Collaboration in a distributed information technology organization

Abstract

The purpose of this doctoral thesis project was to explore how senior information technology leaders describe collaborative knowledge sharing practices in a distributed information technology system within a large public higher education institution in the Northeast. The following research question was explored: How do senior information technology leaders describe their collaborative knowledge sharing practices? A qualitative case study methodology was used, and the chosen study site was a distributed information technology organizations community of practice, the Information Technology Leadership Council (ITLC). The theoretical framework for this study was the 4I framework by Crossan, Lane, and White (1999); of particular interest in this research was the movement of knowledge between the individual and group levels.