Perhaps the most admirable feat achieved in this book is the breadth of perspectives presented. As Boles notes in the concluding chapter, the chapters as a whole considered cognition at both an individual and collective level, the impact of social factors such as norms, social networks, and trust on knowledge sharing, and the role of social processes, particularly the automatic or motivated process of knowledge sharing. As such, this book would appeal not only to the cognitive scientist who is interested in people's sensitivity to the social context in cognitive processing but also to the strategist who is interested in the knowledge-processing view of the firm, the organizational theorist who is interested in organizational cognitive structures, and the sociologist who is interested in institutionalized knowledge structures.
—Administrative Science Quarterly
Product Description
Written for those interested in the topic of "shared knowledge" in organizations, this edited volume brings together a variety of themes and perspectives that emerge when multidisciplinary scholars examine this important subject. The papers were presented at a conference designed to bring together behavioral scientists who were interested in the creation, conversation, distribution, and protection of knowledge in organizations.
The editors bring together a distinguished group of social psychologists who have made important contributions to social cognition and group processes. They cast a wide net in terms of the topics covered and challenged the authors to think about how their research applies to the management or mismanagement of knowledge in organizations. The volume is divided into three sections: knowledge systems, emotional-motivational systems, and communication and behavioral systems. A final conclusion chapter discusses and integrates the various contributions.
