Analyzing the change in knowledge sharing efficiency of knowledge networks: a case study

One of the main objectives of this study is to provide organizational knowledge management teams with a new approach for evaluating the knowledge sharing performance of communities of practice (CoPs) by analyzing the change in the knowledge sharing efficiency. This study uses a cumulative data envelopment analysis/Malmquist index method to analyze the changes in knowledge sharing efficiency in CoPs at the organizational, departmental, and CoP level. Our data analysis of the knowledge sharing activities from 32 CoPs within the largest steel manufacturing company in Korea finds that the favorable organizational climate to knowledge sharing was successfully built in the company, but a few CoPs may need to adopt more strategic approaches to improve their activities. The proposed approach may help management teams diagnose the current state of CoP activities and capture the efficacy of strategic actions by comparing the efficiencies in the past.