Knowledge Sharing as a Contingency in the Design of Counterterrorism Organizations

摘要

One of the key institutional responses to the terrorism threat is the counterterrorism intelligence organization. Traditionally very bureaucratic, such organizations have been criticized broadly, but their organizational structures remain largely unchanged. Given the dynamic, experience-based, knowledge-intensive nature of the counterterrorism task, Contingency Theory would suggest flatter, more flexible organization with knowledge sharing as a key contingency factor. Little is known, however, about interactions between organizational design and knowledge sharing. The research described in this article reports systematic laboratory experimentation to assess the structure of counterterrorism intelligence organizations in the context of alternate knowledge processes and to identify promising alternate approaches to organizing. Insights into how knowledge sharing affects alternate organizational designs highlight a theoretical contribution, and empirical results have immediate practical implications.