Taminiau, Smit, and De Lange (2007) contend that formal knowledge sharing comprises all the forms of knowledge sharing that are institutionalized by management.

The authors add that these are

• resources,
• services and
• activities, which are designed by the company or organized with the aim of knowledge sharing or of learning from each other (organizational learning) (as cited in Wabwezi, 2011, p.15).

According to Nonaka (1994), formal exchange mechanisms, such as procedures, a formal language, and the exchange of handbooks will ensure that people will exchange and combine their explicit knowledge (as cited in Wabwezi, 2011, p.15).

Taminiau et al. (2007) list other examples of formal knowledge sharing as meetings and organized brainstorm sessions. The authors assert that a culture, which makes sure that explicit knowledge is shared, does not preclude the sharing of implicit knowledge (as cited in Wabwezi, 2011, p.15).