Int. J. Automotive Technology and Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2007 1 Copyright © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. A case study in knowledge sharing: lessons from the information technology department of a French car manufacturer Luciana Castro Gonçalves* Institut Supérieur de Technologie et Management, Cité Descartes 2, Bd Blaise Pascal, Noisy-le-Grand Cedex BP-99-93162 E-mail: castrol@istm.fr *Corresponding author Amaury Grimand Associated Research Euristik – UMR CNRS 50 55, Centre de Recherche de l’IAE Lyon III, Université Jean Monnet – Saint Etienne, 15 Quai Claude Bernard, Lyon Cedex 2 BP 638-69239, France E-mail: amaury.grimand@univ-st-etienne.fr Eléonore Mounoud Laboratoire Stratégie and Technologie, Ecole Centrale Paris, Chatenay Malabry Cedex 92 295, France E-mail: eleonore.mounoud@ecp.fr Isabelle Vandangeon-Derumez IUP Commerce et Vente de St Maur, 58 avenue Didier, La Varenne Saint Hilaire 94 210, France E-mail: vandangeon@univ-paris12.fr Abstract: The growth of Information Technology (IT) within organisations has created the need for organisational evolution. These evolutions particularly concern the IT department which develops and manages the IT programs and infrastructures within the organisation. Not only the evolution of IT leads to a reassessment of individual knowledge and expertise within the IT department but it also has an impact on the collective competencies necessary to cooperate with internal customers, suppliers and consultants. This paper presents the organisational framework implemented within the IT department of a French car manufacturer in order to acquire and share knowledge better. We distinguish capitalisation tools, which, by creating standardised procedures and references, contribute to the collective memory and socialisation devices which produce tacit and fragmented knowledge. Finally, we identify a number of difficulties linked to the technical, professional and organisational rules of the IT department.