Does context matter? Study of knowledge sharing in European Institute of Innovation and Technology

Sammanfattning: Some previous attempts to draw research on social constructs as if they are operating in a vacuum were missing some valuable information and could not provide deep insights into the matter. As this, contextual sensitivity, approach is not yet popular in network research, we adopt this stance to provide valuable insights into knowledge sharing in complex interorganizational networks. The empirical study was based on interviews, observations and focus groups implemented in two interorganizational networks: knowledge and innovation communities (KICs). The perceptions of network’s context and content of their members provide deeper insights into all the other issues of networking, knowledge sharing included. In our research these perceptions were related to member’s discourses to knowledge sharing. Even though this finding should not be adopted as a framework for future research, the contextual sensitivity approach should not be neglected in network research.