Knowledge Management Systems and Organizational Change Management: The Case of Siemens ShareNet

Earlier research has shown the interdependence of Knowledge Management Systems’ (KMS) implementations and corporate cultures. This study builds on and extends this research by exploring how knowledge-intensive corporate cultures can be established. Employing a case study approach, we analyze the (successful) implementation of Siemens Information and Communication Networks (ICN) group division’s ShareNet, a global knowledge sharing network for the sales and marketing community. We bring together the overlapping disciplines and practices of (culture) change management and knowledge management (KM) by testing the explanatory power of Lewin-Schein’s well-known and widely cited change paradigm [18, 28, 29] in the new setting of KMS. Our case analysis demonstrates the linear, staged theoretical framework’s strength in understanding and explaining aspects of success and failure in KMS implementation projects.