A research agenda for the relationships between culture and knowledge management

The sociocultural barriers of work‐from‐home arrangement due to COVID ‐19 pandemic in Asia: Implications and future implementation

The rapidly escalating COVID‐19 pandemic entails many unprecedented life circumstances, including in the way people work. The social distancing policy has forced companies to adopt work‐from‐home (WFH) arrangement to maintain business sustainability amidst both health and economic crises. While in many developed countries, WFH arrangement has been a common practice, this is not the case in some Asian countries, particularly in countries where high power distance emphasising heightened supervision and punishment among workers are still a preferred managerial style, such as Indonesia, China, India, and Thailand. While acknowledging that WFH is considered as beyond an option in this pandemic period, this commentary paper, built on existing literature presented in the narrative fashion, aims to critically identify key barriers of WFH implementation in some Asian countries, particularly in autocratic societies, using both theoretical and contextual approaches. The paper concludes by discussing recommendation for future studies and proposing strategic implications for companies and workers to effectively adopt WFH arrangement, especially in societies where WFH is still a new practice or is involuntarily held.

Ethically questionable negotiation tactics: the differential roles of national, societal and individual cultural values

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to refine theory of negotiation by empirically investigating the extent to which national-, societal- and individual-level cultures relate to negotiators' tendency to endorse questionable negotiation tactics.

Design/methodology/approach

To assess the hypothesized relationships between culture and ethically questionable negotiation tactics at three cultural levels of analysis, the authors collected data from Turks who reside in Turkey and in Germany and from Greeks who reside in Greece and in Cyprus. Respondents' national-level cultural values were inferred from their nationality, respondents' societal-level cultural values were inferred from their country of residency, and respondents' individual-level cultural values were inferred from their discrete and unique individuality.

Findings

At the national level, the authors found that Turks in Turkey and Germany scored significantly higher than Greeks in Greece and Cyprus on the endorsement of pretending negotiation tactics. At the societal level, the authors found that Turkish negotiators in Germany displayed higher levels of lying negotiation tactics and lower levels of pretending negotiation tactics than Turkish negotiators in Turkey. Greek negotiators in Greece endorsed deceiving and lying tactics more than Greek negotiators in Cyprus. At the individual level, the authors found that negotiators who score high on vertical individualism and collectivism endorse questionable negotiation tactics significantly more than negotiators who score high on horizontal individualism and collectivism.

Originality/value

The authors empirically demonstrate how national-, societal- and individual-level cultures differentially influence negotiators' tendency to endorse questionable negotiation tactics. The study's trilevel analysis allows for integrating the societal-level theories of negotiators' acculturation and cultural adjustment to a host culture, highlighting the importance of bicultural identity.

Influence of national culture on knowledge management process: literature review and research agenda

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore, understand and investigate the relationship between national culture and knowledge management (KM) process.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on systematically and objectively capturing the contents of extant research papers published by researchers in this area by using the literature review methodology.

Findings

The study demonstrates significant relationship between national culture and KM process. Further, it also provides directions for future research.

Practical implications

The study will help top management to understand and appreciate the impact of national culture on KM process in organization, where people from different nations are working together. The management may apply appropriate organizational interventions to manage people of different national cultures in effective manner and effective utilization of knowledge of the organization through KM process. This paper will be considered as a quick reference and resource for anyone interested in this area.

Originality/value

This study is a comprehensive literature review of influence of national culture on KM process. Further, it also sets the research agenda for future researchers.

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.

Culture effect on knowledge management adoption in Nigerian hospitality industry

Purpose

The effect of culture on various aspects of life, business and disciplines such as knowledge management (KM) has been much studied. Hospitality has also received much attention because it, among others, can produce and redistribute wealth whether in developed or developing economies, who often find it as an invaluable means of generating foreign income. Nonetheless, there is no combination of the three areas in a single study done in a developing economy. The paper aims to fill this gap by investigating the impact of culture on the adoption of KM in the hospitality industry of Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

Hofstede’s culture model and technology acceptance model were used as underpinning theories to develop a research model which was operationalised into a 45-item questionnaire. A five-point Likert scale that ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree was used. The questions were closed-ended for the variables of the model, but there were also open-ended questions. Two Nigerian cities were purposely sampled and they generated 195 responses from the 400 questionnaires that were distributed. Correlation analysis was first done to establish relationships before regression analysis was performed after checking for multicollinearity. Findings and conclusions were drawn from significant hypotheses.

