Knolwedge sharing issues in interorganizational software development projects

MEDIA CHOICE AND SOCIAL CAPITAL
IN KNOWLEDGE SHARING: AN
INTEGRATIVE APPROACH
Kasper Groes Ludvigsen 060292
Joakim Lorentzen 050794
HA(kom.) – Bachelor’s project
Copenhagen Business School - CBS
Advisor: Charles Tackney
Keystrokes: 129,621 (57 pages)
25/05/2016
An exploratory case study of interorganisational knowledge
sharing issues in IT projects

Kasper Groes Ludvigsen Bachelor’s project 25/05/2016
Joakim Lorentzen
1
For interview recordings and questionnaire
data, contact:
Jolo13ae@student.cbs.dk
Or
Kalu13ad@student.cbs.dk

Joakim Lorentzen
2
Sammenfatning
Dette projekt er en eksplorativ, interdisciplinær caseundersøgelse af udfordringer i interorganisatorisk
vidensdeling mellem parter i en transaktion. Projektets problemfelt udgøres af integrationsprojekter
mellem IT-virksomheden EveryMatrix (EM) og dens kunder, og formålet med projektet er at
undersøge hvilke problemstillinger, der gør sig gældende i relation til vidensdeling mellem EM og dens
kunder, samt hvordan disse kan løses. Projektet er funderet i integration af teori om social kapital,
vidensdeling og medievalg. Problemfeltet blev undersøgt ved hjælp af metodetriangulering, og vores
empiri består af kvalitativ interviewdata, kvantitativ spørgskemadata samt et internt dokument. Alle
data er indsamlet fra respondenter ansat i EM.
Når EM har skrevet under med en kunde, starter et IT-projekt med det formål at integrere kundens site
i EM’s platform. Hvis viden ikke kan deles effektivt, kan det føre til at integrationsprojektet forlænges,
og det vil for begge parter medføre væsentlige forøgelser af omkostninger. Det er derfor af
altafgørende betydning, at viden kan deles effektivt. Fra et teoretisk synspunkt vil vidensdelingen
imidlertid hæmmes af geografiske spredning, der gør, at parterne må ty til brug af digitale medier, når
viden skal deles. Den altafgørende betydning effektiv vidensdeling har for projektets succes og den
teoretiske udfordring, der ligger i at vidensdele via digitale medier er grundlaget for vores interesse i
emnet.
Gennem vores undersøgelse har vi identificeret en ny type medievalgsdeterminant, der ikke tidligere
har været beskrevet i medievalgsliteraturen. Vi kalder denne determinant mediets
dataopbevaringsevne (Data Storage Capability - DSC). Termen refererer til mediets evne til at
opbevare viden. DSC udgøres af to mediekarakteristika: gemme (saving), som refererer til mediets
evne til at gemme viden til fremtidig brug, og lokalisering (locating) som omhandler i hvor høj grad
mediet tillader brugere at fremsøge der viden, der er gemt i mediet.
Medievalgsforskning har hidtil har været fokuseret på mediers evne til at overføre data og symbolsk
medning; dermed har denne vigtige medievalgsdeterminant hidtil været overset. Vores forskning
indikerer, at DSC er en vital tilføjelse til medievalgslitteraturen, da identificeringen af determinanten
DSC øger litteraturens evne til at forudse medievalg.
Identificeringen af DSC bidrager desuden til at belyse betydningen af medievalg for social kapital, idet
vores forskning indikerer, at brugen af medier med høj grad af DSC øger brugernes evne til at fortolke
og opbevare information. Disse er kommunikationsfunktioner, der øger graden af social kapital i et
netværk.

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Vi påpeger endvidere interesseområder for fremtidig forskning, herunder behovet for at klarlægge,
hvilke faktorer der afgør et medies grad af DSC.
Vores undersøgelser viser, at fire udfordringer gør sig særligt gældende i vidensdeling mellem EM og
kunder:
1. At vælge et medie der er egnet til overførsel af den viden, der skal deles
2. At nogle kunder mangler teknisk viden
3. At nogle kunder mangler sproglige egenskaber
4. Mangel på villighed til at kommunikere og engagere sig i projektet
Vi foreslår, at udfordring et og to kan imødekommes ved at EM lægger mere vægt på medievalg, når
kompleks viden skal deles med kunder med en lav grad af teknisk forståelse. Konkret bør kompleks
viden deles via medier som Skype chat og email, der har en høj grad af DSC, da dette vil gøre det
lettere for kunderne at gemme viden og efterfølgende tilgå den efter behov. Dette tiltag skal støttes af
brugen af Skype opkald, som er bedre til at overføre kompleks viden og dermed vil gøre det lettere for
kunderne at forstå den.
De sproglige barrierer kan på kort sigt imødekommes ved at hyre freelance-tolke. På længere sigt
foreslår vi, at EM hyrer personale med kompetencer inden for de sprog, der tales af de kunder, der
typisk er problematiske.
Vores data indikerer, at kundernes mangel på villighed til at kommunikere og engagere sig i projektet
skyldes mangel på fælles normer i relationen mellem EM og kunder, men der er behov for mere
forskning for at fastslå dette. Hvis den kommunikative stilstand skyldes mangel på fælles normer, er
det nærliggende at antage, at det skyldes kulturelle forskelle, idet de problematiske kunder typisk er
fra asiatiske og sydamerikanske lande. Hvis dette er tilfældet, kan løsningen på de sproglige barrierer
til en vis udstrækning også imødekomme den kommunikative stilstand. Dette kræver dog, at det
sprogfaglige personale også besidder interkulturelle kompetencer, der kan bidrage til at forstå og
imødekomme de kulturelle forskelle.

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Table of contents
1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................... 5
2. Methodology................................................................................................................................. 11
2.1 Preparation of study............................................................................................................... 11
2.2 Data collection........................................................................................................................ 11
2.2.1 Operationalisation............................................................................................................ 14
2.2.2 Validity and reliability of the data.................................................................................... 18
2.2.3 Criticism of data collection.............................................................................................. 18
2.3 How we analysed qualitative data ......................................................................................... 19
2.4 How we analysed quantitative data....................................................................................... 20
3. Data............................................................................................................................................... 21
3.1 Signing of new client and kick off ......................................................................................... 22
3.2 Development phase................................................................................................................ 23
3.3 Feedback phase...................................................................................................................... 25
3.4 Media choice........................................................................................................................... 26
3.4.1 Skype chat........................................................................................................................ 28
3.4.2 Skype call ......................................................................................................................... 31
3.4.3 Email ................................................................................................................................. 31
3.4.4 Face-to-face meetings ..................................................................................................... 33
3.4.5 Confluence, Jira and Google Sheets .............................................................................. 34
3.4.6 Type of knowledge shared .............................................................................................. 35
3.5 Challenges in the integration project.................................................................................... 36
4. Discussion.................................................................................................................................... 40
4.1 Other media choice determinants ......................................................................................... 43
4.2 Aligning expectations ............................................................................................................ 47
5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 52
References ....................................................................................................................................... 54
Appendix 1: First interview with IM 1, 21/04/2016.......................................................................... 56
Appendix 2: Second interview with IM 1, 13/05/2016..................................................................... 57
Appendix 3: IM interview questions ............................................................................................... 59
Appendix 4: Interview questions for CEO, 02/05/2016 .................................................................. 62
Appendix 5: Media richness............................................................................................................ 63
Appendix 6: Client questionnaire ................................................................................................... 64
Appendix 7: EM questionnaire........................................................................................................ 68

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1. Introduction
EveryMatrix (EM) is an award-winning provider of full service software solutions to gambling platform
operators. EM employs more than 300 individuals located in such diverse places as the headquarters
in Bucharest (Romania) and branches in Copenhagen (Denmark), London (UK), Manila (the
Phillipines), St. Julians (Malta), Changsa (the People’s Republic of China), Lviv (Ukraine) and Yerevan
(Armenia). EM currently provides software to 70 some casino and sportsbook operator brands, such
as Ekstra Bladet and BingoSjov.dk, which are operated and licensed in jurisdictions all over the world -
from Denmark to Turkey to Brazil.
When EM signs a client, an integration project that typically lasts three to six months is initiated with
the purpose of integrating EM’s software into the online casino or sportsbook of the client. The
integration project is handled by EM’s integration team and each client is assigned an integration
manager (IM) who handles technical matters, and an account manager who handles business and
operational matters. Most of the communication and knowledge sharing occurring during the
integration project is related to technical topics meaning that the IM handles most communication and
knowledge sharing between EM and clients during the integration project.
The integration project involves a high degree of knowledge sharing between EM and clients. In the
beginning, technical knowledge used to specify the product requirements is exchanged and later on,
the client provides feedback which forms the foundation for further development and bug fixing. If this
knowledge cannot be shared efficiently, both parties face the risk of prolonging the integration phase
which will incur additional costs. For EM, a prolonged integration phase will incur additional costs in
the form of development hours. Too, clients whose integration phase has not been initiated will have
to wait longer for their integration project to begin. As the duration of the integration project is a
primary factor in the decision project of prospective clients, EM’s integration queue must be as short
as possible. For clients, a prolonged integration phase will postpone the launch of their gambling
platform, thus revenue will be lost. This initial problem assessment highlights that efficient knowledge
sharing enabling a smooth and quick integration project is of paramount importance to both parties of
the transaction. However, geographical dispersion forces EM to share knowledge with clients via
digital media and this poses a challenge when sharing knowledge from a theoretical point of view
(Takeuchi & Nanoka, 1995; Büchel, 2001; Sitkin et al., 1992).
This leads to the formulation of the following research question which guides our project:
What issues exist in knowledge sharing between EM and clients during integration projects
and how can they be acceded to?

