ABSTRACT
Organizations are believed to function fundamentally by competing on knowledge (Bell, 1976/1999; Drucker, 1993). This renders them services from resources they possess or made accessible to them in other ways (Penrose, 1959). Knowledge has therefore been identified as the single most important feature of a modern organization, and scholars have explored numerous ways by which to frame, define, and describe the nature of knowledge and how it can be managed (Boisot, 1998; Davenport & Prusak, 1998; Leonard-Barton, 1995; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). A common phenomenon today in organizations is therefore engaging in the experimentation and development of knowledge management practices. Such endeavors recurrently involve information technology (IT) solutions that are often referred to as knowledge management systems (KMS) or more broadly as knowledge management technologies (Hendriks, 2001; Venters, 2006; Swan, Scarbrough, & Preston, 1999; Tsui, 2005). The basic idea behind the design and implementation of such systems and technologies is to support the firm’s management of knowledge.
