Personnel controls for knowledge sharing in public collaborative innovation projects

The purpose of this paper is to explore how formal and informal personnel controls can be used to foster knowledge sharing in collaborative innovation projects in the public sector. Based on findings from a collaborative innovation project within the dementia care sector, the role of ambassadors and workshops for knowledge sharing is unveiled. The paper draws upon public management and management control literature, in the context of collaborative projects. The project, called DIDEC (Digital Innovation for Dementia Care) and implemented at Perstorp Municipality in Sweden, aimed at developing innovative products/services for dementia care. Based on the findings achieved through interventionist research conducted over three and half years, this paper shows how the dynamics between human and technical personnel control mechanisms foster knowledge sharing and facilitate the achievement of projects desired goals. It also shows how a combination of formal and informal sides of personnel control mechanisms can support knowledge sharing ambitions.