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Our interest was in this research topic was prompted by experiences had by one of the authors of this
report during his marketing internship at EM, and the internship is also the reason we were granted
access to the organisation.
In light of our research issue, this project is an interdisciplinary inquiry into the post-contractual inter-
organisational knowledge sharing and communicative issues that exists between two or more parties
of a transaction - particularly between participants in the integration of client platforms into EM’s
platform. As the research is grounded in our detailed study of EM’s knowledge sharing, social science
is applied as it is based on knowledge production of society, its institutions, organizations, companies,
groups and individuals (Andersen, 2013).
The study draws on theory from business administration, communications and other social sciences.
Particularly, we seek to
1. Investigate the role of social capital in knowledge sharing by integrating social capital and
knowledge sharing theory via Widen-Wulff & Ginman (2004).
2. Explore what type of media are used for knowledge sharing internally and interorganisationally
and why they are used. We do this by applying Sitkin, Sutcliffe and Barrios-Choplin’s (1992)
dual capacity model of media choice to the context of knowledge sharing.
In the following section we explain and integrate the theory applied in the study while arguing for our
choice of theory.
Over the recent years, EM has experienced an increase in competition, which can be primarily
ascribed to the rapid diffusion of technologies forging increased global competition (Noon, Blyton and
Morrell, 2013). This fact renders internal organizational knowledge a valuable resource (Richter and
Vettel, 1995). Knowledge is perceived to be “information combined with experience, context,
interpretation, and reflection. It is a high value form of information that is ready to apply to decisions
and actions” (Davenport et al., 1998, p. 43). While the knowledge management literature offers a
variety of different definitions to what exactly knowledge management is, it generally refers to how
organisations create, retain and share knowledge (Cummings, 2003) and knowledge sharing in the
context of software development is concerned with “the exchange of task-related information, ideas,
know-how, and feedback regarding software products and processes” (Ghobadi, 2014, p. 82).
We will distinguish between two types of knowledge which form a continuum. In one end of the
continuum we find explicit knowledge, which is commonly thought to be concerned with “know-what”.
Explicit knowledge is possessed by someone, if that someone can state the knowledge based on
suitable inquiry or prompting (Dummett, 1991). It can be easily stored, represented and distributed in
physical or electronic books, documents and databases (Seufert et al, 2003). On the other end of the
continuum is implicit knowledge which is “knowing how”. It is more difficult to formalize and
communicate and therefore difficult to share with others and it “is heavily rooted in personal
experiences, subjective perceptions, values and emotions” (Seufert et al, 2003, p. 101). Implicit

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knowledge roughly corresponds to the term tacit knowledge (Davies, 2015). In sharing the latter type
of knowledge, direct interaction between the parties involved in the sharing process is crucial
(Takeuchi & Nanoka, 1995).
Organizationally, knowledge is thought to be an objective commodity that can be transferred
independently of person and context (Ibid). This perception of knowledge often results in the attempt
to alleviate knowledge sharing issues through implementation of information and communication
technology. We acknowledge that technology plays an important role in knowledge sharing in modern
organisations, however, we also argue that the solving of knowledge related issues requires a holistic
approach that takes into consideration the difficulties encountered in identifying knowledge sources
and transferring knowledge. As will be argued below, integrating social capital and knowledge sharing
will provide the holistic approach needed in analysing knowledge issues.
Widen-Wulff and Ginman argue that social capital is a useful theoretical framework of knowledge
sharing in organisations and that strong connections can be found between the two concepts. Through
our detailed study of the knowledge sharing processes in EM, we seek to shed further light on how the
two concepts are interrelated.
Widen-Wulff and Ginman (2004) argues that on both societal and organisational levels, “social capital
refers to networks, norms, trust, and mutual understanding that bind together the members of human
networks and communities, and enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared
objectives” (p. 449) and that it promotes greater cooperation between units. Networks are essential in
making effective use of knowledge (Seufert et al, 2003) and knowledge facilitates action (Takeuchi &
Nanoka, 1995). Hence, social capital can be viewed as a phenomenon that enables effective
knowledge sharing in organisational actions, because the lack of social capital means that networks
are weakened and actors are less able to act together in pursuing shared objectives (Widen-Wulff &
Ginman, 2004).
Drawing on work by Kennan and Hazleton (2002), Widen-Wulff and Ginman (Ibid) explain knowledge
sharing through three dimensions of social capital: a structural dimension, a content dimension and a
relational dimension.
Social capital cannot be developed nor utilised without a structure. This structure is present when
actors in a network have access to other actors, individual or corporate. Four aspects are particularly
important within the structural dimension: 1) knowledge about appropriate communication channels, 2)
timing of communication, indicating that the ability of an organisation to communicate quickly and
timely is important, 3) a frame of reference is needed to provide information about availability and
accessibility of other network actors, and 4) the ability to utilize networks for more purposes than the
one it was originally created for (ibid).

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The content dimension consists of four communication functions that provide social capital:
Information exchange refers to the ability to gather, interpret, organize, store and disseminate
information to relevant components. Problem identification refers to the importance of an
organisation’s ability to exchange information in order to identify problems and find appropriate
solutions. Behavior regulation refers to the process through which the organisation seeks to shape the
behavior of various actors in relation to organizational goals. The last function, conflict management,
emphasises the importance of regarding conflict as “a normal and valuable activity that must be
managed as a regular and ongoing process” (Ibid, p. 450).
The third dimension, the relational dimension, is concerned with expectations and obligations and is
divided into three aspects. The first aspect is trust, which, broadly speaking, is a psychological state of
an actor in which the actor is willing to risk being vulnerable to some other actor (Beatty, Reay, Dick &
Miller, 2011). The second aspect is identification which refers to the extent to which actors view
themselves as connected to each other. The third aspect, which is necessary but not sufficient in itself
in providing social capital, is closure. Effective sanctions can be enacted by those who value the
system of social capital to sanction unwanted behavior. Closure is identifiable through the observation
of mutual norms within a network. Arguably, norms are not important in transactional relations as
these are already regulated by contracts that provide means of sanctioning unwanted behavior.
However, pursuant of Granovetter’s theory about embeddedness of social structure in economic
action (1985), we argue that relational mechanisms such as norms remain important even in
contractual relations as micro-management of individual behavior is not feasible via contracts. That
relational mechanisms, along with transactional mechanisms, are important in mitigating opportunism
and improving relationship performance is well-established in the literature (Liu, Lou, Liu, 2008).
An inherent part of knowledge sharing is the actual transfer of knowledge and this can take place
through media, physical or digital, or through direct interaction (Seufert et al, 2003). As EM and clients
are often placed in different geographic locations, they rarely meet face to face. Most contact is, then,
mediated. This imposes a weakness in knowledge sharing between the parties, as direct interaction is
often needed in transferring implicit knowledge and information (Takeuchi & Nanoka, 1995).
Communication technology can be ineffective in supporting information interpretation, an essential
point for the development and use of knowledge (Büchel, 2001). This prompts us to investigate how
knowledge is actually shared in EM and what challenges pertain to the sharing process. In doing this
we apply Sitkin, Sutcliffe and Barrios-Choplin’s (1992) dual capacity model of media choice to the
context of knowledge transfer. This model provides an integrative approach to media choice in which,
contrary to Dinesen (2008) who only focuses on media richness, several media choice paradigms are
taken into consideration in investigating media choice. Furthermore, Sitkin et al. regard face-to-face
meetings as an independent, special form medium, such that direct interactions crucial in sharing
implicit knowledge are also encompassed by the model. Whereas Bordewijk and van Kaams (1986)
information flow framework could be utilised in characterising the flow of the knowledge transfer
through specific media, Sitkin et al’s model allows us to explore what influences media choice when