Findings

The findings showed significant collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, femininity and short- and long-term orientations as factors that would affect adoption of KM in the hospitality industry of Nigeria. Power distance and individualism as factors, on the other hand, were not significant.

Research limitations/implications

The research has produced a model that can form the basis for future research. The study apparently is the first and therefore needs replication in other industries and other developing economies. A comparative study can be done too between developing countries or between a developing and a developed country. Many replicated studies could perhaps produce a generic model that would apply beyond Nigeria. Moreover, as this study is on a moving target both in terms of culture and the extent of KM adoption, subsequent studies could update the findings of this study.

Practical implications

Hospitality managers have to develop and maintain a conducive culture if adoption of KM is to be achieved. Managers should be sensitive to and take good advantage of cultural differences displayed in the personality traits of employees. For example, uncertainty avoidance (preference for precision) could be an asset to make knowledge explicit in computer systems, making it easier to share such knowledge in the organisation. Collectivism and nurturing orientation would encourage knowledge sharing and collaborative work, which is often nowadays done virtually. Managers should encourage knowledge workers to seek and acquire both short- and long-term views of their work.

Originality/value

There apparently is no systematic empirical study that combines KM, hospitality and culture in developing economies’ context. Thus, this study examines the effects of culture on KM adoption in the Nigerian hospitality industry. The findings have practical implications on how the Nigerian hospitality industry can benefit from the application of KM.

Verifying relationship of knowledge management initiatives and the empowerment of human resources

Purpose

This paper was aimed at investigating the impact of knowledge management (KM) procedures on enriching human resources in Water and Waste Water Company in East Azerbaijan, Iran.

Design/methodology/approach

The samples used in this study included the employees of Water and Waste Water Company in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran. A questionnaire was used for collecting data from the employees of the abovementioned company. Its reliability and validity were first examined and checked. Then, Smart partial least squares 2.0 was used for analyzing the structural model.

Findings

The results acknowledged the validity of the introduced model for enriching human resources. The findings indicated that five variables, namely, kind of knowledge, top managers, information technology, culture and organization of knowledge, have significant impact on enriching human resources.

Research limitations/implications

It is undoubtable that research studies might have specific limitations which should be pointed out and addressed in future studies. The followings are the major limitations of the study: because the present study was carried out in Water and Wastewater Company in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, hence, generalizing the findings of this study to other professional contexts and organizations should be made with caution. In fact, the present study need to be replicated in other context to find whether the same or different results are obtained. In other words, different cultural, contextual and professional conditions might result differently from the ones reported here. Inasmuch as the present study was a cross-sectional study and the data were collected via questionnaire, a longitudinal study with a longer observation and investigation might shed more light on the efficacy of KMS in organizations. The present study focused on a specific dependent variable (human resource empowerment) which was explained by different dimensions of an independent variable, i.e. KM. However, the impact and efficacy of KMS can be investigated on other organizational variables and parameters. In this study, due to certain logistic and real-life limitations such as the limited time of the staff members of the target organization, we had to use only one data-collection instrument. Nevertheless, future studies can use data triangulation so as to better capture professional contexts of the study. Furthermore, another limitation of the study is related to the individual variables of the employees which remained untouched. That is, whether employees’ personal, emotional and cognitive variables can modify the impact of KM on human resource empowerment was not investigated in the present study.

Practical implications

Organizational managers are recommended to provide the background for employees to share their experiences. Organizations should invest on designing and developing patterns and strategic perspectives in human resource empowerment as a key factor toward becoming knowledge-based organizations.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the few applied studies which acknowledged the relationship between knowledge management initiatives and empowering human resources. It addresses the gap between knowledge management and human resource empowerment.

