Understanding key dilemmas within the knowledge ecosystem : a game theoritic approach.

Abstract

Knowledge management (K.M) literatures suggest that knowledge ecosystem within an

organisation involves strategic situations in which behaviours of organisational

members characterise conflict of interest with the goals of organisation's knowledge

strategy. The aim of this thesis is to explore the perspective on how such behaviours

may be modelled and analysed using a game theoretic approach. Academic research

has so far investigated limited possibilities in integrating K.M and Game theory. A

qualitative inductive approach is adopted due to the exploratory nature of the research

topic. After a critical review of literature on both KM and game theory, five

organisational knowledge dilemmas- "silos ofknowledge", "tragedy of the knowledge

commons", "knowledge friction", "knowledge toxicity'' and "leakage of knowledge"

are identified for examining through the lens of game theory. These dilemmas manifest

in the ecosystem in various combinations as challenging scenarios .. For the purpose of

applying game theoretic analytical models, six hypothetical scenarios have been

proposed. Subsequently, a detailed analysis of such game models is conducted and the

implications of the modelling are discussed for generalization in understanding new

situations. Key insights are presented as prescriptive guiding principles in formulating

knowledge strategies and policies in organisations to combat the dilemmas.