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EM employees share knowledge. Furthermore, contrary to Bordewijk and van Kaam’s (1986)
descriptive framework, Sitkin et al’s model is normative in that it allows us to assess our findings on
media choice in knowledge transfer and the applicability of the findings in relation to their formal
recommendations.
Media choice can be done through determination of the needed Data Carrying Capacity (DCC) and
Symbolic Carrying Capacity (SCC) (Sitkin et al., 1992). DCC refers to the degree to which a medium is
able to effectively and efficiently convey task-relevant data. In this, media richness is included. Media
richness is is based on four different criteria: (a) the medium’s capacity for timely feedback, (b) the
ability to convey multiple cues, (c) the degree to which the message can be personalized and (d) the
variety of language that can be used or range of meaning that can be conveyed. It is generally
accepted in the literature that face-to-face communication is the richest medium (see Appendix 5).
DCC is influenced by task contingencies which consist of two cluster factors: task characteristics and
message characteristics (ibid). Task characteristics consist of three characteristics: uncertainty,
analyzability, and urgency. Message characteristics consist of five criteria: complexity, clarity, volume,
valence, and relevance. The medium’s richness should match the task contingencies if one is to
choose the most effective medium. Sitkin et al. argue that media with a high level of DCC are better
suited for conveying complex information. In investigating our research issue, we find it necessary to
integrate the two theoretical concepts complex information and implicit knowledge. As previously
noted, implicit knowledge refers to “know-how” and personal experience. We argue that, as an
example, implicit knowledge in the context of IT projects concerns how to solve a technical issue. As
this knowledge is technical of nature and pertains to a discipline of which knowledge is dependent on
years of training or higher education, it ought to be perceived as complex information. This leads to
the argument that the term implicit knowledge, which stems from knowledge creation literature, is the
equivalent of the term complex information which is found in media choice literature. In the cases
where complex information is also implicit knowledge, we will refer to this collectively as complex
knowledge. We also integrate the two terms simple information and explicit knowledge and refer to
these collectively as simple knowledge.
SCC refers to the degree to which a medium is able to convey or manifest symbolic meaning. Media
can be carriers of symbolic meaning in two ways: (a) by conveying a specific set of meanings, where
meanings refer to those core values and shared beliefs that constitute the deeper cultural features that
define what is “meaningful” to members of the organization, or (b) by attaining the status of a symbol,
which is when a medium become a symbol representing that which is valued or devalued in an
organisational setting (ibid).
SCC is influenced by normative contingencies that refer to cultural norms, role expectations and
institutional expectations (ibid). Cultural norms influence media choice as shared understandings can
form a set of “communication rules” and attach meaning to different media by “organizational insiders”
(ibid). Role expectations influence media choice as the symbolism of using a given media can be

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different for communicators occupying different roles (ibid). Within institutions, standard modes of
communication may become so routinized that no alternative methods are seriously considered, and
the selection of media becomes institutionalised, which is referred to as institutional expectations
(ibid).
Given our research question, the core assumptions that form the ontological and epistemological
foundation of this paper are those of a pragmatic approach to social constructivism. This implies that
social reality is socially constructed and that we as humans are active interpreters of our surroundings
(Berger & Luckmann, 1966: Berger, 1967). Thus, an individual’s perception of reality is an emergent
process that is contingent on social processes and is locally determined (Ingemann, 2013). This
approach allows us to investigate social capital as a socially constructed phenomenon and apply
Sitkin et al’s (2003) dual capacity model which integrates what Nelissen, Wenneker and van Selm
(2008) call subjectivist and objectivist approaches to media choice. In simple terms, these approaches
refer to viewing media characteristics as objective factors or socially constructed phenomena.
Our approach indicates that we as investigators are active interpreters of our own social reality
including the research results. We acknowledge that the analysis in the present report is contingent
upon validation by other researchers. We hope to produce produce knowledge of intersubjective merit
that will contribute to organizational effectiveness and advance what is known about knowledge
management in software development.
We call our approach pragmatic because quantitative and qualitative methods are not mutually
exclusive; rather, through complementarity, they form a dialectic relationship in the form of a
continuum of reconstructed meaning (Berger & Luckmann, 1966; Weber, 1962). In The Structure of
Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn (1962), argued that competing paradigms, such as realism and idealism,
are incommensurable because they make use of different concepts and methodologies. Kuhn’s claim
was later supported by many, but recent decades have seen a surge in mixed methods studies
opposing the idea of incommensurability between paradigmatically separated methods (Johnson &
Onwuegbuzie, 2004). The present paper follows this recent trend of mixed methods research as the
methodologies of both paradigms are similar in that they “describe their data, construct explanatory
arguments from their data, and speculate about why the outcomes they observed happened as they
did” (Sechrest and Sidani, 1995, p. 78) and they should therefore be neither conceptually nor
practically segregated.

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2. Methodology
This section includes a description of the methodology used in studying our research question. The
section will describe three overall topics: 1) how we prepared to study our research question, 2) how
our data was collected, and 3) how we analyzed the data.
2.1 Preparation of study
The research question was sparked by experiences had by one of the authors of this report during his
marketing internship at EM. While working at EM, he learned that EM experienced issues in relation to
the communication with clients. With a symptom of the issue being that clients directed questions to
EM’s CEO and executive chairman instead of to the account manager and IMs assigned to the client,
we initially identified this phenomena to be concerned with a lack of clearness as to whom clients
should direct questions to.
We set up an interview with EM’s Head of Integration to whom all IMs refer to explore further this
research issue as a possible consultative research topic. During this interview, we found that clients
contacting the CEO and the executive chairman was not, in fact, a widespread problem. Instead, we
found that clients direct almost all of their questions to the IMs and that this constitutes a challenge in
itself. We came to understand that this obliges considerable use of resources for the IMs to handle the
huge amount of requests they face. We also realised that EM faces an issue in regards to providing
information to clients who do not possess adequate technological knowledge to interpret the
information as intended by EM. This results in EM using more resources than expected on
communicating the same information multiple times. We promptly revised our initial problem
formulation and sought to address the field issue as presented for our project inquiry and report.
2.2 Data collection
The purpose of this section is to explain the methods we applied in collecting data, our reasoning for
choosing these methods and how we operationalised the theoretical phenomena we are investigating.
In exploring our research question, we largely adopted an explorative approach in which we analysed
quantitative and qualitative data comprised of a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews carried out
with actors involved in the integration project, and an internal document describing EM’s vision. As will
be revisited below, the qualitative analysis took a point of departure in the Constant Comparison

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Method (CCM) which is closely related to theoretical sampling. This principle implies the we decided
what data to gather based on provisional theoretical ideas and that additional data sources was
identified based on analysis of initial data. This allowed us to answer questions that arose from
analysis and reflection on previous data (Boeije, 2002).
Our data sources were comprised of a team of five IMs whose role it is to oversee the integration
project and handle all communication related to this project between EM and clients, and EM
developers working on the integration. We carried out two interviews with Head of Integration who also
functions as an IM and to whom all IMs refer (will be referred to as IM 1), two interviews with two
different IMs (will be referred to as IM 2 and IM 3), and one interview with the CEO. (See Appendix 1,
2, 3 and 4 for our interview Chronology with each respondent). Additionally, we created two
questionnaires (see appendix 6 and 7), one for clients and one for IMs and developers, but only got to
carry out the latter, as EM was about to conduct a questionnaire with clients themselves, and did not
want to carry out two questionnaires at the same time. EM allowed us to propose questions for their
questionnaire, and then they would consider including them. However, EM did not conduct the
questionnaire in time for us to include it in this research. In the questionnaire for IMs and developers,
we received 6 responses out of a total population of 15, resulting in a response rate of 40 percent.
Based on an estimation from the CEO of the likeliness that employees would participate in our
questionnaire, we anticipated to achieve a much higher response rate.
The Head of Integration chose which IMs and clients we could interview. The IMs function as
mediators of knowledge between clients and developers, meaning that developers very rarely have
contact with clients. Thus, knowledge sharing between EM and clients is not directly dependent on the
development team. However, we found it necessary to investigate knowledge sharing processes
between the IMs and the development team, as we expected the effectiveness of these processes to
affect knowledge sharing between IMs and clients indirectly. We expected internal knowledge sharing
in clients’ organisations to affect the effectiveness of interorganisational knowledge sharing as well.
However, due to limited access to clients’ organisations, it was not feasible to explore clients’
intraorganisational knowledge sharing.
Instead, we decided to focus on knowledge sharing between developers and IMs on one side and
between clients and IMs on the other side. This is visualised in Figure 1. An interview was also carried
out with the CEO of EM with the purpose shedding light on what is done by top level management to
improve knowledge sharing during the integration phase.
Figure 1 - Knowledge flow

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We found quantitative data particularly useful in providing a broad overview of the investigated
phenomena as this allowed us to obtain data from a larger number of respondents more efficiently
than would have been the case with interviews.
We intended to collect data from the questionnaire and subsequently carry out interview to get in-
depth insights into the underlying causes of the data from the questionnaire. This did not became
reality though, as we were dependent on approval from EM side and dependent on our assigned
contact person to actually distribute the survey internally. This did not happen before all interviews
were carried out, which caused that the interviews could not be used to get in-depth insight on the
results from the questionnaire. The interviews were still used to investigate complex phenomena such
as norms and media choice determinants, even though they could not be related to results from the
questionnaire.
Further, our original intent was to carry out interviews with clients, which should be set up by our
contact person. However, in spite of several emails and Skype chats, our contact person did not set
up client interviews in time for us to include the data in our project.
We still intend to carry out interviews with clients before the oral defense of if the opportunity arises
The design of the questionnaires were build based on the operationalisation of the selected theories,
as described below (Questionnaire content is provided in Appendix 6 and 7). The respondent had to
rank all questions on a scale from 1-10, which would then provide a general overview of the opinions
towards the subject of the questions. To alleviate the inherent issue of limiting the range of possible
responses, many questions were also equipped with an “other” or comment box allowing the
respondent to provide answers not encompassed by the pre-defined range of response and further
describe his or her opinion towards a matter. Also, the questionnaire to EM were to be answered
anonymously, and we did not have the ability to control anonymity for clients, as EM was in control of
this questionnaire.
We found semi- structured interviews to be particularly suited for exploring EM’s knowledge processes
because we had very little knowledge of this aspect prior to the interview. Therefore, we needed a
data collection method that allowed the respondent to convey a large amount of information while also
allowing us to receive instant feedback on questions prompted by the conveyed information. We
chose to use the semi-structured interview form as this gives the respondent the opportunity to
influence the course of the interview, allowing the interview to touch unforeseen topics while at the
same time ensuring that certain pre-defined topics are discussed (Kvale, 2009). The interviews were
carried out using Skype audio calls as all respondents are based in Bucharest making face to face
interviews unfeasible.
Additionally, the opportunity to explain terms and elaborate on questions in order to increase
respondents’ understanding of the questions supported the qualitative inquiry mode because it
enabled our exploration of social capital in knowledge sharing. We also found a qualitative approach

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necessary in exploring media choice determinants as the range of possible responses to a
phenomenon as complex as this cannot be encompassed by a questionnaire.
Our first interview had the purpose to provide insights into the structure of the integration project, and
was carried out with IM 1. This interview provided a foundation upon which the questions asked in
subsequent interviews was based.
In order to do so, the structure of the first conducted interview with IM 1 was based on the informant
interview approach (Andersen, 2013). This approach is relatively unstructured and open, and is often
used in the initial phase of a research inquiry, as it is assumed that the researcher do not posses great
detailed knowledge about the phenomena (ibid).
2.2.1 Operationalisation
This section explains how we operationalised the selected theories. As will be elaborated below, we
operationalise the dimensions of social capital differently depending on whether social capital in
internal knowledge or in interorganisational knowledge sharing is explored.
When conducting interviews and questionnaire, we used the term “information” instead of
“knowledge”, as we assessed that the respondents would find this term more tangible and easier to
understand.
See Appendix 1, 2, 3, 4 ,6 and 7 for interview templates and questionnaires, all based on
operationalisation of the dimensions of social capital and media choice determinants.
Structural dimension
This section explains how we operationalised the following aspects of the structural dimension in the
questionnaires in order to investigate the influence of this dimension on knowledge sharing. The
aspects of the structural dimension are knowledge of appropriate communication channels, timing of
communication, frame of references and ability to utilize networks.
In investigating the effect of the aspects of the structural dimension on both internal and
interorganisational knowledge sharing, we asked all respondents, the developers and IMs, to rate the
appropriateness of using various media in a work context. A high degree of agreement about the
appropriateness of using various media would be interpreted as a high degree of knowledge of
appropriate communication channels. We argue that a high agreement is indicated by a low standard
deviation of the mean value of the answers received via the questionnaire, but our assessment is also
dependent on the findings from the interviews. The aspect timing of communication in the structure
dimension was operationalised in the questionnaire as the degree to which respondents were satisfied
with the response time of the other actors in the knowledge sharing processes. Additionally, we asked
the respondents to indicate the degree to which they are aware of whom to contact when they have
questions or need assistance. This is an operationalisation of the aspect frame of references.

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Utilization of networks was operationalised as the degree to which a respondent's network function for
other purposes than the original purpose of the network. This operationalisation was investigated in
the questionnaire and interviews through different questions that would provide information about the
respondents networks and functions of those networks, as we did not thought the respondent would
be able to identify his or hers own networks and the primary function of those networks.
We asked actors included in the integration project what media, such as Skype, email and face to face
conversations, they use when sharing knowledge with the purpose to identify the actors’ knowledge of
appropriate communication channels.
In the interviews, we were looking for the underlying reasons for the results generated by the
questionnaire by asking “how” and “why”. That is, we asked respondents what media they deemed
appropriate for work use and why, how they make sure to be able to respond in a timely manner and
how they know who to contact.
Content dimension
Information exchange, problem identification, behavior regulation and conflict management are
communication functions of the content dimension.
We explored the information exchange aspect by investigating the respondents’ ability to gather,
interpret, organise, store and disseminate information (Cf. literature review). Ability was explored
quantitatively by asking the respondents to rate the ease by which they can obtain information from
other actors and how able other actors are at answering. Organise and store were investigated
qualitatively by exploring what arrangements the actors have in place to help them organize and store
knowledge.
The aspect behavior regulation was only applied in our analysis of internal knowledge sharing as this
aspect is concerned with arrangements made by an organisation to shape the behavior of actors in
relation to organisational goals and this project does not involve knowledge sharing internally in
clients’ organisations. The aspect was explored by asking the CEO what top level management does
to encourage employees to share knowledge. During our interview with the CEO, we also asked him
about EM’s opinion on and attitude towards conflicts and we asked both the CEO and the IMs how
they handle conflicts with clients in order to explore the aspect conflict management of the structural
dimension.
Problem identification was operationalised by investigating the degree to which IMs and clients were
able to identify communicative and technical issues through the exchange of knowledge.
Relational dimension

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This dimension is concerned with trust, identification and closure. In our questionnaire for EM, we
operationalised trust as the willingness of developers and IMs to rely on various sorts of shared
information. Identification was operationalised as the degree to which actors feel connected on a
personal level to other actors, and closure as the degree to which actors perceive their norms to be
shared by other actors. We conceptualise norms as informal guidelines that govern what is deemed
appropriate behavior in a social network such as the organisations of EM and clients.
To gain insight into the effect of the relational dimension on the internal knowledge sharing, we
operationalised trust by asking IMs and developers how likely they are to rely on information shared by
colleagues and supervisors. Identification was operationalised by investigating the degree to which the
IMs was able to understand the client’s needs. Closure was operationalised as the degree to which
the client and the IMs agreed on the nature of various aspects of the integration phase as we
perceived this to express mutual norms regarding behavior in a transactional relationship.
As we were unable to conduct interviews or questionnaires with clients, our data will not reflect clients’
perceptions of this dimension.
When interviewing IMs, to get insights into the relational dimension we asked respondents to describe
their relationships with clients and developers and to describe the cores values of EM. Additionally, an
internal document describing EM’s vision was used to explore company values. If similarities between
clients’ and IMs’ perception of EM’s values were found, we could infer that the parties might identify
with each other, thus suggesting the provision of social capital by the relational dimension. We also
asked both parties to describe what they value in a transactional relationship to be able to identify
mutual norms.
Media choice
Sitkin et al’s (1992) dual capacity model was applied to explore how the carrying capacity of various
media, as perceived by actors in the integration project, affect the degree of preference towards using
the media for sharing implicit and explicit knowledge respectively.
In order to be able to do this, we gathered quantitative data on what media are used and the degree of
likeliness of use towards a set of specified media (see below) in various contexts. Afterwards, we used
qualitative data gathered via interviews to explore the underlying reasons for the results of the
quantitative data. Specifically, we did this in the hope of being able to find correlations between the
SCC affiliated with a medium by interview respondents and the degree of preference for the same
medium as stated in the questionnaires. We want to investigate if media with a high level of DCC are
used for sharing implicit knowledge. This means that in the discussion section, we discuss the level of
DCC of each of the media found to be utilised in knowledge sharing.
In our questionnaire, we investigated the attitudes of actors involved in the integration project (i.e. IMs,
clients, EM developers) towards using the following mediain various situations:

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● Skype video call
● Skype audio call - no video
● Skype chat
● Email
● Cellular phone call
● Mobile device text message
● Social media
● Face-to-face meetings/conversations
● Confluence
We knew these to be available to EM from our initial interview with IM 1. In order to be able to explore
whether or not different SCC and DCC are affiliated with each media, we ask about every single
media available to EM employees instead of grouping them. If we had grouped media, as is done by
Dinesen (2008) and Sitkin et al (1992), we would not have been able to explore the perceptions
towards each individual channel. Avoiding grouping of channels ensures that we do not overlook
nuances in attitudes between media, hence allowing us to provide more clear guidelines on the use of
media.
The attitudes investigated were “likeliness of use”, “perception of appropriateness in work contexts”,
and “preference”. There is a clear distinction between “likeliness of use” and “preference” as the
medium used might not be medium of choice if, say, the respondent is not the one initiating a specific
instance of knowledge sharing. In investigating these attitudes, we distinguished between situations in
which the respondent were the one who requested the sharing of knowledge and situations in which
the respondent were asked to share knowledge. Additionally, we distinguished between implicit and
explicit knowledge. The former was operationalised as the sharing of advice and opinions, the latter
was operationalised as sharing information about the status of a task or informing where to locate
knowledge that had already been formalised in internal books, documents, wikis, policies or similar (cf.
the definition of the two in the literature review).
In the interviews, we explored symbolic meanings affiliated with media by asking respondents to
characterise various media and describe pros and cons and explain their preference towards their
most preferred media. Respondents were also asked to describe how they would share implicit and
explicit knowledge respectively in terms of media and reason their choice. Additionally, we explored in
which situations various types of media - text-transferring, audio-transferring - were preferred and why.

