Cognitive overload in organizational knowledge management: Case study research

Abstract

The advancements in social media are producing important effects on the way organizations manage knowledge internally, because they facilitate active participation of all employees and free knowledge sharing. This can improve the capability of companies to effectively manage tacit knowledge, which has always been considered a crucial issue in the knowledge management (KM) literature. However, the impacts of social media on KM activities have only been partially analyzed. In particular, although the benefits and advantages of social media have often been emphasized, less attention has been devoted to their limitations and problems. The paper contributes to filling this gap by examining an unintended consequence of the use of social media, namely, the “cognitive overload” effect. The experience of a big consulting company that uses social media to support knowledge creation and transfer within its global communities of professionals has been analyzed. The findings of the study provide inspiration for future research and lessons for companies seeking to use social media to support innovative approaches to KM.

Too much to know? The cognitive demands of daily knowledge seeking and the buffering role of coworker contact quality.

“…As these cognitive demands related to knowledge seeking are placed on employees cognitive processing capacity in addition to the cognitive demands related to fulfilling the demands of their work role (Elsbach & Hargadon, 2006), employees can experience knowledge overload (Savolainen, 2015). In line with our argument, research showed that employees who engaged in knowledge seeking via social media experienced cognitive overload due to the cognitive effort required to seek, select, and integrate the large amounts of available knowledge (Bolisani et al, 2018).…”

Exploring the maturity and development of global communities of practice

“…With Connect, more employees have access to information from the CoIs, and shared discussions can more easily take place, and cross‐CoI knowledge sharing is easier. However, with an ESN such as Connect comes the risk of cognitive overload if too much knowledge is made available, and this risk must be mitigated (Bolisani, Scarso, & Padova, ). The study found no data regarding mitigating actions, although Connect is continuously improved based on feedback from employees.…”

Ready, trainer … one*! discovering the entanglement of adaptive learning with virtual reality in industrial training: a case study

“…In addition, it is a challenge to address the cognitive overload which commonly occurs when people receive too much information interfering with their short-term memory, and distracting them from their original thought process (Bolisani et al, 2018). Especially in VR environments, where multisensory information is used to increase the sense of presence.…”