This thesis critically examines the relationship between gatekeepers, trust, and an organisation’s knowledge sharing. The research applied mixed methods with the case study approach. In this research the concept ‘gatekeeper’ is widely used to represent a class of those who are part of a knowledge management strategy; they collect information and knowledge and contextualise this before they can share it with the rest of the members of the organisation’s knowledge networks - within the formal and informal organisation. In this study, it was found that there was a strong relationship between the openness of a given firm, as regards its openness to knowledge sharing and its level of trust and whether or not a firm uses gatekeepers. In light of the evidence, knowledge sharing was found to be a function of trust and gatekeeping. The thesis proposes a model in which trust and openness is the glue holding together knowledge-sharing activities and the Gatekeeper role within the triple helix innovation system was to create an environment to nurture trust, facilitate networking and knowledge sharing within the innovation and knowledge system. The gatekeeper role is seen as crucial to translate and align local knowledge and align this with the modern knowledge systems.
| Date of Award | Jul 2012 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Awarding Institution | - Nottingham Trent University
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