Birds of a Feather Flock Together: Can Knowledge Management and Communities Prevent Organizational Silos?

This research aims to investigate the relationship among knowledge, knowledge management, and intra-firm social networks, focusing on actual networks that emerge when knowledge management practices are enacted within a business organization. As shown in the literature, intra-organizational networks tend to be strongly homophile, especially in terms of organizational units affiliation (silos organization). Indeed, preventing organizational silos and fostering diversity in knowledge sharing is useful to encourage creativity and innovation. Thus, knowledge management practices are sought that reduce the homophily tendency. Through a quantitative longitudinal analysis of online communities within a large telecommunication company, we show that t knowledge management projects are able to enhance connections among people with different knowledge and facilitate communication and collaboration processes at cross-functional level.