Title: What are the socio-psychological sources of information restriction within an organization?
Abstract: This paper describes the socio-psychological sources of information restriction within an organization as identified by the current literature and provide a theoretical framework for the forces that contributing to restriction. The interrelation between the resistant forces are described as to support a hypothesized formula that the total resistance experienced within an information sharing system is that of the sum of all resistant forces at work. The pendulum has reached the opposite apex on the prosperity curve for many organizations. The 1980’s were a time when most US organizations employed large numbers of employees and had many tiers of management. With the onset of the 1990’s, large numbers of organizations opted to drastically reduce their workforce, surgically and systematically removing the layers of management and job that performed redundant tasks. Corporate anorexia set in and organizational competency became the norm. Top managers now wave the banner of empowerment, but more often than not, that translates to more work with less people. What is left of management and the so called empowered workforce, cripples the organization by restricting information flow among the workforce. A recent Ernest & Young LLP survey of employees and managers indicated that only 15% of employees are aware of the cost to provide the company’s product. In contrast less than 16% of the managers polled believe that their employees know the same information (Romano 1996) . This evidence points to obvious restrictions within the system. One might ask, “what are the barriers that restrict individuals from freely sharing information and why do they exist?” More attention is being given by organizations to knowledge management and intellectual capital (Rogers 1996). Knowledge created through research and development, as well that which is intrinsic to individuals, is being perceived as an organizational asset. The problem of gathering and distributing the knowledge throughout the organization perplexes individuals who are cognizant of the dilemma. Are individuals within an organization reluctant to share information because they perceive it as an asset and sharing would be a personal loss? The theoretical framework proposed in this article distinguishes between three resistant forces at work within an organization that have both social and psychological effects; trust, organizational controls, and social environment. Assuming that all three are present in all organizations, the hypothesis is that trust, organizational controls, and social environment are interdependent upon one another and the restriction of information sharing within an organization is the sum of the three forces.
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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