Knowledge Flows in Software Projects : An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

Software projects require tacit knowledge and shared contexts for creative problem solving. Existing knowledge management frameworks focus on codifying knowledge laying an emphasis on managing explicit knowledge, typically ignoring the tacit element. This research provides a framework that mobilises and integrates both tacit and explicit knowledge, and facilitates the flow of common knowledge to address unstructured situations in software projects. The framework is developed from empirical evidence gathered while conducting an extended case study at one of the world’s largest software organisations. The research has implications for the knowledge management literature by establishing knowledge as something that is made resourceful by being competently mobilised and utilised, rather than by being managed through capture and storage. Thus, the paper attempts to fill a gap in the literature on a phenomenon that is increasingly becoming more relevant in empirical settings. Copyright#2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.