Sharing knowledge

Knowledge management systems (KMS) have taken on a prominent role in both information systems research and practice. Such systems promise the potential for contributing to an organization's strategic advantage by unlocking knowledge heretofore housed only in the minds of certain organizational members. This potential has led to a rapid increase in the volume and types of systems for sharing knowledge. Recently, many issues and strategies relevant to KMS have been identified.\ud \ud Sharing knowledge throughout an organization has intuitive appeal. If organizational members share valuable information freely with other members, the organization's responsiveness and effectiveness can be greatly augmented by preventing those members from having to repeatedly solve the same problems. In an environment of organizational sharing, a KMS can readily save time and money for both providers and users of knowledge. For example, more than a decade ago Microsoft created its "Knowledge Base" (KB), which was the first place employees checked when a software problem surfaced. Microsoft's decision to move the KB to a customer-focused extranet is ample testimony to its usefulness; now customers query the system without having to contact a fee-based support center, saving customers the fees and/or call, and saving Microsoft from having to build, staff, and manage a response center.\ud \ud Because a KMS requires individuals to share their knowledge, success is not guaranteed; several factors can interact to hinder knowledge sharing. One significant problem is that individuals often gain considerable power when they hold unique knowledge, especially when it is perceived to be of high value. They are sometimes hesitant to give up their competitive advantage by sharing it. Therefore, KMS adoption and use might require substantial encouragement by management (prompting), intense loyalty to the firm (group identification), or perhaps even simply personal values that support sharing (social value orientation)