why hiding knowledge in knowledge-based organizations? (case study: organizations in iran)

Organizational knowledge is identified as a nontangible but very valuable resource in gaining competitive advantage. despite the many efforts to simplify transfer of knowledge in organizations, remarkable success has not been achieved. in many cases, personnel are not keen to share their knowledge even when the organizational design has simplified the knowledge transferring process. this unwillingness occurs even when personnel are encouraged and rewarded to transfer knowledge. software developing organizations are knowledge-based organizations. their personnel necessarily require a high level of knowledge and talent for their duties. transferring knowledge and information in such organizations can elevate the level of the whole establishment. therefore, these organizations were chosen as the research society. thus, the main issue in this research is how personnel of such organizations understand, define, interpret and represent their experience of knowledge hiding? what is the subjective meaning of knowledge hiding for these individuals? what conditions have led to this? based on these subjective meanings what type of strategies does they choose? what consequences do these strategies have?

WHY HIDING KNOWLEDGE IN KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATIONS? (CASE STUDY: ORGANIZATIONS IN IRAN)

Organizational knowledge is identified as a nontangible but very valuable resource in gaining competitive advantage. Despite the many efforts to simplify transfer of knowledge in organizations, remarkable success has not been achieved. In many cases, personnel are not keen to share their knowledge even when the organizational design has simplified the knowledge transferring process. This unwillingness occurs even when personnel are encouraged and rewarded to transfer knowledge. Software developing organizations are knowledge-based organizations. Their personnel necessarily require a high level of knowledge and talent for their duties. Transferring knowledge and information in such organizations can elevate the level of the whole establishment. Therefore, these organizations were chosen as the research society. Thus, the main issue in this research is how personnel of such organizations understand, define, interpret and represent their experience of knowledge hiding? What is the subjective meaning of knowledge hiding for these individuals? What conditions have led to this? Based on these subjective meanings what type of strategies does they choose? What consequences do these strategies have?