Knowledge sharing in agile projects

Abstract

The paring of knowledge sharing and agile methodology has been explained by some researchers (Dissanayake, Dantu, & Nerur, 2013), most emphasize that the knowledge sharing enablers embedded in the agile methods (Dissanayake et al., 2013), seldom researches explain agile-induced knowledge sharing inhibitors. Besides, the existing researches are limited by industry. As agile methodology has been continuing spreading beyond software development projects (Dybå & Dingsøyr, 2008; Serrador & Pinto, 2015), little was known on whether the agile methodology is genuinely contributing to knowledge sharing in the non-software development environment. Based on an in-depth study in Philips Research organizations, by conducting semi-structured interviews with different roles involved in agile research projects, this study investigates how agile methods influence knowledge sharing behavior and its effectiveness. The inhibitors are clustered into environmental, individual and motivational factors based on Wang’s knowledge sharing factor framework (Sheng Wang & Noe, 2010). The outcomes indicate a paradox of agile-induced knowledge sharing factors, that with the overemphasis on the intra-team knowledge sharing in agile projects, there is the potential of sacrificing long-term learning and organizational level knowledge sharing. The agile-induced knowledge sharing enablers could transform into inhibitors