Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Knowledge Utilization in Organizations

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

Synonyms

Employee motivation; Explicit knowledge; Knowledge application; Knowledge creation; Knowledge management; Knowledge sharing; Tacit knowledge

Definitions

  • Knowledge in the workplace is commonly referred to as the know-whats, know-hows, and know-whys for performing tasks (Brown and Duguid 1998; Kogut and Zander 1992).

  • A knowledge management system refers to “a systemic and organizationally specified process for acquiring, organizing, and communicating both tacit and explicit knowledge of employees so that other employees may make use of it to be more effective and productive in their work” (Alavi and Leidner 1999, p. 6).

  • Knowledge mobilization refers to the dissemination of knowledge from the source of acquisition or creation to the rest of the organization.

  • Causal ambiguity is defined as the basic ambiguity arising from the nature of the causal connections between actions and results (Lippman and Rumelt 1982).

  • Explicit knowledge refers to knowledge that can be easily codified,...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adler PS (2001) Market, hierarchy, and trust: the knowledge economy and the future of capitalism. Organ Sci 12(2):215–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alavi M, Leidner DE (1999) Knowledge management systems: issues, challenges, and benefits. Commun AIS 1(1) Article 7

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvesson M, Karreman D (2001) Odd couple: making sense of the curious concept of knowledge management. J Manag Stud 38(7):995–1018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Argote L, McEvily B, Reagans R (2003) Managing knowledge in organizations: an integrative framework and review of emerging themes. Manag Sci 49(4):571–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bock G-W, Kim Y-G (2002) Breaking the myths of rewards: an exploratory study of attitudes about knowledge sharing. Inf Res Manag J 15(2):14–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Briscoe F (2007) From iron cage to iron shield? How bureaucracy enables temporal flexibility for professional service workers. Organ Sci 18(2):297–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown JS, Duguid P (1998) Organizing knowledge. Calif Manage Rev 40:90–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chai K-H, Nebus J (2012) Personalization or codification? A marketing perspective on optimize knowledge reuse efficiency. IEEE Trans Eng Manag 59(1):33–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chia R (2003) From knowledge-creation to the perfecting of action: Tao, Basho, and pure experience as the ultimate ground of knowing. Hum Relat 56:953–981

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen WM, Levinthal DA (1990) Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. Adm Sci Q 35:128–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins H (2007) Bicycling on the moon: collective tacit knowledge and somatic-limit tacit knowledge. Organ Stud 28(2):257–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connelly CE, Zweig D, Webster J, Trougakos JP (2012) Knowledge hiding in organizations. J Organ Behav 33:64–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Eredita MA, Barreto C (2006) How does tacit knowledge proliferate? An episode-based perspective. Organ Stud 27(12):1821–1841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daft RL, Lengel RH (1986) Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Manag Sci 32(5):554–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci EL, Ryan RM (1985) Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fisbein MA, Ajzen I (1975) Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: an introduction to theory and research. Addison Wesley: Reading, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Foss NJ (2007) The emerging knowledge governance approach: challenges and characteristics. Organization 14(1):29–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foss NJ, Husted K, Michailova S (2010) Governing knowledge sharing in organizations: levels of analysis, governance mechanisms, and research directions. J Manag Stud 47(3):455–482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta AK, Govindarajan V (2000) Knowledge flows within multinational corporations. Strat Manag J 21:473–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen MT, Nohria N, Tierney T (1999) What’s your strategy for managing knowledge. Harv Bus Rev 77(2):106–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Hung S-Y, Durcikova A, Lai H-M, Lin W-M (2011) The influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on individuals’ knowledge sharing behavior. Int J Hum Comput Stud 69:415–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Husted K, Michailova S (2002) Diagnosing and fighting knowledge-sharing hostility. Organ Dyn 31(1):60–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joia LA, Lemos B (2010) Relevant factors for tacit knowledge transfer within organizations. J Knowl Manag 14(3):410–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamoche K (2006) Managing people in turbulent economic times: a knowledge-creation and appropriation perspective. Asia Pac J Hum Resour 44(1):25–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang S, Morris SS, Snell SA (2007) Relational archetypes, organizational learning, and value creation: extending the human resource archetype. Acad Manage Rev 32(1):236–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kankanhalli A, Tan BCY, Wei KK (2005) Contributing knowledge to electronic knowledge repositories: an empirical investigation. Manag Inf Syst Q 29(1):113–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Kogut B, Zander U (1992) Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organ Sci 3:383–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippman SA, Rumelt RP (1982) Uncertain imitability: an analysis of interfirm differences and efficiency under competition. Bell J Econ 13:418–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lord MD, Ranft AL (2000) Organizational learning about new international markets: exploring the internal transfer of local market knowledge. J Int Bus Stud 31(4):573–589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin-Perez V, Martin-Cruz N, Estrada-Vaquero I (2012) The influence of organizational design on knowledge transfer. J Knowl Manag 16(3):418–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malott RW (2005) Notes from an introspective behaviorist: achieving the positive life through negative reinforcement. J Organ Behav Manag 24(1–2):75–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Nahapiet J, Ghoshal S (1998) Social capital, intellectual capital and the organizational advantage. Acad Manage Rev 23(2):242–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Nonaka I, Konno N (1998) The concept of ‘ba’: building a foundation for knowledge creation. Calif Manage Rev 40:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nonaka I, Takeuchi H (1995) The knowledge creating company. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Osterloh M, Frey BS (2000) Motivation, knowledge transfer, and organizational forms. Organ Sci 11(5):538–550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peltokorpi V, Nonaka I, Kodama M (2007) NTT DoCoMo’s launch of I-Mode in the Japanese mobile phone market: a knowledge creation perspective. J Manag Stud 44(1):50–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi M (1967) The tacit dimension. Anchor Books: New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan RM, Deci EL (2000) Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: classic definitions and new directions. Contemp Educ Psychol 25:54–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon C, Weaver W (1963) The mathematical theory of communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana

    Google Scholar 

  • Simonin BL (1999) Ambiguity and the process of knowledge transfer in strategic alliances. Strat Manag J 20:595–623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simonin BL (2004) An empirical investigation of the process of knowledge transfer in international strategic alliances. J Int Bus Stud 35:407–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szulanski G (1996) Exploring internal stickiness: impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm. Strat Manag J 17(Special Issue):27–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang F, Mu J, MacLachlan DL (2010) Disseminative capacity, organizational structure and knowledge transfer. Expert Syst Appl 37:1586–1593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner KL, Makhija MV (2006) The role of organizational controls in managing knowledge. Acad Manage Rev 31(1):197–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Wijk R, Jansen JJP, Lyles MA (2008) Inter- and intra-organizational knowledge transfer: a meta-analytic review of assessment of its antecedents and consequences. J Manag Stud 45(4):830–853

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasudeva G, Anand J (2011) Unpacking absorptive capacity: a study of knowledge utilization from alliance portfolios. Acad Manage J 54(3):611–623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkesmann U, Wilkesmann M, Virgillito A (2009) The absence of cooperation is not necessarily defection: structural and motivational constraints of knowledge transfer in a social dilemma situation. Organ Stud 30(10):1141–1164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zander U, Kogut B (1995) Knowledge and the speed of the transfer and imitation of organizational capabilities: an empirical test. Organ Sci 6(1):76–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Kuok Kei Law

  2. Department of Management, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, China

    Andrew Chan

Authors
  1. Kuok Kei Law
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andrew Chan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Kuok Kei Law or Andrew Chan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Law, K.K., Chan, A. (2016). Knowledge Utilization in Organizations. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_152-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_152-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation