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

• Main Author: Bhattacharya., Suman.
• Other Authors: Ravi S. Sharma
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/54543
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

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.