Knowledge sharing through virtual teams across borders and boundaries

摘要

This study focuses on a challenge faced by multinational corporations: how to enhance knowledge sharing across geographical and functional boundaries given the multifaceted nature of knowledge. The article demonstrates how a multinational company can create the means and spaces necessary to achieve effective knowledge sharing and learning by highlighting a viable information system that supports social networking. It also offers a virtual team structure that draws upon and strengthens employees' social ties, which can boost organization-wide management of fine-grained knowledge. This combined approach mitigates the negative effects of physical and organizational distance on the availability of support and information. The present study contributes to organizational learning and knowledge-sharing discussions by shedding light on how virtual teams that function as knowledge activists can enhance internal knowledge sharing in globally dispersed organizations.