Developing an Understanding of Organisational Knowledge Creation: A Review Framework

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the dimensions of organisational knowledge creation. To this end, the literature from numerous bodies of research is reviewed. Over the past 20 years, the literature on organisational knowledge creation has significantly grown and advanced. Many new and conflicting terminologies have evolved to shed more light on the subject. As a result, there are overlaps and conflicts in the literature. The framework suggested in this paper is therefore considered to be a useful means to structure further research on the subject. This paper presents an extensive review of the organisational knowledge creation literature as well as an overview of existing empirical studies. The framework that is presented in this paper emerged from the review and maps out two dimensions of organisational knowledge creation. Although there are many other possible dimensions that could potentially be included in the framework, this study focuses on the dimensions that are believed to reflect more obvious distinctions made in the extant literature on organisational knowledge creation. Furthermore, limiting the review to only two dimensions is believed to provide more coherence.