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2.2.2 Validity and reliability of the data
An important aspect of the research is the validity and reliability of the collected data.
Andersen (2013) draws on Hellevik (2002) when defining the quality of the data to be a product of the
relationship between reliability and the validity.
Validity cannot be measured empirically, and is always subject to discussion meaning that
argumentation has to be made as to why the collected data reach great validity.
Validity is concerned with relevance, which is a product of the degree to which the operationalisations
can answer the research question, and the compliance between the concepts of selected theories and
operationalisation of these.
Reliability of the collected data relates to weather or not the same research can be conducted and
receive the same data.
We will write an executive summary that will be given to the CEO and some of the IMs in EM in order
to present our greatest findings for the company. The validity in this research is strongly related to the
degree to which the company is able to apply the findings of this research in order to optimise
knowledge sharing. The aim is to present a statement from the CEO that explain his thoughts towards
the findings of the research at the oral defense of this research.
Furthermore, experiencing the same findings in future research would be an indication of great
reliability. In our case though, we aim to propose findings that subsequently contribute to changes in
the company, which would prevent a great reliability according to general theory. We argue that
reliability in our research will be determined on the degree to which EM consider the findings of this
research for future decision making. Calculating the reliability could be done by carrying out interviews
and questionnaires in the future, based on the same operationalisations as this research presents to
investigate how well the results match.
2.2.3 Criticism of data collection
After carrying out the questionnaire to IMs and developers, we realised our question “what media do
you prefer to receive assignment instructions though?” was not created correctly in order to receive
the data as intended. The question was created with checkboxes rather than radio buttons, which
enabled the respondent to check multiple categories, thus providing data that did not make a clear
indication towards what medium were actually most preferred when receiving assignment instructions.
Furthermore, we initially interpreted Jira to be a part of Confluence, and they were used
interchangeably. But after we had received all the data from the empirical work, we figured out that

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Jira should be included in the questionnaire as a separate media. Not including Jira may had
contributed to inaccurate results and a lack in the reliability of the data.
2.3 How we analysed qualitative data
As the purpose of the interviews was to uncover phenomena such as mutual norms and interviewees’
perception of various media, we largely adopted an explorative approach based on the constant
comparison method (CCM) as presented by Boeije (2002). We found this approach valuable to our
research inquiry as CCM constitute the core of qualitative analysis in the grounded theory approach
developed by Glaser and Strauss which is concerned with developing theory grounded in data (1967;
via Boeije, 2002). This procedure aims to accede to the weakness of qualitative research imposed by
a lack of explication and account which reduces the verification and therefore the credibility of
qualitative reports (Ibid). The analysis was guided by two activities: fragmenting and connecting (Dey,
1993), the former referring to analysing each interview separately, the latter referring to comparing the
fragments in order to obtain a comprehensive view of the investigated phenomena.
Following the procedure proposed by Boeije (2002) our analysis process encompassed
1. Comparison within a single interview.
2. Comparison between interviews within the same group.
3. Comparison of interviews from different groups.
The procedure proposed by Boeije (Ibid) contains five steps of which the last two are concerned with
comparing couples as this was relevant in the research that prompted Boeije to propose the
procedure. However, as no dyadic relationships exist in the relation between the parties involved in
the integration project, these steps were left out of our analysis approach.
During the interviews, the person not conducting the interview took notes. After the interview, these
notes were revised and initial thoughts added. The first step of our analysis was to listen to each
interview and analyse them separately. While analysing each interview separately, we coded words,
phrases, sentences and sections that could be of interest in answering our research questions. We will
refer to these as fragments. The coded fragments encompassed information about processes and
actions and the respondents’ opinions and thoughts on various topics and other phenomena relevant
to our research inquiry. Then, by comparing different parts of the interview, we looked for
inconsistencies in what was said and for answers that we would like to have elaborated. In some
instances, prompted questions for areas that needed additional clarification. The questions were
asked and answered using Skype chat with the respective respondents.
If two fragments were given the same code, the fragments were compared to see if new information
was given about the code category or if the same information was repeated. The aim of this is to

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develop categories and to label them with the most appropriate codes as this allows one to identify the
core message of the interview (Ibid). This initial analysis resulted in a provisional list of codes which
was subject to comparison in order to analyse the situation. This was done for all interviews.
The next step of our analysis was to compare the analyses of the different interviews, which was done
by comparing fragments from interviews that had been given the same code. This resulted in the
merging of codes into broader categories dealing with the same theme. The aim of this was to further
develop our conceptualisation of the investigated phenomena, that is norms and perceptions of media,
and discover similarities and differences between the interviews.
Lastly, we intended to compare the perception of the investigated phenomena as expressed by
interviewees from different groups are compared. Here, we defined two groups: EM employees and
clients. However, we did not conduct this comparison as we collected no data from clients.
2.4 How we analysed quantitative data
The quantitative data analysis included calculating mean values, standard deviation and median of all
scale questions in the questionnaire conducted to EM.
The mean values were calculated for all categories in one question in order to rank each category, as
this would provide an overview of which category received the highest ranking for the related question.
All mean values constructed would enable a comparison of each question and how each media
ranked in each question. This was done in order to construct an overview towards what media were
most likely to use (see Table 2 in the data section).
We calculated the standard deviation for each category in order to investigate how differentiated the
respondents’ opinion towards a specific topic was, as standard deviation is a measure of spread for
the given data set (Lock, Lock, Lock, Lock & Lock, 2013). A high standard deviation indicates a great
spread which indicates more differentiated answers (ibid).
After the mean values and spread for all categories in all questions were calculated, these would be
compared in order to find patterns in the data.

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3. Data
The structure of the section follows the course of an integration project. That is, we present the phases
of the integration project in a chronologic order and convey our findings as they relate to each phase.
Our findings regarding media choice are presented in a following section as they are generally not
phase specific. Last we present challenges related to the integration project.
First of all we present Figure 2 that illustrates an integration project:
Figure 2: The phases included in the integration project.

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3.1 Signing of new client and kick off
After a contract is signed, an IM and account manager is assigned to the project of integrating the
client website into EM’s platform. This marks the start of the integration project and an IM start as the
client’s main contact person throughout the project.
After signing, an internal pre-kick-off meeting takes place at which the sales personnel responsible for
signing the client, the assigned IM and account manager share knowledge about the client. The main
purpose of the meeting is for the sales personnel to convey knowledge regarding the client’s
organisation and what website the client wants. These meetings are held as Skype call meetings most
of the time.
Next step in the project is the kick-off meeting which involves the client, the IM and the account
manager and other stakeholders such as compliance managers or website owners. The kick-off
meetings are always held as Skype calls because face-to-face meetings are not feasible due to
geographical separation of EM and clients.
At kick-off meetings, the scope of the project and various details and procedures are agreed upon,
including what media to choose for sharing knowledge, and all the phases of the integration project
are presented to the client.
We have a checklist we go through during this kick-off meeting, where we try to establish if the
provisions from the contract have been understood by both parties. To make sure that both parties
understand what this integration is going to involve, we are looking at a road map of a certain number
of weeks and try to describe to the customer in as much detail as possible the stages and phases of
the integration, the personnel involved. We also try to recommend approaches to the integration. In
case they want to build a website with APIs, we try to recommend that they have enough resources to
stick to a schedule, [...] the IM is the [gate] keeper during the integration project. We look in greater
detail on the particular software integration, what target markets the customers have, what currencies
they want to have on their website. We try to do all this [...] so that there are no question marks left
when we start. (IM 2, 03:30)
The efforts outlined in the quote are all aimed at aligning expectations and ensuring that the client
understands what is going to happen. Additionally, the clients are given several manuals and
documents to help them.
When we start the project, we give them a set of tools, let’s call them like that, which are necessary for
them during the integration phase. These are manuals, API sample pages, users, depending on the
case we give them what they need to start with. (IM 2, 49:08)

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If after the meeting a client has questions regarding the manual or something that is otherwise
documented, IMs can reply right on the spot. However, clients often come up with questions which are
not supported in the documentation either because the questions are out of the scope of the particular
integration project or because they are too technical. In such cases, the IMs have to request help from
the developers. In some cases, developers will have to carry out an analysis in order to provide an
answer. This will be revisited in the media choice section.
Depending on the project, after the kick-off meeting the client will have to provide so-called design files
that visualise how the client wants the website to look. EM then bases the development on these files.
After receiving the files, discussions mediated by the IMs takes place between developers and clients
in order to agree on the design and the capabilities and limitations of EM’s system. Before the next
step, both EM and the client has to sign off that the design is final. When the sign-off has been made,
a development team is assigned and the development phase can begin.
3.2 Development phase
In the development phase the actual website is developed. There are two types of projects: one in
which EM develops the entire website and one in which the client builds the entire website and EM’s
only job is to conduct some configuration. The kind of knowledge shared in the two project types vary,
as the knowledge shared in the former project is much more technical.
When they build their own website, then it gets really technical. When we build it, they just care about
the business aspects and when it is ready. They don’t care how it is done, as long as it is done in the
time they were promised it would get done. But when they are building it, it gets more technical (IM 3,
20:19)
During the development phase, the client involvement is generally lower than in other phases, but
some clients remain active and communicate with the IM on a daily basis. The IM is responsible for
allocating the various assignments to developers, keeping track of the development progress, and
sharing knowledge on the status of the project with clients. Depending on the project, either integration
developers, website developers or both are assigned. The integration developers are part of the
integration team and refer to the IMs, the website developers belong to other teams and have their
own team leaders.
During the development phase, lists that dictate what clients should be prioritised are sent to IMs each
week via email from top management. The lists also dictate which client requests should be handled
and in which order.

