviated EE in the article) participants and conclude that there is a growing desire and assertiveness on the part of local participants to formulate their own strategic and managerial repertoires. At the same time, it is also observed that as a product of Western ideology of the transitional process, there has been empowerment of socio-demographic groupings who demonstrate consonant ideological inclinations towards Western managerial discourse, most notably young, educated and English proficient individuals.

MNCs and knowledge management: a typology and key features

Purpose – In the literature there is inherent lack of process-oriented, evolutionary perspectives of organizational knowledge as it pertains to international business. To fill this gap, the aim of this paper is to draw on existing theories of the multinational corporation (MNC) and integrate it with knowledge management research to analyze key knowledge management features and dynamics of different types of MNCs. The paper aims at proposing a link between types of MNCs and knowledge management strategies applied by MNCs. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a series of examples from MNCs worldwide to propose a knowledge management based typology of MNCs and to illustrate how they exhibit different strategic dynamics related to knowledge management. Findings – An important stream of literature on MNCs distinguishes between two traditional models for established MNCs, originally described as ethnocentric and polycentric models. A common theme in these studies propose that dramatic changes in the competitive environment has reduced the effectiveness of traditional MNC approaches, highlighting the need to move toward network-based structures. Building on the evolutionary perspective of MNCs, the paper suggests a third type of MNC characterized by a virtual infrastructure based on an e-business model. The paper argues that this type may be more appropriate for organizing managerial activities across organizational and national boundaries in the new web-based knowledge economy. Practical implications – The paper suggests that whereas traditional MNCs invite for management interventions based on centralized economies of information, it makes more sense to manage networked MNCs as integrated learning organizations and e-business based MNCs as boundary-less virtual communities of practice. Originality/value – The paper develops a new typology of multinational corporations based on key features and dynamics related to knowledge management. The paper distinguishes between traditional MNCs, knowledge networks and MNCs as e-businesses. It particularly addresses strategic, technical, organizational and human dimensions of knowledge management and how these differ in the three MNC models.