Managing knowledge conflicts in an interorganizational project: A case study of the infocomm development authority of Singapore

Abstract

As knowledge gains currency as a critical resource in the information-intensive economy, organizations have doubled their efforts to extract value from knowledge management endeavors, including the creation of interorganizational knowledge alliances. One particular aspect of such knowledge partnerships that has gone unnoticed in academic research is the presence of conflicts in knowledge activities. By adopting a conflict perspective of knowledge management in an interorganizational context, this study arrives at a two-dimensional framework that defines knowledge conflicts in terms of their type and nature. Central to this article is the fundamental notion that conflicts form an integral part of knowledge management, and depending on how they are managed, conflicts may be formidable partners or dangerous adversaries in the corporate quest for a holistic knowledge strategy. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.