A study of impediments to knowledge sharing between Defense Department contracting organizations

In direct response to the Defense Department's call for transformation in its September 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review, this research focused on the specific question, “What are the most significant impediments to inter-organizational knowledge sharing between counterpart Defense contracting organizations?” Ideally, there would be a robust flow of successes, failures, initiatives, best practices and lessons-learned between different contracting organizations. To the extent factors are impeding such sharing, the Department is likely paying a price in potential increases in efficiency and effectiveness.; The research used a multi-disciplinary, theory-based approach to achieve three distinct goals. First, it developed and successfully validated an actionable diagnostic tool that any contracting organization can easily use to assess the general nature of factors impeding its knowledge sharing with counterpart organizations. Given the theoretical basis of the survey's variables, use of the survey as a valid diagnostic for use by other public sector organizations was suggested. Second, the research sought to establish whether Defense contracting personnel are reluctant to share their knowledge, as the knowledge management literature suggests. Survey results strongly indicated they were not. Finally, seeking to bridge the social psychology literature concerning micro-networks to the knowledge management literature, the research posited a correlation between micro-network communication environments and the amount of external knowledge sharing initiated. The data however did not detect any such correlation.; The unit of analysis was individual military or Civil Service contracting personnel (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps) working in the continental United States in either installation-level or systems-level contracting offices. Population sampling applied careful stratification and randomization at both the organizational selection level, and the respondent level to ensure validity. Six hundred cross-sectional surveys were sent to 79 different contracting organizations between 23 May 2002 and 12 June 2002. Five hundred and twenty-four responses were received, an 87 percent response rate. Use of Dillman's Tailored Design Method in the design of the survey and thorough administration procedures facilitated this high response rate while not sacrificing validity.; The research was formally sponsored by the Director of Defense Procurement, and supported by the heads of contracting of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The research won one of the most prestigious research awards of the National Defense University, the President's Strategic Vision Award for the 2001–2002 academic year.; The research's findings are potentially significant, particularly in a post September 11th world in which the federal government is searching for ways to improve its inter-organizational knowledge sharing, both internally, and with state and local governments.