Management researchers have suggested that knowledge sharing has an important
role to play in developing competitive advantage for organisations. It could be argued
that the need to build advantage is even greater in the transition economies that are
increasingly internationally oriented. Yet, it has been suggested that people in
transition economies such as Russia and China have a propensity not to share
knowledge. We proffer that Russians’ and Chinese’ willingness to share knowledge is
highly influenced by group membership. By examining the extent to which group
membership influences the processes of knowledge sharing in the Chinese and
Russian cultural and institutional environments, we theoretically explore how in-groups
and out-groups facilitate and impede knowledge sharing.
Key Words: China, In-groups, Knowledge Sharing, Out-groups, Russi
