Knowledge Management in Action: A Study of Knowledge Management in Management Consultancies

The chapter focuses on knowledge management and on knowledge sharing in particular. It is based on a study of a wide range of management consulting firms in Denmark.The purpose of the study has been to gain a more profound understanding of what constitutes knowledge sharing in practice. What does knowledge sharing imply? What are the organizational and managerial aspects affecting knowledge sharing and how? Findings from the study demonstrate a series of critical issues related to knowledge sharing: the importance of having a knowledge strategy, the relation between the project organization, power and mobility, the role of office space, the quest for time, the problem of decontextualization in electronic databases, the need for incentives different from financial an promotional ones, the importance of trust among employees, and the necessity of top management support.
Based upon the empirical findings, we develop a knowledge sharing typology. This framework suggests that the concept of knowledge sharing includes six dimensions: knowledge storing, knowledge distribution, knowledge exposure, knowledge transfer, knowledge exchange and knowledge collectivism.