Contributions of cultural anthropology and social capital theory to understandings of knowledge management

The primary purpose of this dissertation is twofold: to clarify the contributions of cultural anthropology and social capital theory to the emerging field of knowledge management; and to illustrate what these theoretical perspectives have to offer by applying them to a well-known knowledge management initiative, Xerox's Eureka Project—Service Force Automation. The current literature on knowledge management makes limited reference to cultural anthropology and social capital theory although these theories are a primary source for understanding knowledge creation and utilization. This shortcoming in the literature has prompted the current effort to develop a more complete understanding of knowledge management and contribute new theoretical insights to this emerging field of practice. The research approach is primarily theoretical. It is based on a comprehensive review of the literature on knowledge management. The case has been further elaborated through interviews with original developers and project implementers. Examining diverse inter-disciplinary theories of knowledge management such as social capital theory and cultural anthropology has helped to further define the meaning of knowledge management. The adoption of divergent theories of knowledge acquisition and the examination of inter-disciplinary perspectives is a valid research approach (Evers, 1991). While this is a theoretical thesis, the goal is NOT to produce a coherent unified theory of knowledge management; rather, the thesis has a more modest goal of generating theoretical insights that may contribute to a more coherent theory. This research provides important insight into the contribution of cultural anthropological and social capital approaches to an understanding of knowledge management practices. The case study reinforces the power of tacit knowledge to connect people in authentic conversation and suggests that “story telling” practices may be the most rapid way for transmitting knowledge in a context where knowledge creation often doubles in less than 12 months. The research shows that oral transmission processes hold a significant capability for organizational growth and profitability creation. The case study research also reinforces the significant role that “shared context” plays in supporting knowledge management creation as it supports the creation of trust. Through experiences of shared meaning and shared context, organizations can increase their knowledge-sharing abilities. Forms of social capital and cultural anthropological approaches such as storytelling, dialogue conversations, CoPs and virtual teams are effective vehicles for creating and sustaining “shared context” spaces for organizational members to collaborate in and hence increase their knowledge sharing and tacit knowledge exchange. This research shows the importance of understanding cultural anthropology and social capital theory in organizations for knowledge management practitioners. It is my conviction, based on this research, that if profit organizations were to put more emphasis on cultural anthropology and social capital disciplines, they would be able to break into a higher order level of people performance and organizational asset or “collaborative” capabilities. Further research is required to continue to validate the importance of cultural anthropology and social capital theory in developing “collaboration capabilities” in organizations. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Keywords: Knowledge management
Ethnology
Social capital (Sociology)