Managing Knowledge in Organizations: An Integrative Framework and Review of Emerging Themes
Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 argote@andrew.cmu.edu • bmcevily@andrew.cmu.edu • rr2018@columbia.edu

Linda Argote • Bill McEvily • Ray Reagans

I

n this concluding article to the Management Science special issue on “Managing Knowledge in Organizations: Creating, Retaining, and Transferring Knowledge,” we provide an integrative framework for organizing the literature on knowledge management. The framework has two dimensions. The knowledge management outcomes of knowledge creation, retention, and transfer are represented along one dimension. Properties of the context within which knowledge management occurs are represented on the other dimension. These properties, which affect knowledge management outcomes, can be organized according to whether they are properties of a unit (e.g., individual, group, organization) involved in knowledge management, properties of relationships between units or properties of the knowledge itself. The framework is used to identify where research findings about knowledge management converge and where gaps in our understanding exist. The article discusses mechanisms of knowledge management and how those mechanisms affect a unit’s ability to create, retain and transfer knowledge. Emerging themes in the literature on knowledge management are identified. Directions for future research are suggested. (Knowledge Management; Organizational Learning; Knowledge Transfer; Innovation; Organizational Memory )

Introduction

Research on the topics of organizational learning and knowledge management has enjoyed an extended and prosperous history. The importance of these concepts for understanding the