Knowledge creation and sharing in a systems development project

Systems development projects are complex collaborative efforts in which actors create and share knowledge across organisational boundaries and over time. We know, however, little about how knowledge is created and shared in systems development projects and how adopted development approaches shape knowledge management practices. This research draws upon concepts from knowledge management and organisational learning to investigate the complex dynamics between knowledge creation and sharing in a systems development project. Based on an analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data from the project, the research shows that the adopted approach rely on simplified notions of knowledge creation and sharing that do not take into account the dynamic relationships between the two, and neglect the factors that facilitates or inhibits them. These findings suggest important lessons on how to balance knowledge creation and sharing in systems development and they suggest that we need to critically rethink contemporary approaches to systems development.

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