Knowledge Collaboration vs. Hoarding: A Critical Re-examination of Knowledge Withholding in IT Work Environments

This study critically examines the prevailing notion of knowledge hoarding through a qualitative investigation of IT service professionals, combining ۳۴ days of observational fieldwork with ۲۶ in-depth interviews across five Iran organizations. Challenging the dominant rhetoric that frames knowledge withholding as widespread worker dysfunction, our findings reveal instead a culture of organic collaboration where IT specialists routinely share expertise through informal consultations and voluntary documentation, with practical constraints like time pressure and tacit knowledge - rather than strategic concealment - being the primary barriers to formal knowledge sharing. By exposing how the hoarding metaphor functions as a managerial control mechanism rather than an accurate behavioral description, the research proposes a paradigm shift from enforcement-based knowledge capture systems to trust-based collaborative environments. The work contributes theoretically by deconstructing the discursive power of hoarding narratives, methodologically through rich empirical counter-evidence to quantitative studies, and practically by demonstrating how peer-driven knowledge exchange outperforms prescribed sharing systems in technical workplaces.

کلیدواژه ها:

Knowledge hoarding ، Knowledge sharing ، IT service management ، Organizational rhetoric ، Qualitative research