ABSTRACT

Summarizing previous research in areas such as knowledge management, global R&D management, best-practice benchmarking, organizational learning, and international management, this entry presents a list of knowledge sharing mechanisms commonly practiced in organizations, particularly those in large organizations with operations in different locations. Broadly, these mechanisms can be categorized into transfer of people, communities of practice, boundary spanner, best-practice guidelines, process audit and best-practice benchmarking, periodicals, performance reports, and information and communication technology (ICT) tools. The choice of knowledge sharing mechanisms reflects whether an organization chooses to follow codification or personalization strategy, or a combination of both strategies for knowledge management. It is argued that mechanisms with high “reach” are more suitable for creating the awareness of knowledge existence, while mechanism with high “richness” are more appropriate for transferring knowledge, particularly knowledge tacit in nature.