Improving Organizational Performance: Building Organizational Resilience and Sustainability through Knowledge-Sharing Relationships.

摘要

The performance, resiliency, and sustainability of an organization are 3 of the most critical challenges faced by its leaders. There is a limited understanding of how knowledge-sharing relationships affect these challenges. For this study, a knowledge-sharing relationship was defined as an interpersonal relationship with the ability, as well as the inclination, to share knowledge relevant to organizational performance improvement initiatives. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of knowledge-sharing relationships in building organizational resilience and sustainability to develop a generative theory regarding improved organizational performance. The study was based on a full spectrum of organizational theories under the umbrella of positive organizational scholarship. Grounded theory was used to collect, code, and thematically analyze organizational members' experiences with performance improvement initiatives described in 2 published case studies and 6 interviews. The broad research question investigated the themes that connect knowledge-sharing relationships to improved organizational performance, resilience, and sustainability. The findings suggest that 8 different types of knowledge-sharing relationships showed the potential to expand an individual's ability to affect organizational performance, resilience, and sustainability when used in combination with a positive adaptation process. The generative theory encourages organization members to build relationships, share knowledge, and use a positive adaptation process. These practices promote collective flourishing. Flourishing organizations contribute to positive social change by generating innovative approaches to problems and creating economic opportunities.