Conflicts in Knowledge Management: Visiting the Hidden Partner

As knowledge gains a reputation for being a critical resource in the information-intensive economy, organizations have doubled their efforts in trying to extract value from knowledge management policies. One particular aspect of knowledge management, which has gone unnoticed in academic research, is the presence of conflicts in knowledge activities. By adopting a conflict perspective of knowledge activities, this study arrives at a two-dimensional framework that defines knowledge conflicts in terms of its type and nature. Central to this paper is the fundamental idea 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 knowledge-derived competitiveness.