Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Vol. 7, No.

4, December 2006

The Critical Role Of Communication In Knowledge Organizations:

Communication Apprehension As A Predictor Of Knowledge Management

Functions
C. B. Crawford, C. Sue Strohkirch, Fort Hays State University

ABSTRACT:

One of the most important characteristics of the knowledge worker is effective communication.
Well documented and organized information carries less impact if there is diminished
communication involved. This study (N = 1046) focused on the relationship communication
apprehensiveness (as a measure of communication effectiveness) and knowledge management.
Findings revealed that communication apprehensiveness negatively predicted knowledge
management acquisition, creation, and application skills, accounting for over 15% of the
variance. This study found that individuals less comfortable with communication in a variety of
contexts are significantly less effective with a variety of knowledge management functions.

Keywords: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Sharing, Communication Apprehension

1. Management Functions

Over the past fifteen years the term knowledge management has evolved to represent the
changing nature of the workplace a true paradigm shift. In coining the phrase knowledge
society Peter Drucker convincingly argued that land, labor, and capital the classical factors of
production have been largely replaced by knowledge (Drucker, 1993) and that knowledge has
become the resource, rather than a resource, is what makes our society post-capitalist(pp. 45).
The modern knowledge organization has become a social environment designed by the
specialists to meet the needs of the market and the specialists in the most efficient and quickest
way possible. Lang (2001) clarifies the importance of the knowledge worker in this new age:
while the knowledge worker may need the tools of production the organization owns, while she
may well have to work in organizations, she nevertheless owns the means of production (pp.
44). Rowley (1999) definitely suggests that the knowledge based society has arrived, and those
organizations that can succeed in the global information society are those that can identify, value,
create, and evolve their knowledge assets (pp. 416). Rowley continues by suggesting that
effective management of knowledge, change, and innovation are central or core competencies
that must be mastered for organizations to succeed. Neef (1999) expanded the more micro-level
view of knowledge management by commenting:
A knowledge based revolution is taking place, and it comes in a matching set: knowledge
management for organizations and the knowledge-based economy for nations themselves. Both
are part of a major evolutionary economic movement which is beginning to reshape the global
economic structure, and knowledge management should be seen as one of the most concrete and
important set of practices and policies that an organization can adopt, marking a significant step
in an enterprises evolution toward becoming a global, learning organization that can survive in
the knowledge based economy. (pp. 72)

One can safely assume that the changes to come will certainly be as staggering as the
organizational and global paradigm shift we have encountered over the last 20 years.
Knowledge workers that have the ability to effectively communicate their formal and informal
knowledge certainly have significant value to their own learning organization.

2. Basics Of Knowledge Management

Baines (1997) puts the knowledge management process squarely at the intersection of
technology, organizational structures, and cognitive-based strategies. In this case, technology
becomes the tool, the organizational structure becomes the context, and the knowledge becomes
the stuff of great advances. While prima facie it seems obvious, the reality is that knowledge
is quite complex (Clark & Rollo, 2001). Knowledge is often situated within the context of other
cognitive elements (Clark & Rollo, 2001). The type of knowledge that organizations are forced
to manage is of central importance to organizations. The function of knowledge management
would be little more than compliance if all knowledge were codified and formal (explicit). The
reality is that much of the information that organizations try to manage is held within the
personal and collective experiences of the workforce; it is tacit knowledge. Bollinger and Smith
(2001) explained, Tacit knowledge is unarticulated knowledge that is in a persons head that is
often difficult to describe and transfer. It includes lessons learned, know-how, judgment, rules of
thumb, and intuitionit is the key characteristic of team-based learning organizations (pp. 9).
Further clarifying this point, Lang (2001) stated that, knowledge is both produced and held
collectively rather than individually in tightly knit groups or communities of practice
organizational knowledge is social in character (pp. 46). Tacit knowledge is an important
resource of organizations given that 42% of corporate knowledge is held within employees
minds (Clarke & Rollo, 2001).

