The Role of Argument and Narration in Knowledge Sharing: Coping with Context, Validity, and Coherence

This paper examines the way knowledge is shared within organizations. Although current research identifies narratives as an important medium for organizational knowledge sharing because they serve as sensemaking devices and collective memory, the study shows that narrative-based knowledge sharing encounters serious shortcomings and must frequently be supplemented by an argumentative mode of communication. Furthermore, the conditions that trigger a switch from a narrative to an argumentative mode of communication are specified. Doing so clarifies the limitations of a narrative mode of knowledge sharing and provides a more sophisticated understanding of the communication strategies that are used in virtual communities.