EFFECTIVE INTRA-ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Advanced information technologies (ITs) have prompted many organizatio ns to invest in distributed computing systems and to decentralize the management of information. However, today's organization requires effe ctive information-exchange to bridge costly information gaps between d ifferent decision-makers or teams controlling isolated databases. Netw orking technologies and groupware applications have the potential to f acilitate collaboration, but cannot guarantee information sharing. It is unrealistic to expect that technology alone can induce unwilling ma nagers to part with privately held information. While an economic pers pective would recommend contracts or transfer pricing as solutions to the problem, we suggest harnessing the power of organizational culture in promoting effective information flows across the organization, Usi ng a game theoretic approach, we show how elements of organizational c ulture, involving the values of permanence, trust, teamwork and credib ility, combined with appropriate reward systems and parity in IT capab ilities, can help to achieve organizationally desirable information-ex change by aligning individual and organizational goals.