Conclusion

The aim of this chapter was to increase the understanding of the role of trust in the management of the knowledge-based activities of an organization and its stakeholders, that is, within a network. We examined the concept of intellectual capital as a wider framework for knowledge management within an organizational context. The emphasis was placed on the social nature of knowledge as organizational knowing and on the importance of understanding the impact of social factors on knowledge generation. By pointing out the main differences in the concepts of knowledge and information, the complementary roles of KM and IM were justified. We defined knowledge management as involving both the management of people as creators of knowledge and information as the raw material for all knowledge processes. Moreover, we defined the concept of trust and analyzed its main features.

To highlight the crucial role of trust in the effective management of organizational and inter-organizational knowledge and information processes, we examined it within the wider framework of social capital in relation to intellectual capital. The foci were on the role of trust in the development of organizational culture and climate and on collaboration. Moreover, we discussed the interrelation of trust and social norms and values, and suggested an appropriate approach to combine these factors into a new theoretical frame-work. Our examination clearly demonstrates the need for empirical research on trust as a component of social capital having an impact on knowledge creation and the generation of intellectual capital. This is vital for grounding new theoretical frameworks in the everyday life of knowledge-based organizations.

This grounding, in turn, is crucial because the management of knowledge-based organizations is increasingly involved in the various deep-seated values of their members and stakeholders. These values affect people's willingness to work, their existing norms and beliefs about the world and their own organizations. Values have an impact on the principles which guide people's actions and knowledge and information-related behavior. On the basis of the dominating values, knowledge management may be implemented very differently in different contexts. Thus, we claim that trust should be a jointly accepted value in every knowledge-based organization. To achieve this stage more theoretical research is required based on empirical studies on the everyday contexts of organizational life in the networked global economy.