Knowledge Centers in Globally Acting Development Organizations: Towards a Design Blueprint

Globally dispersed teams engaged in development cooperation are often of the same nationality and operate within the same cultural background. The challenge for such teams is to align their process knowledge with specific less developed countries´ cultural and political contexts. By means of a single case study, we were able to ascertain a strong demand for knowledge delivery and the possible benefits of synergetic opportunities. However, the knowledge processes, instruments, and tools at the disposal of globally dispersed teams are insufficient to meet their demands and promote optimal knowledge sharing. Consequently, we propose the implementation of a knowledge center (KC). As a service unit for knowledge management initiatives, such a center could support knowledge-sharing processes by considering a specific team´s situational conditions. We present a blueprint for designing such a KC in an international development context.