Högskolan i Skövde

Purpose – Shorter product life cycles, greater demands from consumers for sustainable and eco-friendly products and services, and thus the need for constant market observation make today’s business environment a rather complex one, the one that is characterized not only by a number of opportunities but also by a number of risks. These risks are increasingly related to knowledge which, in turn, underlines the need for an updated approach to risk management, i.e. one that covers knowledge risks as well. Although the role of knowledge in organizational performance is generally acknowledged and has been explored vastly, the study of risks related to knowledge or knowledge risk management is still in its infancy. Indeed, we lack an in-depth understanding of how organizations perceive and manage the possible downsides of knowledge. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to empirically investigate knowledge risk management in organizations.  

Design/methodology/approach – An international sample of organizations is surveyed to understand how knowledge risks are managed, what knowledge risks are managed and what tools and methods are used to manage these knowledge risks.

Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no quantitative study on knowledge risk management in organizations has been conducted and published in academic journals. Moreover, it is the first complex study dealing with a large number of potential knowledge risks, previous studies have tended to deal with one or two knowledge risks only (e.g. knowledge hiding, knowledge loss or knowledge spillover).

Practical implications – The results of the study provide insights into the risk management of knowledge as well as knowledge risks that are managed by organizations of different size and from different sectors. Additionally, an overview of methods used to manage knowledge risks is made available. Based on the findings, managers and company owners can develop actions in order to improve their approach to knowledge risk management.