Knowledge sharing viewed through a pragmatist lens: the case of management consultancy

Abstract

We explore knowledge sharing in light of a pragmatist understanding of organizational learning. This takes us beyond knowledge as cognition and into an encompassing understanding of what it means to share knowledge. We draw upon a case study on knowledge sharing amongst management consultants, and transcend the idea that knowledge sharing is a matter of either codification or personalization. We do so through an understanding of learning that begins in the embodied experiences of work, and in which inquiry into uncertainties is the pathway to learning and knowing. This also means that we widen the issue of knowledge sharing beyond participation in practice, because we include an explicit learning aspect on participation. In the concrete case of management consultancy, some of the impeding issues were working alone, tight time schedules and insufficient knowledge sharing systems while some of the facilitating issues included social gatherings, play and working together on projects.