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Besides weekly meetings, Skype calls are rarely used as a means of sharing knowledge with clients,
but if a client requests Skype call meetings to be held more frequently than once per week, the IMs
are willing to meet this request. This is symptomatic of the general relationship between EM and
clients - the IMs are generally very considerate of whatever a client might request. This is also
demonstrated by the fact that EM does not have a policy on what media should be used for knowledge
sharing with clients, instead the choice is always dependent on the client’s preference.
I guess I just choose [media]. Ideally I do that. But of course clients may have their own suggestion, so
I am flexible. It depends on what they favour to use [...] I am open to their preference as long as it
makes things for us easy to communicate and keep them active (IM 2, 20:50)
The quote exemplifies that great consideration is taken towards clients’ preferences in that the IM is
willing to deviate from his own preferences in order to satisfy the client.
The importance put on client consideration by EM is also exemplified in the adaptability and flexibility
of EM’s websites. The following passage from EM’s vision statement shows that website adaptability
is high and illustrates that consideration of client needs is built into EM’s website portfolio:
EveryMatrix software sales - and architecture - is modular. Clients can take sports, casino or payment
with our front-end or easily build their own, use our back-end or seamlessly integrate it into their own,
use our casino or payment deals or use own, use our gaming licenses or use own. (Vision statement)
Consideration is not only taken towards clients. Most knowledge sharing in the development phase
takes place between developers and IMs. In requesting knowledge from developers, IMs display
consideration toward their colleagues.
We don’t want to stress anybody internally either, so if [the developers] are busy with their projects, we
write them an email to wait for an answer. (IM 2, 48:43)
The considerate attribute of IMs reflects in the high degree of socialisation that takes place between
employees in the company.
All IMs expressed great satisfaction with the social atmosphere of EM - IMs even consider the
developers their friends - and relations are very informal and friendly. According to the CEO, the
development of social relations between employees is not a top priority of the top management.
However, various activities ranging from a yearly, collective weekend trip paid for by EM, to free
monthly Friday bars, to an employee-driven athletics club take place. These activities all play a role in
creating and sustaining social non-work oriented relations between employees, according to our data.
The notion that the social atmosphere of EM is supported by the questionnaire answered by IMs and
developers. As stated in our methodology section, the questions included in Table 1 are based on our
operationalisation of the relational dimension, which concerns trust, identification and closure.

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1. To what degree
are you willing to
rely on information
received from
persons in your
department?
2. How likely
are you to
share
information
requested by a
colleague?
3. How likely
are you to
share
information
requested by a
superior?
4. To what
degree do you
connect on a
personal level
with your
colleagues?
5. To what degree
does the behavior of
your colleagues
conform with your
expectations to their
behavior on a
professional and
personal level?
6. To what degree
do you feel that
you and your
colleagues share
the same norms
regarding work
ethics?
Mean 9,17 9,17 9,67 7,50 7,67 7,33
𝞼 0,75 0,98 0,52 1,87 1,03 1,37
Table 1. Relational dimension.
The CEO finds that employees in general are quite motivated to share knowledge. This, he thinks, is
partly due to the fact that management emphasises internal promotion and that employees feel that
their opinion matters. Internal promotion, he thinks, play part in internal knowledge sharing because it
increases the willingness of employees to share knowledge as sharing knowledge constitutes an
opportunity for them to prove themselves skillful and knowledgeable.
Additionally, top level EM management tries to create a knowledge sharing culture within the
organisation by encouraging managers to always listen to what employees have to say, so that they
will feel that their opinion is valued. This effort resonates in the relationship between IMs and clients
which is described as being open and based on availability, and in which emphasis is put on ensuring
that clients feel they “get the attention they deserve”.
3.3 Feedback phase
The development phase ends with the beginning of the feedback phase. In this phase, clients are
given access to the website to test if the functionality of the website is consistent with the requirements
and provide feedback on technical flaws, the so-called bugs, and other flaws. The media used for this
are presented in the media choice section.
After development, there would be the feedback stage where clients reviews the website, provides all
the feedback necessary, we continue configurations, meaning that we move the website from the
development environment to the production environment. There we can configure everything again,
there will be a testing phase from our side that can take up to two weeks. There will be bug fixing after
that. Together with all this, with clients feedback, there usually contain change requests with more
development, it can leads to up to two months. Until the actual moment of launch. (IM 1, 14.50)
When everything is in order and no further bugs or changes has to be fixed, the feedback phase ends
with the launch of the project that also indicates the end of the integration phase, as the website will

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be delivered to the client. When the website has been launched, the account management team will
be responsible for client communication, and leave out the IM.
3.4 Media choice
In this sub-section of our findings, we identify which media are used for intra- as well as
interorganisational knowledge sharing in the integration project. For each medium, we present what
the medium is used for, including if it is used for intra- or interorganisational knowledge sharing, and
why the medium is used.
Figure 3 shows what media the respondents of the questionnaire have indicated are available when
communicating with persons from the respondent’s department.
Figure 3: Available media internally in EM.
Further, In the questionnaire we asked respondents to indicate the degree to which they are likely to
use a range of media in five different situations. The situations are
1. If you need a colleague’s opinion or advice on a matter.
2. If you are to give your opinion or advice on a matter.
3. If a person from your department asks you to help locate information that can be found in a
document, a policy, a database etc.
4. If you need to ask a person from your department to help you locate information that can be
found in a document, a policy, a database etc.
5. If you need to inform or be informed about the status of an assignment

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The results are presented in Table 2. Top three mean values are colored. The darkest is the highest
mean value. The greatest are colored as well.
Situation Skype video
call
Skype
audio call
Skype
chat
Email Cellular
phone call
Mobile
device text
Social
media
Face-to-
face
Confluence
Mean 𝞼 Mean 𝞼 Mean 𝞼 Mean 𝞼 Mean 𝞼 Mean 𝞼 Mean 𝞼 Mean 𝞼 Mean 𝞼
1 2,83 2,48 5,17 3,43 10,00 0,00 6,14 3,21 2,50 2,35 2,17 1,83 2,83 2,86 8,50 1,38 6,50 3,39
2 2,33 1,63 6,50 3,02 9,83 0,41 8,33 1,86 2,33 2,16 2,17 2,04 3,00 3,16 8,50 1,52 4,83 3,54
3 1,67 1,63 2,67 2,25 9,17 1,33 8,67 0,82 2,00 2,00 1,50 1,22 1,17 0,41 8,00 2,28 6,17 3,87
4 1,00 0,00 2,40 2,19 8,40 3,05 6,60 3,05 1,80 1,10 1,00 0,00 1,00 0,00 9,40 0,89 7,20 2,77
5 1,20 0,45 3,60 2,97 9,00 2,24 9,60 0,89 1,00 0,00 1,00 0,00 1,00 0,00 8,20 1,10 5,60 4,28
Table 2. Likeliness of use of media in a certain situations. Greatest mean values for each situation are highlighted with
darkest green, second and third greatest with lighter green.
Table 2 indicates that Skype chat is most likely to be used in almost every listed situation.
Respondents are more likely to use face-to-face communication in the fourth situation, but otherwise,
this medium is considered as the second most likely medium to use for internal knowledge sharing.
Furthermore, the standard deviation of this medium is smaller than one in all situation,s which means
that the respondents answer do not differ much and there is great consensus that this medium is likely
to be used for internal knowledge sharing. Table 2 also indicates that respondents are likely to use
emails and Confluence, but only in some situations.
As shown in Table 2, Confluence reach a great standard deviation for each situation listed, which
indicates that the respondent in general have different opinions towards how the medium should be
used and for what situation the medium should be used.
Table 2 also shows that the SD of the first situation - if the respondent needed a colleague's opinion or
advise on a matter - is high for almost all media besides Skype chat and face-to-face conversations.
Additionally, Skype chat scores a high mean value. This indicates that all respondents agree that
Skype chat would most likely be used for this situation, but face-to-face communication might also be
used.
Table 2 also indicates that it is very unlikely that Skype video call, cellular phone call, mobile device
text and social media will be used as media to share knowledge internally as all mean values are
lower than three and the spread is not great.
Figure 4 present the respondents answers towards what media they prefer to receive assignments
instructions through.

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Figure 4. Preference for media use when receiving assignment instructions internally in EM.
It is interesting to note that relations are found between Figure 4 and Table 2. Figure 4 indicates that
email is most preferred to receive assignment instructions through. This matches the results from
Table 2 that shows the respondents are most likely to use email when informing or getting information
about assignments.
It is also interesting that the preference for face-to-face conversations is fairly low when the likeliness
of use of this medium is fairly big according.
We will now describe how each media is used and why the media are used for certain purposes based
on the interviews.
3.4.1 Skype chat
Skype chat refers to the transfer of text or visual data including attached files from one user of the
program to another. It does not refer to making audio calls nor video calls. Skype chat is a main
medium in knowledge sharing. It is used for detailed discussions with developers and clients, to clarify
website requirements with developers, day to day communication with clients, to discuss website
design with clients and for conveying knowledge to clients about how to solve issues.
Skype chat is preferred for detailed discussions because email threads easily become very long and
hard to follow. As put by one of the IMs, he risks missing essential information when email threads
become very long, because the visual layout means that they are difficult to get an overview of. As he
said: “Things can get very hectic and very unstructured” (IM 2, 24:58). The purpose of the detailed
discussions is to reach mutual understandings of issues.
Skype chat is used in support of Jira and Confluence, which form the basis of knowledge sharing
between IMs and developers as will be revisited below. If instructions put into Jira turn out to be
unclear, Skype chat is used to clarify:

