Communication and Organizational Knowledge: Contemporary Issues for Theory and Practice

This book provides an overview of communication-centered theory and research regarding organizational knowledge and learning. It brings the work of scholars in communication, management, information technology, and other disciplines together in a coherent volume that represents existing research and theory on communication-related knowledge work. Chapters address what constitutes knowledge, how knowledge functions within and across organizations, and how organizational members develop and manage knowledge for organizational purposes. The book also provides a forum for these scholars to pose directions for future research and theorizing. It will serve as a reference tool for scholars and practitioners to identify and understand communicative features of organizational knowledge processes.

Heather E. Canary is Assistant Professor in the ASU Phoenix Humanities and ArtsFaculty. Her research interests include family and organizational communication processes, particularly involving issues such as disability and public policy where organizational and family processes intersect.

Robert D. McPhee is Professor of Communication in the Hugh Downs School of Communication at Arizona State University. His research interests include structuration theory, organizational constitution, and communication theory.

Foreword
Haridimos Tsoukas
Acknowledgements
List of contributors

1. Introduction: Toward a Communicative Perspective on Organizational Knowledge
Heather E. Canary and Robert D. McPhee
Section I
The Communicative Practices of Organizational Knowledge
2. Heterogeneity in Knowledge and Knowing: A Social Practice Perspective
Timothy Kuhn and Amanda J. Porter
3. Knowledge, Belonging, and Communities of Practice
Joel O. Iverson
4. Challenges of Implementing Systems for Knowledge Management: Static Systems and Dynamic Practices
Michele H. Jackson and Julie Williamson
5. The Politics of Knowledge: A Critical Perspective on Knowledge and its Management
Alexander Lyon and Joseph L. Chesebro
Section II
The Communicative Connections of Organizational Knowledge
6. Information, Technology, and Knowledge Sharing in Global Organizations: Cultural Differences in Perceptions of Where Knowledge Lies
Paul M. Leonardi
7. Transactive Memory and Organizational Knowledge
Edward T. Palazzolo
8. Communication and Knowledge-sharing Errors in Groups
Andrea B. Hollingshead, David P. Brandon, Kay Yoon, and Naina Gupta
9. Problems and Promises of Managing Explicit Knowledge: The Ideal Case of University Research
Steven R. Corman and Kevin J. Dooley
Section III
The Communicative Technologies of Organizational Knowledge
10. The Utility of Information and Communication Technologies in Organizational Knowledge Management
Andrew J. Flanagin and Melissa Bator
11. Knowledge Management Systems and Work Teams
Michelle Shumate
12. Knowledge Utilization in Electronic Networks of Practice
Liqiong Deng and Marshall Scott Poole
Section IV
The Communicative Contexts of Organizational Knowledge
13. Managing Community Risks through a Community-Communication Infrastructure Approach
H. Dan O’Hair, Katherine M. Kelley, and Kathy L. Williams
14. Knowledge Types in Cross-System Policy Knowledge Construction
Heather E. Canary
15. Coaching to the Craft: Understanding Knowledge in Health Care Organizations
Alexandra G. Murphy and Eric M. Eisenberg
16. Socializing Organizational Knowledge: Informal Socialization through Workgroup Interaction
Karen K. Myers
Conclusion: Moving Forward with Communicative Perspectives on Organizational Knowledge
Robert D. McPhee, Heather E. Canary, and Joel O. Iverson