Introduction to the Special Issue on Managing Knowledge in Organizations: Creating, Retaining, and Transferring Knowledge

The article focuses on the increasing interest in the issues of organizational learning and knowledge management on the part of academics and practitioners. It informs that on the practical side, changes in technology and modes of organizing work, globalization, and increased competition brought the issues of organizational learning and knowledge management to center stage for organizations. New developments in computing and information technology enabled the retention and transfer of information in organizations on a larger scale than was once possible. Shifts to more distributed modes of organizing work made knowledge transfer a priority for firms. The greater prevalence of the multiunit organizational form, such as a franchise or chain, and the greater frequency of interorganizational relationships also increased the importance of knowledge transfer for firms. Several developments or shifts in the academic literature contributed to the dramatic increase in research on organizational learning and knowledge management.