Knowledge sharing and knowledge maturation in circles of trust: The case of new product development

This paper is about knowledge sharing and maturation in new product development (NPD). We show how knowledge items mature as they are shared in expanding circles of trust until the items are exhausted and transformed to new knowledge items to serve new activities. Our conceptual framework integrates knowledge sharing, circles of trust and knowledge maturation. We explore knowledge maturation patterns through six in-depth case studies of NPD projects using Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) technology. Our results show that knowledge maturation patterns are contextual and complex. Knowledge is shared in circles of trust, where one circle feeds into another during the maturation process. Psychological safety plays a role in the choice of circles of trust for knowledge maturation. These results suggest that formal NPD process and progress across circles of trust interact and reinforce knowledge transformation. These results have implications for articulating the IT architecture for NPD.