The dark side of successful knowledge management initiatives

This paper aims to cast the spotlight on a class of KM initiatives whose very success has ironically bred negative consequences not usually detected in the short‐term or on the surface.

Grounded theory approach was adopted in this paper since there is a lack of prior research in this area. Data was collected primarily through face‐to‐face interviews with personnel using purposive sampling. In addition to the interviews, archival data in the form of annual reports, web sites, in‐house publications and e‐mail correspondences were collected.

A typological framework which identifies four archetypes of KM initiatives, their success and dark side is developed. In particular, the dark sides include competency trap hyperbolic discounting dogmatism and social alienation and opportunistic behaviors and ethically‐questionable practices.

Given the exploratory nature of this study and the limited cases involved, the findings may likely be influenced by the peculiarities of the case, including the nature of the organizations, the state of the KM initiatives and the sentiments of the stakeholders at the point of data collection.

The message of this paper for practitioners is not to be easily contented with the early and outward form of success, but be cognizant and pre‐empt the dysfunctional outcomes as the KM initiative progresses.

This paper is one of the earliest efforts to examine the dark side of successful KM initiatives, a subtle KM implementation issue that receives little attention from practitioner and scholars alike.