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Table of contents
1. Communication rules and processes of knowledge-sharing in a high technology organization..................

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Document 1 of 1

Communication rules and processes of knowledge-sharing in a high technology organization

Author: Nino, David
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Abstract: Scholars and practitioners of knowledge management have recently expressed a growing interest in
understanding how cultures in organizations relate to patterns of knowledge sharing among individuals. The
present study examines this issue. Based on a communication rules approach to culture, a framework is
advanced for explaining and understanding how rules enable or constrain the ways in which knowledge is
shared in a high technology organization. Data were gathered using multiple methods, including 6 months of
participant observation, informal interviews, 58 semi-structured interviews, and various sources of archival
information. Based on analyses using grounded theory procedures, three sets of findings are reported. The first
set of findings advance a process model of knowledge sharing that organizes and explains the communication
rules explicated in the analyses. This process model includes: (a) a search phase, constituted by rules about
searching for knowledge; (b) an engage phase, constituted by rules about engaging people's time and attention;
and (c) an exchange phase, constituted by rules about exchanging questions and answers. A descriptive
overview of this model is presented. I also advance the concept of meta-rules to help explain how organizational
rules relate to the overall functioning of the knowledge sharing process. Social exchange and practice theories
are used to enrich our understanding of these rules. The second and third set of findings reported in the present
study elaborate two propositions consistent with an attention-based view of the firm. These discussions theorize
about how rules in organizations (1) distribute the focus of attention among individuals by directing patterns of
knowledge sharing interactions and (2) generate value criteria that are used to evaluate the relevance of
interpersonally communicated knowledge. Overall, this study provides a rule-based framework for explaining
the social environment of knowledge sharing in organizations and how individuals relate to this environment.
Subject: Management; Communication; High tech industries; Information sharing; Studies;
Classification: 0454: Management; 0459: Communication
Publication title: ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
Pages: 186 p.
Number of pages: 186
Publication year: 2002
Publication date: 2002
Section: 0227
Publisher: ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing
Place of publication: Ann Arbor
Country of publication: United States
Advisor: Westphal, James D, Browning, Larry D
School: The University of Texas at Austin
School location: United States -- Texas
Degree: Ph.D.

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Source type: Dissertations & Theses

Language of publication: English; EN
Document type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication / order number: 3110667
ProQuest document ID: 305518887
Document URL: http://search.proquest.com/docview/305518887?accountid=50247
Copyright: Copyright UMI - Dissertations Publishing 2002
Last updated: 2014-01-21
Database: ProQuest Central

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