Knowledge Sharing in International NGOs

E-ISSN： 1447-9575|7|11|65-72

ISSN： 1447-9524

Source： The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture, and Change Management: Annual Review, Vol.7, Iss.11, 2008-01, pp. : 65-72

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Abstract

While particularly larger development organisations have taken up ideas from corporate sector knowledge management (KM) in order to tackle the common issues of knowledge loss or data overload, the role of KM in shaping the broader directions of development work has been limited so far. For international NGOs (INGOs) who have incorporated KM into their operational frameworks, facilitating knowledge sharing between their multiple internal and external stakeholders remains a fundamental challenge. Through discussing alternative viewpoints from the KM literature, this paper seeks to broaden the perspective this subject has hitherto received in the development sector. Drawing on the case of the Swiss INGO Helvetas, it discusses shortcomings and constraints in the area of knowledge sharing as informed by the Foucauldian view on power/knowledge relations. The paper argues in particular that INGOs may benefit from the emerging socio-cultural perspective in the KM field. It is suggested that, since INGOs are centrally positioned to assume the role of information hubs in the development field, they are likely to gain from re-thinking KM as a concept that reaches beyond formal organisational boundaries and facilitates innovative forms of collaboration between development actors.