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29
If necessary we discuss [instructions put into Jira] on Skype [chat] to further clarify the requirements.
(IM 2, 45:50)
Particularly during the development phase, in which client involvement is low, IMs like to keep in touch
with the clients by small-talking over Skype chat and giving status updates, as exemplified by an IM:
In my personal opinion, it is really good to be proactive and talk with the client at least once a day,
even though you don’t have anything to say... Hello, what is up? What are you doing? and so on, your
project is good, we are on track, bye (IM 3, 14:16)
If the website design requested by a client is not supported by EM’s platform, Skype chat is also used
to clarify with clients how they want the website to look. Additionally, Skype chat is used if a client asks
an IM for help on how to solve a problem related to the integration project.
In this situation, I prefer Skype chat, because it's on a faster pace than email and I have the option,
where I don't know the answer myself on the spot, to ask a developer or search through some
documentation for example as opposed to Skype Call where I might not be able to provide certain info
on the spot
(IM 3, Skype chat correspondence)
If a question is out of scope with the project or if it is very technical, the answer is usually not
explicated in internal documents which in some cases renders the IM unable to answer the question.
The IM will then request help from a developer via Skype chat if the IM estimates that the question can
be answered fairly quickly by a developer. If not, email is used. One IM told us that if he knows that
the particular developer is busy, the IM will use email to avoid stressing the developer even though the
question could be answered quickly.
Our data show that Skype chat is used because it is perceived to be very easy and quick to use, and
because IMs find that Skype chat allows for very straightforward discussions.
[Skype chat] is really something we use to discuss in a very straightforward manner with them [...] We
try to iron out any issues in as many words as possible, we simply discuss everything very naturally
until we get to understand and clarify items. It can be one to one discussions, it can involve chats with
10 people if that’s necessary, so we simply use it as a main means of communication when we
actually have to discuss and talk to people to be sure that everything is understood. So for this
purpose, Skype is fine, it helps with influence and everything (IM 2, 30:15)
In choosing Skype chat for knowledge sharing, the perceived professionalism of the medium also
plays a role:

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30
[We use Skype chat with clients] a lot, because if you need fast information, I can’t write an email and
wait, I need that info now from him, or him from me. Skype is faster, but not that professional, mail is
slower, but it is professional, and you have that info. It is a compromise. (IM 3, 16:05)
Additionally, we have found that interviewees use Skype chat because it allows them to have a
continuous correspondence with clients while also attending to other tasks, and because Skype chat
gives them time to find answers for questions they are not able to answer on the spot. This is
exemplified by the following quote:
[Skype chat] is easier to use chat because I don’t have to focus on one point only, I can basically keep
a chat going and also focus on another task that I have, so it doesn’t stop me from doing the rest of
my work while I’m still discussing with my client. Plus maybe the discussions and the questions will
take, I don’t know, a bit more time to investigate, or they will need a bit more time to understand my
answer and so on. So chat allows us to keep the conversation going without being fully focused right
there.
(IM 1, 09:05)
In some instances, Skype chat is used because it allows for the storing of knowledge. As put by an IM,
he uses Skype chat if the knowledge he shares is something that he does not want the developer to
forget. Skype chat is also used over face-to-face communication if the IMs are busy, because then
Skype chat allows the IM to attend to other tasks at the same time.
Our data show that Skype chat and other functions of Skype such as calls have been used internally
for as long as interviewees can remember, and none of them were able to explain specifically why
Skype chat is preferred over other chat tools. Additionally, our data show that clients are perceived to
use Skype as well. This is also one of the reasons for using Skype chat. When asked why Skype chat
is preferred over other chat tools, an IM replied:
We have been using Skype for years now, internally as well [...] and since we have a good experience
[...] we keep it as a main chat and call tool for customers. We try to focus on some particular tools
which are good for us, and I suppose Skype came up as the winner. [Clients] don’t favor other chatting
tools instead of Skype, which means they probably use skype just as well for their internal or personal
communication [...] everyone pretty much uses skype as well.
(IM 2, 24:32)
For one IM, the use of Skype and email is so deeply rooted in him that when asked if he perceived any
media to be inappropriate for work-use, he simply replied:
I can’t really answer that question, because all my life I have been using Skype and emails (IM 3,
33:50)

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31
However, despite Skype being embedded in EM’s organisation, the IMs are all willing to deviate from
their own preferences and use other media, should the client prefer this.
3.4.2 Skype call
Skype calls are rarely used for internal knowledge sharing. In sharing knowledge with clients, Skype
calls are mostly used for pre-set meetings for which agendas are defined beforehand. These meetings
include the kick-off meeting and weekly meetings during the integration phase. The perceived merits
of Skype calls are flexibility, in the sense that they allow for several participants, and quick
communication as it is easier to keep the discussion focused during a call. Additionally, clients are
more comfortable with actually speaking to the IM. Weekly meetings concern the status of the project.
They discuss feedback items, task distribution and various questions the client may have. If an answer
can be provided instantly, the IM do so, if not, email or Skype chat will be used subsequently
depending on the need for documentation. Weekly meetings are meant to be concerned with status
updates on the integration. One IM stated that at times, he will use Skype call to resolve conflicts with
clients, but this is not a central tendency of our data.
3.4.3 Email
In some projects, clients request features which are not encompassed by the original scope of the
project. Initially, these requests are usually sent and discussed via Skype, but the IM will then ask the
client to send an email with the request in order to formalise it and be able to track the information
later on. This shows that email and Skype support each other, and this was also stated explicitly in an
interview:
Skype and email are tied together during the integration flow.
(IM 2, 27:25)
On request from IMs, the design files sent by the client in the kick-off phase of the project are also
sent by email. Using email for documentation purposes and for formalising agreements is a general
tendency of the interorganisational knowledge sharing:
E-mail should be the basis in order to track the progress of the communication during the integration
phase, but some items need to be discussed in greater detail, and this is obviously why we use Skype.
But let’s say, if they want to request something from me, I advise them to also use email so I can have
a tracking of what they want. (IM 2, 27:00)

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32
When an IM explained in more details what email is used for, it was further established that the
medium is used for documentation purposes:
If we need to store some request which are better to be stored for future reference, e.g. they want
access to the backends as admins, I guide them via emails because I need to be sure that we keep
track of whoever received this kind of access. Maybe [the clients] have some business ideas in mind
which is fine to discuss over Skype but to try to draw some kind of conclusion, it is also better to start
an email thread on this particular topic [...] Obviously, ultimately, the very important items in the
integration flow, when you request a payment to be done, when you request for an SSL for the
website, the security certificate, when they request something from us, we have to get it in writing just
to make sure everyone is one the same page and keeping proper track of these items [...] often times I
refer to email to keep track of various things. (IM 2, 34:20)
When sharing complex information with clients, IMs prefer to use email. This is also related to storage
purposes.
Depending on the complexity of the information, if it is something quite technical, I would prefer to
send an email so that they will have it, so they can keep it there and they won’t forget it. (IM 1, 07:39)
The reasons for choosing email over Skype for storing information varies. One IM use email for
security reasons.
Skype is not safe enough for sensitive items, for business discussions and so on. I’m simply referring
to the possibility of losing conversations. Ideally, for anything that may incur a change in scope, or
some business discussion, some particular item related to the integration they should be tracked
properly with e-mail (IM 2, 27:50)
Another IM use email for documentation simply because Skype contains so many messages that the
information might get lost.
When I need the information, when I will refer to that information in the future and repeatedly, I ask
them to send them on e-mail, so you know, it is accessible. On Skype, it gets lost.
(IM 3, 07:35)
We observe that email is used as a tool for formalising agreements and storing knowledge. The above
also shows that reasons for choosing a medium vary between individuals. Even though there are
different reasons for using email for documentation, the point remains that email is the most valued
channel for formalising information.
The reason for using email over Skype for formalising agreements is grounded in the perceived
professionalism of each medium. Our data show that IMs find email more professional than Skype.

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33
[Skype] is not as official as an email is in my personal opinion.
(IM 2, 19:30)
Skype is faster, but not that professional, mail is slower, but more professional
(IM 3, 16:10)
Besides storing and formalising, email is also used if a large number of participants is involved in a
correspondence. However, one IM stated that if he estimates that the correspondence will prompt
many messages, Skype chat is used instead for the sake of clarity as the risk of missing essential
information increases with the amount of responses in an email thread.
It is very difficult for people to keep a clear email conversation because people include signatures,
copies of previous items, random copies of other emails. Things can get very hectic and very
unstructured. (IM 2, 57.55)
Additionally, if the answer to a client request is fixed - that is, if the answer can be found in an internal
document for instance - email is also used.
Emails I úsually use to reply to requests which require a specific fixed answer. For example, they want
information related to the integration. Most of them or some of them write it on the email. I reply to
them with a guideline. (IM 2, 32:05)
Internally, Table 2 indicates that emails will most likely be used when requesting for information or
need to be informed about an assignment, as email as higher mean value than any of the other
included media.
Though Skype chat plays a major role throughout most of the integration phase, email and Google
Sheets become more important during the integration phase, as email carries what an IM referred to
as “quality information” (IM 3, 56:35), that is important information that need to be formalised, and
Google Sheets is used for the actual feedback as will be revisited below.
3.4.4 Face-to-face meetings
Face-to-face communication is only used for internal knowledge sharing and it is primarily used with
the integration developers.
Face-to-face with developers, I usually do with integration team developers. If we build [the website],
we have to validate the structure of the website [...] there may be question marks even after we start
the integration - menus, pages, features that are not supported from our side, and then the developer
needs to be aware of how to take the integration into the next phase. And we have to probably discuss

