Fiske‘s Relational Models Theory, the centerpiece of this dissertation, was originally invented not to describe knowledge sharing, but generally, human relationships.
Nevertheless, later a few researchers hypothesized that it could also be applied to knowledge sharing, since knowledge sharing is a human relation after all.
The author strongly believes that knowledge sharing on all levels, from small organizations to global networks, has an immense potential to improve human conditions. The above mentioned technical hype has passed and some of the main questions about knowledge remained unanswered. The author is inspired about the idea of applying Fiske‘s very powerful theory to knowledge sharing and thus enabling further developments in this field.
There have been attempts (Boer & Berends 2003, Bij et al. 2003) to show how Fiske‘s theory describes knowledge sharing, but these research projects focused on research and government organizations. The results were positive, and the theory proved to be applicable, but the question remained open, whether the theory is generally applicable for knowledge sharing.
Recent research in this field has been conducted by Boer & Berends (2003) who examined an industrial research group. The last sentence of their article cites very comparable research performed by Bij et al. (2003): ―They may have gotten a different result when, for example, consultancy firms were studied.‖ Fiske‘s theory and the above findings form the basis of this dissertation, but the goals (G) and hypotheses (H) of this research project reach beyond what these findings implied and cover the following:
G1: Prove the validity of Fiske‘s theory for a consulting firm and an online community
H1: Fiske‘s relational theory describes the knowledge sharing mechanisms in a consulting firm (called Intenzz SAP Consulting Group).
H2: Fiske‘s relational theory describes the knowledge sharing mechanisms in an online community (called SAP Community Network).
G2: Investigate the knowledge sharing practices within Intenzz SAP Consulting Group
H3: Since Intenzz SAP Consulting Group is a knowledge-intensive consulting company, the Community Sharing model dominates its internal knowledge sharing practices. (More than 50% of the motivation in the internal processes apply the Communal Sharing model.)
G3: Create practical guidelines for managing the knowledge sharing patterns within Intenzz SAP Consulting Group
Consequently, this research enhances current thinking in this field for the following reasons.
It adopts an interdisciplinary approach. In order to better understand knowledge sharing and support management science, it reaches out to psychology and anthropology. A theory, the Relational Models Theory (Fiske 1991), which originally described the behavior of people in the Moose culture in Burkina Faso was generalized by Fiske (1991), then adopted to knowledge sharing. This adoption provides insight into the motivational aspects of knowledge sharing, which are of paramount importance. Many organizations have invested significant sums in KM solutions, but these initiatives have stagnated. If the motivation for knowledge sharing is not clear (and clearly managed), then employees simply do not start contributing. (McCarthy & Sasse & Riegelsberger 2002). The Relational Models Theory (Fiske 1991) can be utilized to explain these crucial motivational aspects. It was already used by Boer & Berends (2003) to investigate research and governmental organizations, but this research proves the applicability of this theory to a consulting firm and an online community, which are significantly different organizations in terms of industry, size, and knowledge sharing. Furthermore, it introduced so-called knowledge sharing patterns as extensions of the original Relational Models Theory.
Beyond reaching theoretical conclusions, this research has created recommendations and guidelines for knowledge management practitioners. Whether a consulting firm or an online community, there is a great degree of uncertainty about how to enable knowledge sharing. The recommendations and guidelines created in this project are very valuable and can be utilized in practice.
The various theories regarding motivation for knowledge sharing have not reached consensus yet. This research hopes to move the attention of future research in the direction of the Relational Models Theory (Fiske 1991). This project looks at a consulting firm and an online community, but there is another growing phenomenon in the Internet which warrants separate research: the motivation for knowledge sharing in the Open Source movement. This conclusion of the dissertation opens new directions for further research.
Since this PhD project was partially coached by the University of West Hungary and the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, the author hopes that this work will spur cross-fertilization between these two universities for the benefit of both and could bring beneficial consequences beyond the scope of this project.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
As earlier mentioned, the key question regarding knowledge sharing is why does knowledge sharing take place. In order to elaborate on this question, this chapter will first introduce the main relevant concepts such as knowledge, types, and nature of knowledge, the role of knowledge, knowledge management, the various aspects of knowledge management, and motivation. After this introduction, the motivational side of knowledge sharing is discussed. The review of relevant literature is divided into two subchapters: the first highlights the main theories regarding motivation for knowledge sharing, the second focuses on Fiske‘s theory exclusively. The literature review concerning Fiske‘s theory needs to be extensive since the hypothesis of this thesis is based on this theory. The goal of this chapter is to introduce the topic, define the main concepts and clarify the relationship of knowledge sharing and the key areas involved in the research such as market, culture, IT, motivation, etc.