Knowledge management is jointly a goal and a process. As an outcome or goal, knowledge

management is entirely focused on sharing information for the benefit of the organization, as
Bollinger and Smith (2001) conclude. They reasoned, the knowledge management process is
not so much about control as it is about sharing, collaboration, and making the best possible use
of a strategic resource (pp. 14). Explicit knowledge is generally easy to access and manage, but
tacit knowledge often defies capture given its highly personal and subjective, but critical, nature.
Clarke and Rollo (2001) assert that knowledge management is primarily about making tacit
knowledge more accessible since it accounts for a majority of an organizations collective
knowledge. Lang (2001) explains the goal of knowledge management as Knowledge
management systems must connect people to enable them to think together and to take time to
articulate and share information and insights they know are useful to their company (pp. 44).
Stonehouse and Pemberton (1999) definitively suggest, it is the role of knowledge management
to ensure that individual learning becomes organizational learning (pp. 132). Birkinshaw
(2001) refers to this process as recycling old knowledge.

The process of knowledge management is based on the ability of all members of the organization
to add value to the basic business processes through the creation, communication, codification,
and coordination of both explicit and tacit knowledge stores (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995).
Specifically, Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) theorized that the flow of knowledge transitions from
socialization, to externalization, to combination, and finally to internalization i.e. from the raw
experience, to understanding, then to categorization, and finally to the creation of personal
mental models that transcend the experience. Davenport and Prusak (1998) identified specific
objectives of any knowledge management project:

To create knowledge repositories to store knowledge and information,

To improve knowledge access or transfer,

To enhance the knowledge environment to facilitate creation, transfer, and use of

knowledge, and

To manage knowledge as an asset and to recognize its value.

Bollinger and Smith (2001) suggest that the goals of knowledge management should be to
effectively manage explicit knowledge through better systems and to build an organizational
culture supportive of sharing and creating tacit knowledge.

Various authors discuss the specific processes associated with knowledge management. Seng et
al (2002) theorize five distinct steps in the process of managing knowledge:

Capturing knowledge. Record steps involved in solving a problem.

Storing knowledge. Captured information must be stored in a database, warehouse,

application, or some other production system.

Processing knowledge. Involves sorting, filtering, organizing, analyzing, comparing,

correlating, and mining the knowledge.

Sharing knowledge. Distributed through information systems or through personal

interaction, synchronously or asynchronously.

Using knowledge. Solving problems to advance the objectives of the organization.

Barth (2003) provides perhaps the most effective and developed comprehensive categorization of
personal knowledge management tools. Barth included the following elements as representative
of effective knowledge management:

Accessing. Search strategies, research, inquiry.

 Evaluating. Judgment, confirmation of information, qualification.

Organizing. Filtering, discarding, filing and archiving.

Analyzing. Critical thinking, sense-making, testing hypotheses.

Conveying. Explaining, presenting, written and spoken conveyance.

Collaborating. Messaging, sharing documents, meetings and conversations.

Securing. Self-discipline, backup, inoculation, threat awareness.

This list, though certainly not inclusive of all thought on the subject, effectively synthesizes into
three basic functions of knowledge management: knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation,
and knowledge application.

In much of the knowledge management research, the term learning organization and knowledge
organization are used interchangeably to reflect workplaces that are continuously seeking data
from the environment, are fluid and adaptable, and learn from their previous experiences. They
share knowledge and contain systems and process for sharing knowledge (Johnson, 2002; pp.
242). Rowley (2000) summarized the concept of the learning organization as follows:

Facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself,

Facilitates participative and innovative development with and between people and
institutions commercially, technologically, and socially,

Forms the strategy, structure, and culture of the enterprise into a learning system,

Encourages double loop learning in which learning informs and impacts on strategic
directions,

Responds to changes in the internal and external environment of the organization by

detecting and correcting error, and

Has as its primary aim rapid and continual regeneration of the total organization
depending on rapid and continual learning.

Stonehouse and Pemberton (1999) considered the issue of an interaction between individual and
organizational learning. In their model, they link the processes of individual and organizational
learning together through a four-stage process:

Organizational knowledge is diffused and coordinated into individual learning,

Individual learning generates explicit and tacit knowledge,

 Individual explicit and tacit knowledge becomes formalized into organizational learning,
and

Organizational learning generates organizational knowledge.

One of the most important outcomes of effective knowledge management is the ability to share
that knowledge with others. Without effective communication, knowledge management simply
serves as a repository of business intelligence rather than ever realizing the full synergistic effect
of the open knowledge work environment.

