Sharing knowledge through a knowledge management system: The relative effectiveness of formal control and organizational support

Knowledge is a resource in organizations that has the ability to provide a competitive advantage that is difficult for other organizations to imitate because knowledge resources are generally unique to the originating organization. Recently, organizations have taken steps to better utilize this resource within their own organizations. These steps have often manifested themselves as the development of organizational Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs). KMSs are automated systems that have the intent of capturing and disseminating knowledge that exists in the organization throughout the organization. However, a problem with the utilization of this resource is getting individuals within the organization to share their knowledge through the KMS.; This thesis compares and contrasts the effects of a measure named Supervisory Control (based in Economic literature) to a measure named Organizational Support (based in the Sociological literature) and explores the differing effects on two separate dependent measures of sharing knowledge through a KMS, (1) frequency of contributions to the system and (2) effort that an individual is willing to exert to share organizationally efficacious knowledge through the system. The thesis posits that there will be a stronger relationship between supervisory control and frequency of contributions because these measures are more tangible and quantifiable in organizations. Contrastingly, this thesis posits that there will be a stronger relationship between organizational support and effort to contribute organizationally efficacious knowledge because both of these measures are more generalizable and difficult for management to accurately assess.; The data for the study were collected through a field study in an organization that has been utilizing a KMS for over five years. The results of the data analysis revealed that the supervisory control measure had the most significant impact on frequencies of contributions, which was expected. However, supervisory control also had the greatest impact on effort to contribute organizationally efficacious knowledge to the system, which was not expected. This result provides empirical evidence that supervisory control can impact knowledge sharing when it is measured as both a tangible frequency and a less than tangible effort to contribute organizationally efficacious knowledge.