The Patchwork of Knowledge Management A qualitative study on how Knowledge Management is understood in the professional context of Swedish business law firms

Abstract

This paper investigates how the Knowledge Management (KM) phenomenon is understood in the field of business law firms in Sweden, by focusing on KM professionals and practitioners across hierarchical levels. The study uses a qualitative method and examines how four business law firms as well as one KM consulting firm perceive the management phenomena of KM within their highly institutionalized field. Field material has been collected by conducting 22 interviews with respondents at the five different firms. This paper uses the theoretical framework of institutional theory and institutional logics to analyze the data, and the main findings show that there is one emerging KM logic within the field of business law firms in Sweden. In addition, the study identifies a number of tensions regarding how KM is understood in relation to professionalism and KM practices. Thus, this paper provides new insights in the following three areas; the ambiguity of practices KM accounts for in business law firms, the role of professions in assimilating an emerging management concept such as KM, and the importance of networks and collectivism in imitating processes across institutional levels. The paper may inspire to a continued discussion on KM and its patchwork within professional service firms.