3. Communication Apprehension

During the past three decades much research has examined anxiety experienced in
communicative situations. Communication apprehension (CA) is probably the most widely used
term to describe the phenomena (McCroskey, 1977). Communication apprehension is an
individuals level of fear or anxiety associated with either real of anticipated communication
with another person or peers (McCroskey, 1977; pp. 78). CA is a broad-based fear held by a
large number of individuals - a pervasive fear of speaking in front of others (McCroskey et al,
1976). McCroskey and Richmond (1976) suggested that individuals suffering from CA are
likely to withdraw from communicative encounters or avoid them altogether, and are perceived
less positively.

Perhaps the most intensely researched aspect of CA has been in the area of state and trait
apprehension. McCroskey (1977) maintains that trait apprehension is fear or anxiety with
respect to many different types of oral communication encounters, from dyadic to public
settings; trait apprehension is a stable personality issue. State apprehension is specific to a given
oral communication situation; state apprehension is entirely dependent on the situation, and
therefore, more normal. Levine and McCroskey (1990) studied the measure of both types of
apprehension via the use of the PRCA-24 instrument, finding it reliable as a measure of both trait
CA (measure is summed) as well as indicative of four different states (measure is broken into
four discriminated subscales: dyadic, group meeting, group discussion, public speaking) where
an individual might be apprehensive. Research by McCroskey and Beatty (1984) provides
further support for this bi-dimensional modeling associated with the PRCA-24 asserting that
nearly 50% of the variance of CA is accounted for by the combined model of all four states.

Characteristics of the highly apprehensive individual include: introversion, low assertiveness and
cooperation, competition and risk avoidance, slow to take action, a go-along person lacking in
self esteem, self control and emotional maturity (McCroskey, 1977; McCroskey et al., 1976;
Merrill, 1974). The individual with low apprehension is characterized as adventurous,
extroverted, confident, emotionally mature, high in self esteem, disclosive, tolerant of ambiguity,
and willing to accept change (McCroskey, 1977). This description implies that low apprehensive
individuals are also self-accepting. McCroskey (1978) found that CA was related to
introversion, self-esteem and self-acceptance problems, verbal reticence, communication
avoidance, and other general personality variables. McCroskey (1982) rationalized the causes of
trait-based CA as centering on learned helplessness and learned responsiveness and negative
reinforcement models.
Many studies have been done on the nature of CA in organizational settings. Scott et al (1978)
found that individuals with high CA stayed longer in their organizations, had less desire for
advancement, and were in positions of low communication expectations. Richmond et al (1986)
found that there was a substantial relationship between supervisors affinity seeking strategies
and subordinate apprehension in communicating with the superior. McCroskey et al (1986)
found that trait-like CA was strongly linked to audience based CA in a superior-subordinate
setting. Hawkins and Stewart (1991) found that observers rated higher apprehensives
significantly lower in emerged leadership than lower apprehensives and higher apprehensives
rated themselves lower in emerged leadership than did lower apprehensives (pp. 7). Winiecki
and Ayres (1999) found a strong inverse relationship between trait CA and position within the
company (pp. 435). A recent study by Cole and McCroskey (2003) found that supervisors
perceived as apprehensive were seen as less credible and viewed more negatively. Finally,
McCroskey et al (2004) found that higher upward mobile orientations are associated with lower
communication apprehension (pp. 7).

The most common measure employed to assess communication apprehension has been the
Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (McCroskey, 1970). The PRCA has been
shown to be particularly reliable and valid (Levine & McCroskey, 1990; McCroskey, 1978).
Specifically, McCroskey (1978) reasoned that the PRCA was capable of predicting behavior
consistent with the construct of communication apprehension, is correlated with variables
consistent with communication apprehension, and provides a measure of a stable characteristic
that can be altered through substantial intervention. McCroskey et al (1986) suggested that
further research be done in the organizational context to assess state and trait CA in superior-
subordinate relationships.

4. Methods

What clearly emerges from a discussion of these variables is that knowledge management is
likely to deteriorate when communicators are ineffective. Knowledge workers that do not
possess important communicative skills will fail to effectively manage knowledge compared to
more effective communicators. This model stipulates the following basic research question:

(R1) Does communication apprehensiveness predict less effective knowledge management

ability?

Subjects

Subjects (N = 1046) were selected from a sample of students taking classes in a non-traditional
graduate degree program and other associated individuals. Over 50% of the subject population
was over 30 years of age. More females (n = 581) completed the assessment than males (n =
487). Well over 50% had been employed for over five years, and well over 50% were in
positions of management (ranging from supervisory to executive level). Finally, over 90% of the
sample indicated that they used computer technology more than irregularly, and by far, most
used computer technology on a daily basis.

