Knowledge sharing in inter-unit cooperative episodes: The impact of organizational structure dimensions

  • Authors:

  • Annick Willem;Marc Buelens

  • Affiliations:

  • Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Tweekerkenstraat 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium;Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Tweekerkenstraat 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium and Vlerick Leuven Ghent Management School, Reep 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

  • Venue:
  • International Journal of Information Management: The Journal for Information Professionals
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

We study how classic organizational structure dimensions should be altered to be more adapted to organizational knowledge sharing. In particular, we look at the dimensions: coordination, centralization, formalization, and specialization, in their relationship to the concept of knowledge sharing. Empirical data was collected by means of a questionnaire in two companies. Our findings indicated that expected relationships, such as the negative effect of centralization or the positive effect of lower formalization, were not found. Interdependency and knowledge complexity, caused by specialization, had an important interacting effect on the relationship between coordination and knowledge sharing. A comparison between the two companies revealed that the organization-specific context in which the coordination is applied influences the potential of this coordination for knowledge sharing.