Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams

Knowledge sharing has a crucial role in intellectual work such as software development. Intellectual capital in form of specialized knowledge, skills, and expertise belong to the most valuable resources that software development organizations possess. The ability to manage and apply knowledge correc...

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Main Author: Varcok, Tomas
Other Authors: Informaatioteknologian tiedekunta, Faculty of Information Technology, Informaatioteknologia, Information Technology, Jyväskylän yliopisto, University of Jyväskylä
Format: Master's thesis
Language:eng
Published: 2020
Subjects:
Online Access: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/72765
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author Varcok, Tomas
author2 Informaatioteknologian tiedekunta Faculty of Information Technology Informaatioteknologia Information Technology Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_facet Varcok, Tomas Informaatioteknologian tiedekunta Faculty of Information Technology Informaatioteknologia Information Technology Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä Varcok, Tomas Informaatioteknologian tiedekunta Faculty of Information Technology Informaatioteknologia Information Technology Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_sort Varcok, Tomas
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description Knowledge sharing has a crucial role in intellectual work such as software development. Intellectual capital in form of specialized knowledge, skills, and expertise belong to the most valuable resources that software development organizations possess. The ability to manage and apply knowledge correctly can result in an important competitive advantage. There appears to be a wide agreement on the high importance of managing and sharing knowledge within teams among practitioners. Interestingly, this importance does not seem to be reflected in practicing knowledge sharing in real environments, which often leads to major problems such as lower work efficiency, weaker cooperation, failing to utilize the full potential of available knowledge, and losing valuable knowledge exclusively owned by leaving individuals. This thesis argues that it is important to identify the reasons behind this gap. The aim is to identify the discouraging factors – the issues that obstruct knowledge sharing and lower its quantity and quality. Additionally, the thesis seeks to identify how the influence of these discouraging factors could be reduced or eliminated. Due to the explorative nature of the study, the selected research approach is an interpretive case study. The qualitative data were collected during semi-structured interviews with ten participants holding different professional roles in three different teams within one Nordic software development organization. The premise of the study was confirmed as the data show that there truly is a gap between how important practitioners see knowledge sharing, and how much it is reflected in their regular work. The reasons for this gap were identified in form of multiple discouraging factors, the most noticeable ones being the Perceived difficulty, Lack of attention, Insufficient or incorrect encouragement, and Missing systematic approach. Practitioners can benefit from this study by understanding what is hindering knowledge sharing in their teams. The thesis offers several suggestions on how practitioners can overcome these obstacles. The main recommendations are to pay more attention to knowledge sharing, lower its perceived difficulty, and integrate it into the existing processes and practices in a concrete executable form.
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Intellectual capital in form of specialized knowledge, skills, and expertise belong to the most valuable resources that software development organizations possess. The ability to manage and apply knowledge correctly can result in an important competitive advantage. There appears to be a wide agreement on the high importance of managing and sharing knowledge within teams among practitioners. Interestingly, this importance does not seem to be reflected in practicing knowledge sharing in real environments, which often leads to major problems such as lower work efficiency, weaker cooperation, failing to utilize the full potential of available knowledge, and losing valuable knowledge exclusively owned by leaving individuals.\nThis thesis argues that it is important to identify the reasons behind this gap. The aim is to identify the discouraging factors \u2013 the issues that obstruct knowledge sharing and lower its quantity and quality. 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spellingShingle Varcok, Tomas Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams knowledge sharing discouraging factors Tietojärjestelmätiede Information Systems Science 601 ohjelmistokehitys tietämyksenhallinta työyhteisöt software development knowledge management work communities
title Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams
title_full Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams
title_fullStr Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams
title_full_unstemmed Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams
title_short Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams
title_sort discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams
title_txtP Discouraging factors in knowledge sharing in software development teams
topic knowledge sharing discouraging factors Tietojärjestelmätiede Information Systems Science 601 ohjelmistokehitys tietämyksenhallinta työyhteisöt software development knowledge management work communities
topic_facet 601 Information Systems Science Tietojärjestelmätiede discouraging factors knowledge management knowledge sharing ohjelmistokehitys software development tietämyksenhallinta työyhteisöt work communities
url https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/72765 http://www.urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202011246733
work_keys_str_mv AT varcoktomas discouragingfactorsinknowledgesharinginsoftwaredevelopmentteams