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Members' knowledge is the most important resource in NGOs and it is important to stimulate its exchange. Knowledge that is needed to act in complex situations is hard to exchange, but Web 2.0 technologies provide a toolbox to develop a knowledge management strategy. The paper aims to specify optimal conditions and necessary measures that NGOs should take in order to successfully use Web 2.0 technologies for knowledge exchange.

NGOs and Web 2.0 technologies have specific characteristics in common. It is suggested that these characteristics require certain prerequisites in order to make the use of Web 2.0 technologies successful. Using an iterative and participative design method, a case study is presented that investigated prior boundary conditions and implemented a Web 2.0‐based platform as knowledge management strategy in a large NGO.

NGOs and Web 2.0 are based on strong voluntariness, they are democratic, contribution and personality are strongly tied to each other, and education is rarely formal. Therefore, there is a strong need for contact between members, internal motivation and organizational identification, for quality criteria, for protected spaces and pattern‐structures, if Web 2.0 technologies shall lead to successful knowledge management. The case study demonstrates that considering these circumstances enabled the successful implementation in a large NGO.

The current research helps NGOs to successfully implement Web 2.0 technologies as a means to support knowledge management. A figure with the crucial questions and the means that have to be taken in dependence of the answers is provided.

NGOs do not have the same means to develop formal management strategies as other organizations. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the circumstances that enable knowledge exchange with Web 2.0 technologies is needed. The current research provides information about optimal circumstances and about possibilities to improve less promising circumstances.

This article seeks to address the social aspects of handling knowledge and information. For this purpose, it considers findings from social psychology and discusses their applicability in knowledge management research and practice.

The article presents a selective but systematical review of recent social psychological literature that can be applied for knowledge management purposes.

Two social psychological concepts that strongly influence knowledge processes in organizations are first introduced: social norms and social identity. Two types of social processes that are particularly relevant for knowledge management subsequently take center stage in this article: knowledge sharing and knowledge processing in organizations. The roles social norms and social identity play in knowledge sharing and knowledge processing are then assessed.

Implications for knowledge management practice are considered: among other implications, it is discussed what computer‐mediated support can contribute to knowledge management processes in organizations with respect to both knowledge sharing and knowledge processing.

This study, based on social exchange theory, aims to explore knowledge hiding behavior in relation to shared goals of individuals working in teams and trust (cognitive-based trust and affective-based trust) as a boundary condition on shared goals and knowledge hiding relationship.

A total sample of 270 reliable questionnaires are collected from university students in China. SPSS and AMOS are employed for the data analysis of the proposed model.

Findings of the study have indicated that shared goals are negatively associated with knowledge hiding behavior. Furthermore, trust (cognitive-based trust and affective-based trust) moderates the relationship between shared goals and knowledge hiding behavior.

This study has provided empirical proof and in-depth understanding and recommendations for supervisors and administrative authorities to form the culture of groups/teams with shared goals to reduce the undesirable individual behaviors.

This study, among the first empirical studies investigating the relationship between shared goals and knowledge hiding behavior, trust as a moderator, enriches the existing academic literature of and provides valuable insight into the research on knowledge hiding and knowledge management.