Purpose: Knowledge sharing contributes to the success of an organization in various ways. This paper aims to summarize the findings from past research on knowledge sharing outcomes in organizations and to suggest promising directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach: We conducted a systematic literature review that consisted of three main phases: defining a review protocol, conducting the review, and reporting the review. The thematic analysis was conducted on 61 studies, based on which we developed a framework for understanding the impacts of knowledge sharing. Findings: Previous research has investigated knowledge-sharing outcomes at three levels: the individual, team, and organization; specific impacts are summarized for each level. The most commonly studied factors affected by knowledge sharing are creativity, learning, and performance. Knowledge sharing is also found to have some beyondconvention work-related impacts, such as those on team climate and employees' life satisfaction. Research on the outcomes of knowledge sharing is dominated by quantitative studies, as we found only one qualitative study in this review. Based on the discussion of the results, promising avenues for further research were identified and a research agenda was proposed. More research on differential, psychological, and negative impacts, as well as interactional and methodological aspects of knowledge sharing is suggested. Originality/value: To date, no systematic review has been conducted on the impacts of knowledge sharing. This article makes an important contribution to knowledge sharing research as it consolidates previous research and identifies a number of useful research topics that can be explored to advance the field as well as to establish the evidence-based importance of knowledge sharing.

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Knowledge sharing is a product of the collaborative and supportive environment shaped by socialization and informal communication between employees. Under the pressure of globalization and business internationalization, organization's workforce has become increasingly diverse particularly in terms of language. This has implications for knowledge sharing. It has been observed that employees tend to gravitate toward their own language communities leading to language clustering (language-based grouping) which affects informal communication and knowledge mobility in organizations negatively. Although existence of such clusters has been reported in many previous studies, we do not clearly understand how and why language brings these clusters into being and what kind of implications this has for knowledge sharing. This paper draws upon the theory of the semiotic processes of linguistic differentiation taken from linguistic anthropology to provide a theoretical framework capable of explaining the dynamics of language creating language clusters. Unlike previous knowledge management studies, which largely focus on the instrumental aspect of language, this paper adopts a social perspective on language. It is argued that to deal with language clustering we have to explore the dynamics operating behind it in detail. This will not only allow us to understand its implications for knowledge sharin g but will also be helpful in devising potent knowledge management initiatives in multilingual workplaces.

Although it is recognized that the diversity influences the knowledge sharing between employees, there is very little empirical research on the relationship between language diversity and knowledge sharing in the organizations. In this context, this study adopts the network perspective and explores the linguistic composition of personal knowledge networks, its causes and consequences. A survey was conducted involving 403 participants in different subsidiaries of a multinational organization. Hierarchical regression analysis and ANOVA were performed to test the hypotheses. Regression analysis showed that the language diversity in the immediate department and linguistic association in the organization significantly affects the language diversity in employees personal networks. However, against expectations, language attitude did not have any effect. Moreover, ANOVA results show that the employees with multilingual knowledge-sharing networks perform better than those with monolingual knowledge-sharing networks in the organization even though their knowledge-sharing behavior is the same.

Although it is recognized that diversity influences knowledge sharing between employees, there is very little empirical research on the relationship between language diversity and knowledge sharing in the organizations. In this context, this study adopts network perspective and explores linguistic composition of personal knowledge‐sharing networks, its causes and consequences. A survey was conducted involving 403 participants in different subsidiaries of a multinational organization. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the effect of language diversity in department, language attitude, and linguistic association on language diversity in personal knowledge‐sharing networks. Moreover, analysis of variance was performed to analyze whether employees with multilingual knowledge‐sharing networks differ from employees with monolingual knowledge‐sharing networks in terms of their knowledge sharing behavior and performance. Regression analysis showed that language diversity in the immediate department and employees' linguistic association in the organization significantly affects the language diversity in employees' personal knowledge‐sharing networks. However, against expectations, language attitude did not have any effect. Moreover, analysis of variance results show that there is no difference in knowledge‐sharing behavior of employees who have multilingual or monolingual knowledge‐sharing networks. However, the employees with multilingual knowledge‐sharing networks perform better than those with monolingual knowledge‐sharing networks in the organization. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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