Procedure
The entire instrument battery was administered to subjects following a brief set of instructions.
Subjects were asked to grant legal consent and to indicate if they wished for more information
following the accumulation of results. Subjects were given ample time to complete the
instrument (generally 20 minutes was sufficient). Participants were asked to return the
instrument to an instructed location when they completed it. Following administration of the
instrument battery, data analysis occurred.

Instrumentation

The first instrument utilized in this instrument battery was the Knowledge Management
Inventory (KMI). This inventory focused exclusively on the behavioral aspects of knowledge
management, and the content of the questions was derived from the Barth (2003) typology of
knowledge management. Barth had seven categories of knowledge management and four
questions from each of the categories were selected for the KMI. The basic context of each
question centered on organizational rather than personal demands. Once created, the KMI was
administered to a pilot sample (N = 99) for the purposes of establishing reliability estimates ( =
.86). Two of the questions were further clarified based on this analysis to improve the
instrument. The KMI achieved an alpha reliability of .89 in this sampling. Based on Barths
typology a series of subscales were computed: information acquisition, document and
information creation, and document and information application. Alpha reliabilities on the
subscales were = .70, = .79, and = .71, respectively.

The second instrument used was the PRCA-24 developed by McCroskey (1982). The PRCA24
is a trait CA form. This instrument uses six items to measure apprehension in four situational
contexts (dyadic, group discussion, group meeting, and public speaking). Items are measured on
five point Likert scales ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Items are summed,
yielding subscores for each of the four contexts and a total score across the contexts. The
PRCA-24 usually exhibits reliabilities above .90 (McCroskey, 1984). There is evidence for the
predictive validity of this measure (McCroskey, 1978; McCroskey, 1984; McCroskey & Beatty,
1984). In this study the reliability score for the PRCA-24 was = .93, which is consistent with
prior research.

Finally, several questions regarding basic demographics of the sample were deemed important
for this investigation. Subjects were asked to report on the following: age, sex, years employed,
education, type of career, use of technology, and position. In the below analyses the only
variable used was the position variable where subjects self-rated themselves as entry level,
supervisory level, or upper management/executive level.

5. Results

Table 1 details the descriptive statistics for each of the variables involved in this study.

Table 1. Select Descriptive Statistics Of Scales And Subscales

Variable Name n Min Max Mean

 Knowledge Management Inventory 988 73 140 115.16

KM - Information Acquisition 1023 22 40 33.15

KM - Information Creation 1014 30 60 48.31

KM - Information Application 1028 16 40 33.51

Personal Report of Communication Apprehension 1005 32 108 62.12

PRCA Dyadic 1029 9 26 15.51

PRCA - Group Meeting 1035 9 30 15.89

PRCA - Group Discussion 1038 6 30 13.85

PRCA - Public Speaking 1027 6 30 16.90

The overall measure of knowledge management was negatively related to communication

apprehension (r = -.325, p > .001). Additionally, the overall measure of communication
apprehension was a significant predictor of knowledge management, accounting for 15.1% of the
variance in knowledge management (F = 169.60, df = 1, 954, p > .001). Table 2 details similar
findings across the various knowledge management subscales. It indicates that as subjects level
of communication apprehension increases, their ability to manage knowledge generally, as well
as to acquire, create, and apply information specifically, decreases significantly.

Table 2. Correlations Between Communication Apprehension And Knowledge Management

Variables

KMI KMI - KMI - KMI -

Information Information Information

Acquisition Creation Application

PRCA Total -.389 -.294 -.419 -.314

PRCA - Dyadic -.347 -.279 -.344 -.296

PRCA - Group Meeting -.349 -.273 -.374 -.278

PRCA - Group Discussion -.380 -.282 -.380 -.343

PRCA - Public Speaking -.286 -.214 -.348 -.186

All correlations significant at the p = .001 criterion level or less.

