Managing Inter-Organizational Knowledge Sharing: A Multilevel Analysis

In today's economy where competitiveness is more and more defined by the ability to innovate, access to knowledge has become a central issue in organizations. Numerous studies focus on the increasing role that collaboration plays on knowledge creation. However, managing knowledge sharing across organization boundaries is among the most important challenge and paradox that faced organizations. In dealing with different background, culture, process, and knowledge throughout collaborative project, organizations must improve their practices to access, share and create knowledge. To benefit from the value of the new knowledge and information throughout collaboration, a deeper understanding is needed about the factors that impede and foster the inter-organizational knowledge sharing. The aim of this article is to shed light in these factors to better understand how to bolster knowledge sharing between partners. To do so, this article supports literature on interactionist approaches to analyze these concepts of collaboration and knowledge sharing. Based on case study methodology, 52 semi-structured interviews from team partners in an aerospace cluster were conducted. Using a multilevel analysis, the findings show: (i) the role of social proximity as facilitator of knowledge sharing depends on project phases (2) the leadership is a prominent force to reinforce and enhance the knowledge sharing mechanisms, and (3) the institutional orientation affect deeply the team commitment and consequently the knowledge sharing. We conclude by identifying further conceptual research and implication for research and practice.