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34
this face-to-face for a better understanding of what they want to do, what feedback they want from us
and so on. (IM 2, 43:00).
This indicates that face-to-face meetings are perceived to be necessary in reaching mutual
understanding with developers, and it shows that despite efforts at the kick-off meeting to ensure that
“there are no question marks left” (IM 2, 03:30), things still need to be clarified even after the
development has started.
Face-to-face meetings are also used when developers encounter integrations that are out of scope
from their standard procedures:
Then in testing phase, the testers have their own tools for testing and workflows, but since each
integration can be very specific, if they find some things which are out of their standard procedures,
they come to us to clarify that particular item. (IM 2, 45:00).
As is evidenced above, face-to-face meetings are perceived to allow for better understanding. The
reason for this is exemplified by the reply we received from an IM when we asked why problem solving
is more easily done face-to-face:
“It is the best way. Even in a Skype call, you can’t see face expressions, what does he like, what
doesn't he like, but more to the point, you can say a lot more, but not as volume, but as quality of
information” (IM 3, 32:35)
3.4.5 Confluence, Jira and Google Sheets
In internal knowledge sharing between IMs and developers, Jira and Confluence play important roles.
Confluence is a team collaboration software in which documents can be shared and stored and team
members can communicate. Jira is a so-called bug tracker tool that allows for easy tracking of
software bugs and other issues. When an integration project is initiated, IMs must create a project plan
in Confluence. This is an important tool in knowledge sharing between IMs and clients as Confluence
is where the project plan is kept and status updates on various tasks are kept. Whereas Confluence is
used for keeping track of the project on an overall basis, Jira is used for reporting and keeping track of
bugs, and for conveying client requests regarding additional features to developers.
The use of Confluence and Jira is embedded in the organisation, and IMs are required to use them.
However, their perception of the media is positive, as they perceive them to allow for easily keeping
track of projects and following up.
During the feedback phase where the client tests the website for technical and visual flaws, Google
Sheets is used as a way for clients to convey their findings.

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35
We use Sheets where we can review and leave comments, they can review and leave comments. (IM
1, 16:00)
Sheets is when we reach the final stage of the project, when we track bugs. I also consider it as a
formal media, and at that time, it works better than email and Skype [...] there are better ways, but this
is really at hand really comfortable to use (IM 3, 56.51)
When asked how they know who to contact internally when they require help from developers, all IMs
replied that this is based on experience.
My personal advantage, I am saying this personally and not generally as a procedure, I know
everyone and what they do, and who is best at what they do. I just know
(IM 3, 36:50)
However, formal lists of people are available in Confluence where every team has a “team base”, but
Confluence is not always helpful:
Confluence is not always updated, it’s not always, lets say, besides updated, too easy to find
information. It’s there, but it’s not that easy to find. If I would be new, and new to integration
management, I mean, we have new colleagues, the stare in their faces is, it’s like walking into a desert
and look for an oasis, you have no idea where to look
(IM 3, 39:01)
Besides finding that the perception of Confluence is positive, Table 2 indicates that Confluence reach
a great standard deviation for each situation listed This indicates that the respondent in general have
different opinions towards how the medium should be used and for what situation the medium should
be used.
3.4.6 Type of knowledge shared
In order to get the full overview of how the different media are used to share what kind of knowledge,
beneath Table 3 is constituted:
Media Knowledge type shared Internal/
interorganisational
Skype Chat Implicit and explicit Both
Skype Call Implicit and explicit Internal: explicit

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36
Interorganisational: implicit
Email Implicit and explicit Both
Face-to-face conversation Implicit and explicit Internal
Confluence Explicit Internal
Table 3: Type of knowledge shared through a media internally and/or interorganisational.
3.5 Challenges in the integration project
In this section, challenges explicitly stated by interviewees are presented.
As EM has experienced that most conflicts arise due to a lack of expectation alignment, it is important
for IMs to ensure that clients have a good understanding of the various phases of the project and the
challenges involved in each phase. However, aligning expectations and eliminating question marks
clients might have can be difficult due to three main challenges all explicitly stated by IMs to be
challenges: Lack of English skills, lack of technical knowledge, and communicative idleness of clients.
Though the IMs are all native Romanian and they communicate with colleagues in Romanian, they
speak English very well. Therefore, they experience language barriers caused by clients lacking
English skills as a main challange. These barriers tend to slow communication between the parties.
The most trouble we have is the language barrier, you know. Our clients are really cosmopolitan. We
have Chinese, well, let’s just say Asian, Russians, Turks, Costa Ricans, Spanish, every possible
language and they adapt to English. And let’s just say that communication takes a bit longer, even in
writing, even in speaking, in every way possible (IM 3, 02:03)
However, our interview data also show that IMs are well aware of this challenge, and they have all
developed individual strategies for dealing with it. The strategies all focus on taking extra care to make
sure that a mutual understanding is achieved, which is usually done by repeating what a client has
said and asking if the information is understood correctly.
English skills is not the only thing lacked by some clients. Interview data also show that some clients
lack technical knowledge and need to receive instructions several times. This is the second main
challenge in the project.

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37
Sometimes there are clients who are not very technical, I would say, and we kind of have to explain
things to them a lot of times to help them understand what we need and what they need to do and so
on.
(IM 1, first interview, 16:55).
The severity of the challenges posed by clients lacking language skills and technical knowledge
depends on the type of the project. When clients build their website themselves, and EM only build
certain features, the amount of shared technical knowledge is greater than when EM builds the whole
website, because in the former type of project, EM handles almost all the technical work. In the latter,
much technical work is conducted by clients and clients rely on technical knowledge being shared by
EM. Clients lacking technical knowledge mainly cause problems in the latter form of projects in which
the amount of technical knowledge shared by EM is great. However, the problem is not caused by a
lack of technical knowledge in clients organisations as a whole - rather it is because the individual who
represents the client lacks technical knowledge.
Usually, we should have contact directly with developers, and they are technical of course, but in
some cases, we don’t have contact with their developers, we just speak with some manager on their
side, and he may have some problems like this.
(IM 1, second interview, 02:27).
As previously stated, efforts such as explaining roles, providing manuals and other documents and
delegating responsibility are made to align expectations and mitigate conflict between EM and clients.
Despite these arrangements, which are informal agreements as they are not regulated contractually,
conflicts arise due to differing degrees of willingness to respect the arrangements which is reflected in
communicative idleness of some clients. Our interview data show that in the relationship with clients,
IMs value good communication and clients who know what they want and what they are talking about.
However, these values are not always reflected in the behavior of clients. When asked if the clients
share EM’s norms and values, an IM emphasised that the norms and values that govern the
transactional relationship between the parties might not be mutual:
Not necessarily, because they are buying something from us and they would like it to be delivered
yesterday if possible
(IM 2, 01:00:35)
The lack of mutual norms and values is reflected in communicative idleness exhibited by some clients.
Sometimes there are clients who are kind of unresponsive or who don’t get involved as they should
and because of this, they can add up delays to the project. They rely too much on EveryMatrix doing
work we are not supposed to do even though we’ve explained what the roles are and what the
responsibilities are.
(IM 2, 01:03:15)

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38
For the majority of instances, this form of issue is not perceived to be caused by clients lacking
technical knowledge, rather it caused by a lack of willingness. As EM is dependent on communication
with the client in order to track bugs and ensure everything is ready to be launched, communicative
idleness of clients is a challenge that may prolong integration projects.
The language barriers, clients lacking technical knowledge and communicative idleness of clients are
challenges that sometimes give birth to conflicts between IMs and clients. Our data show that
interviewees perceive conflicts to be inevitable, and some EM personnel would like to have fewer
conflicts.
I would for sure love to have fewer conflicts. [...] You can’t avoid conflicts of course; the important thing
is that you have a channel where the clients have a way to express unhappiness. Sometimes they
come to me, but I try to avoid it.
(CEO, 28:45)
I have conflicts with clients of course, we all have.
(IM 3, 27:30)
As I said, I really had [conflicts], but I’m trying to prevent them. I know when a conflict is about to
happen, and I know why. Usually we never argue on Skype [chat], because a conflict arises when
something big is wrong.
(IM 3, 49:15)
Our data show that IMs do not keep track of the conflicts they have had with clients because they do
not find it relevant to do.
If we have anything, we discuss it, we agree on it and move on. I don’t think I’ve ever kept a log of all
the things we had a conflict about. I don’t know if it would be too much work, I just haven’t really
thought about it. I don’t see what I would do with the info. Because if it is something we discuss about
and we agree on a solution, then it wasn’t really a conflict, I guess
(IM 1, 19:35)
I think this human aspect, you know, it is still solved by human interaction, and writing [conflicts] down
will not help, because you have people and people, one situation is resolved one way with one guy,
and a totally different way with another
(IM, 29:30)
The nature of the conflicts are described differently by the IMs. One IM finds that conflicts are usually
based on misunderstandings on specifications:

Knolwedge sharing issues in interorganizational software development projects

Knolwedge sharing issues in interorganizational software development projects

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