Knowledge sharing behaviour within organisations; a diary-based study of unplanned meetings between researchers

Abstract

This paper analyses Knowledge Sharing (KS) behaviour of employees during unplanned, work-related face-to-face meetings with colleagues. Hypotheses were formulated from theory on how this behaviour relates to three categories of known KS antecedents (knowledge components, organisational distance, and network aspects). Data are obtained from detailed diaries on behaviour of 138 R&D employees of a research-based multinational company during their unplanned KS meetings with each other. Results show that such meetings show a lot of tacit KS and thus should not be overlooked in KS strategies. Also, the KS behaviour during these meetings relates significantly to several KS antecedents and for example, KS activities differ during meetings within and between teams. The data also suggest that a stronger emphasis on intentional unplanned meetings and a culture of shared responsibility for problems would yield more employee involvement and tacit KS, than simply steering on teams structure.