Individualist and collectivist perspectives on knowledge in organizations: Implications for information systems research

Organization scholars differ in their understanding and application of the construct of “knowledge” in theorizing and empirical research. Over the past years, two perspectives have become prevalent in organization science. The individualist perspective assumes the locus of knowledge is people who learn, and that knowledge cannot extend beyond the physical limits of human beings. The collectivist perspective assumes the locus of knowledge is collective. Collective entities accumulate knowledge through forms of social learning. Boundaries of knowledge are drawn around social entities—groups, communities, networks, and organizational units, etc. Recent work in management and organization science has accentuated the differences, and argued against the widespread adoption of a collectivist perspective. This argument holds implications for information systems research. The current paper reviews selected contributions on the locus of knowledge, presents an argument for a combined collectivist and individualist perspective, and outlines future directions for information systems research. Drawing on two significant examples, I show that information systems research has a strategic role to play in greatly advancing this combined perspective.