Knowledge Sharing (KS) is the foundation stone to Knowledge Management (KM). Some variables hinder KS in the organizations. These variables are known as Knowledge Sharing Barriers (KSBs). The objective of this paper is to identify the critical KSBs and their mutual influences. Identification of KSBs which are at the root of hierarchy (called driving KSBs) and those which are at the top of the hierarchy (called dependent KSBs) is the main aim of this research work. The Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) methodology has been used to evolve mutual relationship among the KSBs. It is observed that two KSBs, namely, ‘lack of top management commitment’ and ‘KM is not well understood’, have high driving power and therefore deserve serious attention. Arrangement of KSBs in a hierarchy and their categorization into driver and dependent categories is an exclusive effort in the area of KM. The study concludes with a discussion and the managerial implications.

Globalization of business has gone through major changes in recent years. In this business environment, many organizations are facing stiff competition in the domestic as well as global market from their multinational counterparts. In this competitive business environment, knowledge has become the key economic resource and the only source of competitive advantage. The concept of knowledge and its management has gained prominence due to the fact that resource-based competitive advantages are no longer sufficient in the knowledge-based economy. It also facilitates knowledge flow and sharing to enhance the productivity of individuals and hence the organizations. Knowledge linked with business processes and employee’s skills provide the organization with unique capability to deliver customers with innovative products and services. Organizations and academia have begun to realize the role of knowledge in the emerging competitive environment of business.

In the present business environment, Knowledge Sharing (KS) has been identified as a basic facilitator for effective Knowledge Management (KM) which can help in optimizing the business goals (Skok and Tahir, 2010). The goals of the organizations cannot be achieved until they understand Knowledge Sharing Barriers (KSBs) and their mutual relationships. Driving barriers support the other barriers, and driven or dependent barriers are influenced by others. Hence these barriers hinder the effectiveness of KM.

ISM is a well-established methodology for identifying and summarizing the mutual relationship among the specific items which define a problem or an issue (Sage, 1977).

This study uses ISM methodology to impose order on the complexity of such KSBs. It is also used to form a cluster, which defines their driving and dependence power. In the present research, 22 KSBs have been considered. These factors are primarily internal to the organizations. They include: lack of top management commitment, KM is not well understood, lack of integration of KM, and lack of organizational culture (Riege, 2005). The opinions from a group of experts were used in developing the relationship matrix which is later used in the development of the ISM model. The anticipated ISM model described in this paper captures the interactions among different KSBs.

Knowledge Management Journal, Knowledge Management (KM), Knowledge Sharing Barriers (KSBs), Driving KSBs,
Dependence KSBs, Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM).