Knowledge sharing in cross-boundary information system development in the public sector

Abstract

The success of information system development involving multi-organizational collaboration can depend heavily on effective knowledge sharing across boundaries. This paper reports on a comparative examination of knowledge sharing in two separate networks of public sector organizations participating in information technology innovation projects in New York State. As is typical of innovations resulting from recent government reforms, the knowledge sharing in these cases is a critical component of the information system development, involving a mix of tacit, explicit, and interactional forms of sharing across organizational boundaries. In one case the sharing is among state agencies and in the other across state and local government agencies. Using interviews, observations and document analysis, the longitudinal case studies follow knowledge sharing and other interactions in the interorganizational networks of these two distinct settings. Results confirm the difficulty of sharing knowledge across agencies, and further reveal the influences of several relevant factors-incentives, risks and barriers for sharing, and trust-on the effectiveness of knowledge sharing. The results contribute to theory on knowledge sharing processes in multi-organizational public sector settings and provide practice guidance for developing effective sharing relationships in collaborative crossboundary information system initiatives.

Knowledge workers’ perceptions of potential benefits and challenges of inter-organizational knowledge sharing systems: a Delphi study in the health sector

“…Most of the studies on the development of IOS in horizontally linked firms are theoretical or qualitative in nature and focus solely on public organizations (e.g., Pardo et al, 2006;Dawes et al, 2009;Yang & Maxwell, 2011). A few qualitative studies, such as Chen et al (2006) and Wei et al (2011), have highlighted the need of IOS or knowledge transfer IOS within SMEs.…”

“…However, few studies have investigated the potential benefits and challenges of 'public good' IOKSS, which are open to all horizontally linked firms within a specific sector. A small number of theoretical and qualitative studies have examined organizational adoption and use of IOS in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (e.g., Chen et al, 2006;Wei et al, 2011) across a horizontal linkage, and a few more studies have examined the public sector's adoption and use of IOS (Pardo et al, 2006;Dawes et al, 2009;Yang & Maxwell, 2011).…”

Recherche académique & intelligence économique : une nécessaire synergie

“… Le risque et la confiance (Nicolaou & McKnight, 2006;Soper, Demirkan & Goul, 2007) ;  Les caractéristiques comparées des organisations en termes d'implication de la direction, de degré de centralisation et de compétences technologiques (Lin, 2006) ;  Les spécificités des organisations publiques (Pardo, Cresswell, Thompson & Zhang, 2006). Cette liste est loin d'être exhaustive et le partage des connaissances entre organisations dans le domaine de la sécurité, s'il constitue un champ de recherche en voie d'exploration (Jarvenpaa & Majchrzak, 2008) se révèle encore plus passionnant en ce qui concerne l'IE.…”

A synthesizing framework for technology and content choices for information exchange

“…In their paper, "Knowledge Sharing in Crossboundary Information System Development in the Public Sector" [8] Pardo, Cresswell, Thompson and Zhang present two case studies on complementary architecture in a public sector setting. In the first case, the information exchange is among state agencies, and in the second, the information exchange extends across state and local governments.…”