| Knowledge management thinking has resulted in the perception that the organization is the relevant beneficiary of knowledge. Individual approaches to and experiences with personal knowledge management are not well documented in empirical studies, which uncovered the specific problem that the situatedness of knowledge worker contemporaries within the context of organizational culture is unknown. The discovery of the organizational perception that the relevant beneficiary of knowledge was not the knowledge producer, and that the experience of personal knowledge management was not understood, led to the purpose of this current research study. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of knowledge worker contemporaries from the LinkedIn network community pertaining to four sociological forms of capital: (a) economic, (b) cultural, (c) social, and (d) symbolic. Data suggested an interconnectedness of knowledge worker experiences across the four sociological forms of capital, which helped to answer the research questions. Four themes emerged from this current research study: (a) stay current, (b) access to people, (c) knowledge sharing, and (d) situational knowledge. These overarching themes encompassed activities in which the participants communicated as important to gain a commoditizing difference and involved the tenets of symbolic capital theory. No overwhelming indications distinguished generational differences as a factor for engagement in personal knowledge management activities, which supported current academic generational research. The comprehensive knowledge gained through this current research study allows leaders to consider factors that drive personal knowledge management to improve organizational opportunities, support personal knowledge management activities, assist knowledge workers to attain leadership qualities, and understand knowledge worker commoditizing differences.;Keywords: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Sharing, Symbolic Capital, Generations, Personal Knowledge Management. |
