Knowledge sharing and its impact on organisational effectiveness
Authors
Murtagh, Marina
Issue Date
2007
Degree
MA of Business Studies
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
Items in eSource are protected by copyright. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/copyright holder.
Abstract
Intellectual capital has received significant interest in recent years. The knowledge held by individuals within an organisation has become a strategically important factor in the current business environment, not only for knowledgeable employees but for the sharing of individual tacit knowledge. This is so both can be converted into explicit organisational knowledge and thus provide the organisation with a competitive advantage. Hence, the reason for the research question of: 'Does knowledge sharing have an impact on organisational effectiveness?' In light of the research question the researcher collected data through both secondary and primary research. Academic articles and journals were consulted and both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (interviews) data collection techniques were employed. The findings concluded were that employees do share their individual knowledge which in turn increased clarity, developed new ideas and enhanced the community feeling within the organisation. Thus, the intellectual capital also improved within the organisation making it more efficient to meet government, society and stakeholder demands. The conclusion to the research illustrated that knowledge sharing does have an impact on the organisational effectiveness and that it is a positive influence. Although there are cultural and structural challenges and internal and external environment concerns to knowledge sharing it has been proven beneficial to organisational success in this dynamic environment. This particular research contributes to previous research in that it re-emphasises the external demands faced by organisations and the internal challenges the organisation needs to overcome to compete and survive in this new knowledge economy. Next, the introduction chapter will incur and provide the background to the research and the contents of the subsequent chapters of this research topic.