| It is well known that today's competitive environment is characterized by its great dynamism. This leads to the need for continuous innovation on the part of companies in order for them to achieve and sustain competitive advantages. However, innovative activity stems from the knowledge created and maintained within the company. Therefore, knowledge is seen to be the most important strategic resource for today's companies.;The question arising from that is: "What can the company do to facilitate the development of its organizational knowledge?" The aim of this work is to offer an answer. To do that, firstly, we show that the most suitable framework for the production of organizational knowledge (the result of the creation, transfer and integration of individual knowledge) is structured round work teams. Then, we ask what factors facilitate its development in such teams and what mechanisms the firm can use to stimulate the presence of those determining factors.;The study is made up of two distinct parts. In the first part we carry out a review of the specialist literature on knowledge management and work teams. From that, we obtain a theoretical outline of the factors and mechanisms favoring the process. In the second part, we empirically check that model. By means of two studies, the first one qualitative, and the principal one of a quantitative nature, we reach the conclusion that not all the factors and mechanisms are of equal importance. On the one hand, we distinguish between those that have more influence on the creation of knowledge and those that favor its transfer and integration, and on the other hand, we show how their effect varies according to the characteristics of the individuals involved in the work teams. |
