Knowledge Archetype: Facilitating Cross Cultural Knowledge Sharing

Studies have indicated that national culture may impact the choice of who shares knowledge with whom. This paper considers the problem of tacit knowledge sharing in multi-cultural environments and the issues that relate to trust, language, and culture that could impact on tacit knowledge sharing choices. A study was conducted in an international and multi-cultural Business School to discover if the theoretical research relating to a potential tacit and implicit knowledge sharing archetype had validity. The study which was conducted with 70 students from 28 nations speaking 24 languages, discovered that the variables that impacted who students chose to ask for indicated that the longer that students spent in the Business School; the longer they were in London and the UK; and the older they were, the less they were concerned about the nationality, ethnicity, and language of the person they asked. Additionally, testing the knowledge archetype module it was found that there were no moderating factors. This indicates that a knowledge archetype that is common to all nationalities can be developed

Dynamics of knowledge sharing in a cross-cultural environment

Studies have indicated that national culture may impact the choice of who shares knowledge with whom. This paper considers the problem of tacit knowledge sharing in multi-cultural environments and the issues that relate to trust, language, and culture that impact on the choice of how tacit knowledge is shared. A study was conducted in a multi-national, international, and multi-cultural Business School to discover if the theoretical research relating to a potential tacit and thus implicit knowledge sharing archetype had validity. The study conducted with 70 students from 28 nations and 24 languages, discovered that there were a number of variables that impacted who students chose to ask for (academic) tacit knowledge: these variables indicated that the longer that students spent in the Business School; the longer they were in London and the UK; and the older they were; the less they were concerned about the nationality, ethnicity, and language of the person they asked. Additionally, testing the knowledge archetype model it was found that there were no moderating factors. This indicates that a knowledge archetype that is common to all nationalities can be developed. Future research intends to develop a configurable technical based archetype - or avatar - that can be utilised by students as they enter university for implicit knowledge sharing purposes. This avatar will then be tested in multi-cultural business environment to assist tacit/implicit knowledge sharing across divisions and nation as well as languages and culture

The relation between employee characteristics and knowledge sharing

Purpose Knowledge sharing becomes crucial in today's competitive world to foster organizational performance. This paper aims to explore which employee characteristics facilitate knowledge sharing in the organizations and to examine the dimensions of these characteristics. Design/methodology/approach Opinion-based questionnaires among employees in Czech companies were applied. The research design in this study was cross-sectional. The hypotheses were tested by Pearson's correlations and regression analyses. Findings The findings support the idea that specific individual employee characteristics increase knowledge sharing in the organization. Four categories of potentially appropriate employee individual characteristics were suggested: social and communication skills; positive work feelings; competences for problem-solving; and employee's self-efficacy. However, only employee's positive work feelings and self-efficacy significantly predicted the extent of knowledge sharing in the organization. Practical implications The findings offer a basis for future research. The results of the study can be used in recruiting new employees and managerial decision-making. The recruitment methods and the selection methods deployed should enable the firm to attract those whose values are in harmony with the organization's values. Managers should build a work environment that promotes greater and more trusting ties among employees via organizing social activities for employees, a supervisor's acceptance of an employee's autonomy and responsibility and increasing employees' confidence in their abilities. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to investigate dimensions of employee knowledge-oriented characteristics. It supports the idea that some individual employee characteristics boost spontaneous knowledge sharing behaviour.TBU projects [RO/2016/07, RO/2018/04

Investigating the Impact of Organisational Culture and Leadership on Knowledge Sharing Behavioural Intention Among Employees in Organisations in the United Arab Emirates

This study seeks to obtain a better understanding of the factors influencing employees’ knowledge sharing behavioural intentions within the Emirati organisational context. While the literature provides some examples of studies on the subject in Western countries and Asia, there has been a lack of research around the topic in the Middle East, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Some organisations have placed a lot of emphasis on innovation and technology and forgotten what (ultimately) makes their business really successful – the human factor. The study followed a mixed methodology approach; the quantitative method was the primary approach and qualitative methods were employed as a complementary technique to deepen the understanding of some of the quantitative data results. The theoretical foundation of this thesis is based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). These theories are widely used in social psychology to explain many human behaviours. The model therefore is developed based on the latest evolution of the TRA and TPB framework as well as additional factors highlighted in the literature. Eleven variables were tested to examine their impact on the intention to share knowledge in an organisational context. Primary data were obtained from a questionnaire administered to three large government organisations in the UAE: of 1073 questionnaires, 881 were usable. A total of 21 (including the pilot interviews) semi-structured interviews were carried out in the same three organisations with organisational executives, KM managers and KM practitioners. Structural equation modelling was used to test the three study models. The results show that both inclusive leadership’s and knowledge leadership’s influence on organisational culture dimensions (participation, trust, agreement, team orientation, and openness) were highly significant. Interestingly, and contrary to expectations, the quantitative data show that neither participation nor team orientation had a significant impact on attitude toward knowledge sharing. Also, the results show that inclusive leadership has a positive an impact on attitude toward knowledge sharing whereas knowledge leadership was found to have a negative influence. In addition, all TRA constructs were significant for all three models. The results offer various insights into knowledge sharing behavioural intentions in organisations in the UAE. Policy makers, executive leaders and KM managers will be able to utilise the results and the practical implications of this study to create intervention programs to enhance knowledge sharing intentions and practices in organisations. The thesis provides an alternative view to the more common technological focus, moving it more onto human related factors. It is important for organisations to acknowledge the importance of both leadership and organisational culture on knowledge sharing behavioural intentions among employees. Like anything else that keeps evolving, organisational culture and leadership too evolves and therefore, organisations need to look for the best organisational culture and leadership style that will keep them on top of the market

Voluntary knowledge sharing in organizations

PACIS 2008 - 12th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems: Leveraging ICT for Resilient Organizations and Sustainable Growth in the Asia Pacific Regio

Bringing the Citizen back in: Motivational Aspects of Knowledge Sharing Through Web 2.0 Technologies in Public Administration

In an effort to cope with an increasingly complex environment, characterized by heterogeneous, diffuse or unknown public preferences, public administrations have begun using Web 2.0 internet technology to allow for direct citizen engagement in the generation of new knowledge. The success of such collaborative Web 2.0 websites depends largely on the citizens voluntarily sharing their knowledge. However, uncertainty about the outcome of the collaborative project might hinder citizens’ motivation to share their knowledge. In this conceptual paper we explore antecedents for citizens’ motivation to share their knowledge via collaborative Web 2.0 technologies. We provide a substantial review of literature on voluntary knowledge sharing in organizations which we transfer to the context of citizen-administration collaboration through Web 2.0 technologies. Based on that we formulate propositions on how to foster citizens’ motivation for knowledge sharing and give advice for further research