In an effort to understand the nature of the relationship between communication apprehension

and knowledge management, several multiple regressions were computed. In the first regression
model all PRCA subscales were entered looking at the total variance accounted for by all aspects
of communication apprehension. This model was highly significant (F = 46.15; df = 4, 951; p >
.001) accounting for 16.3% of the variance of knowledge management. The second regression
model, looking at the effect of all PRCA subscales on information acquisition also proved
significant (F = 26.17; df = 4, 982; p < .001) accounting for 9.6% of the variance in this
knowledge management subscale. The third regression model explored the effect of
communication apprehension subscales on information creation, and was similarly very
significant (F = 52.26; df = 4, 973; p < .001) and accounted for 17.7% of the variance in this
subscale. The final regression model looked at the effects of communication apprehension
subscales on the knowledge management subscale of information application revealing another
significant finding (F = 36.76; df = 4, 985; p < .001) and accounting for 13% of the variance in
the knowledge management subscale. Since all correlations were negative, it must be assumed
that communication apprehension is a negative predictor of knowledge management.

6. Discussion

The basic conclusion is unmistakable - individuals that are less comfortable with communication
are less effective with a variety of knowledge management functions. Even though no research
has been conducted linking communication apprehension as a predictor of knowledge
management, the relationship should be no surprise. Several research pieces (Crawford &
Strohkirch, 2000, 2002; Howell & Higgins, 1990; Sypher, 1990; Zorn, 1991) have established
the link between various leadership related attributes and communication strategies. This
research simply extends these findings by suggesting that those individuals with communication
apprehension are less capable of managing knowledge activities in a social/organizational
environment.

Specifically, this research clearly demonstrated that communication apprehension was as

significant predictor of knowledge management skills in the workplace. A very significant 15%
of the variance of knowledge management was accounted for by the communication
apprehension measure. When all subscales were combined in a multiple regression, over 16% of
the variance was attributed to communication apprehension across all four communication
contexts. The rationale for why this might happen is obvious - if an individual has less refined
communication skills, their ability to work with information in an organization would likely be
impaired.

In further exploration of the predictive model, all four subscales of communication apprehension
were explored in relation to the subscales of knowledge management. It was found that nearly
10% of the variance of information acquisition was accounted for by communication
apprehension, as well as 17% of the variance of information creation, and over 13% of the
variance of information application. These findings reveal that information communication
apprehension has a significant effect on knowledge management overall, as well as the distinct
aspects of knowledge management. Additionally, communication apprehension plays a more
substantial predictive role for information creation than for information acquisition and
information application.
Several significant implications based on these results become apparent. First, organizational
leaders are best served by raising the level of acceptance of communication if they want to
improve their knowledge management functions. If an organization reinforces communication
ineffectiveness, these findings underscore that the result will be degradation in the way in which
knowledge is acquired, created, and applied. Organizational leaders might be well served to
consider the placement of those individuals that are highest in communication apprehension
reserving less social placements for individuals that have a higher degree of apprehensiveness.
To accomplish communication skill building, these authors recommend following one or more of
the following four solutions:

Closely mentor individuals that struggle to communicate effectively but show promise as
effective knowledge managers. Catching problems before the individual ascends the
organizational hierarchy will likely have a high return on investment.

Suggest a strong formal education process for those individuals involved in knowledge
management. Taking just one public speaking might be sufficient for an individual to
build confidence.

Build practical communication skills rather than theory. The immediate yield will boost
the apprehensive individual toward greater communication effectiveness.

Put effective communicators in positions where they manage knowledge.

Any one of these solutions may be enough to move an individual toward greater success as a
communicator, and thus, have greater success in moving information to others in the knowledge
workplace more effectively.

As more apprehensive individuals begin to improve their communication competency, there

might be a real opportunity to transition some of the tacit knowledge of the workplace into
explicit knowledge. Moving knowledge from tacit to explicit has a synergistic effect on the
organizational communication - the more people create the more can be shared among
knowledge workers. This synergy will likely have a long-term effect on those individuals that
have trait apprehensiveness. Overall, the health of the organization can be improved by fostering
an environment where apprehensive communicators can receive counsel, education, or specific
training to enhance any communicative deficit they might have. This research clearly suggests
that there will be a direct improvement in the ability of those individuals in terms of their ability
to acquire, create, and apply knowledge in their organization if their communication
apprehensiveness can be decreased.

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Contact the Authors:

C. B. Crawford, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Leadership Studies, Fort Hays State University,
600 Park St., Hays, KS 67601; Tel: (785) 628-4531; Email: ccrawfor@fhsu.edu

C. Sue Strohkirch, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Hays State

University, 600 Park St., Hays, KS 67601; Tel: (785) 628-4531; Email: sstrohki@fhsu.edu