Knowledge sharing through virtual teams across borders and boundaries

Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 26, Issue 2

Kauppila O.-P., Rajala R and Jyrämä A.Management Learning, September 2011, Vol. 42 No. 4, Start page: 395, No. of pages: 24

This study focuses on a challenge faced by multinational corporations: how to enhance knowledge sharing across geographical and functional boundaries given the multifaceted nature of knowledge. The article demonstrates how a multinational company can create the means and spaces necessary to achieve effective knowledge sharing and learning by highlighting a viable information system that supports social networking. It also offers a virtual team structure that draws upon and strengthens employees’ social ties, which can boost organization-wide management of fine-grained knowledge. This combined approach mitigates the negative effects of physical and organizational distance on the availability of support and information. The present study contributes to organizational learning and knowledge-sharing discussions by shedding light on how virtual teams that function as knowledge activists can enhance internal knowledge sharing in globally dispersed organizations.Article type: Research paperISSN: 1350-5076Reference: 40AS132

Keywords: Case studies, Knowledge activists, Knowledge sharing, Multinational company, Virtual teams