Linking knowledge sharing, competency development, and affective commitment: evidence from Indian Gen Y employees

Purpose

The present study aims to explore knowledge sharing to evoke affective commitment of Gen Y employees through competency development.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses cross-sectional survey to collect primary data. A questionnaire is developed based on extensive review of literature. A sample was obtained from Gen Y employees (born between 1980 and 2000) working in software organizations in India. In total, 582 completely filled, usable questionnaires were obtained.

Findings

Results indicate that knowledge sharing has a positive effect on competency development of Gen Y employees, which in turn, positively predicts affective commitment. Furthermore, this would result in the enhancement of employee competencies and eventually, the generation of affective commitment.

Research limitations/implications

This study was limited to the software development professionals working in Indian organizations Therefore, researchers should test the research model further in other industries preferably in a different country.

Practical implications

The more knowledge assets are shared in the organization, the higher the enhancement of employee competencies will become. To evoke emotional attachment of Gen Y employees, an organization must implement learning and development interventions

Originality/value

This study contributes to knowledge management literature, particularly knowledge sharing by exploring its possible linkage with employee attitudinal outcomes through empirical data. This also happens to be an empirical study to investigate Gen Y employees’ commitment in Indian context.

Looking beyond knowledge sharing: an integrative approach to knowledge management culture

Purpose

This study aims to identify the main knowledge processes associated with organizational knowledge culture. A diverse range of knowledge processes have been referred to in the extant literature, but little agreement exists on which knowledge processes are critical and should be supported by organizational culture.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a systematic literature review methodology, this study examined the primary literature – peer-reviewed and scholarly articles published in the top seven knowledge management and intellectual capital (KM/IC)-related journals.

Findings

The core knowledge processes have been identified – knowledge sharing, knowledge creation and knowledge implementation. The paper suggests that a strategy for implementing successful organizational KM initiatives requires precise understanding and effective management of the core knowledge infrastructures and processes. Although technology infrastructure is an important aspect of any KM initiative, the integration of knowledge into management decisions and practices relies on the extent to which the organizational culture supports or hinders knowledge processes.

Research limitations/implications

The focus of the study was on the articles published in the top seven KM/IC journals; important contributions in relevant publications in other KM journals, conference papers, books and professional reports may have been excluded.

Practical implications

Practitioners will benefit from a better understanding of knowledge processes involved in KM initiatives and investments. From a managerial perspective, the study offers an overview of the state of organizational knowledge culture research and suggests that for KM initiatives to be successful, the organization requires an integrated culture that is concerned with knowledge processes as a set of inextricably inter-related processes.

Originality/value

For the first time, a comprehensive list of diverse terms used in describing knowledge processes has been identified. The findings remove the conceptual ambiguity resulting from the inconsistent use of different terms for the same knowledge process by identifying the three major and overarching knowledge processes. Moreover, this study points to the need to attend to the inextricably interrelated nature of these three knowledge processes. Finally, this is the first time that a study provides evidence that shows the KM studies appear to be biased towards Knowledge sharing.

Formal and Informal Practices of Knowledge Sharing between Project Teams and Enacted Cultural Characteristics

This article investigates the process of knowledge sharing between project teams and uses a case study approach. This is especially relevant, as organizations face both the needs for separating work into projects and integrating knowledge created in projects into the organization. The results provided by the analysis technique of GABEK® indicate that, although projects create boundaries, employees and project team leaders use formal mechanisms and develop informal practices for knowledge sharing between project teams. Furthermore, the article identifies organizational cultural characteristics enacted in these practices that can stimulate the discussion in “knowledge culture research” regarding the relationship of organizational cultural characteristics and (specific) knowledge processes.

Factors Impacting Cross-Cultural Knowledge Sharing Through Online Systems in Organisational Settings

The work reported in this paper has identified a research gap regarding the specific area of cross-cultural knowledge sharing through online systems in organisational settings, i.e. what are the factors impacting organisational members' online knowledge sharing behaviour in cross-cultural contexts? A survey of the relevant literature has recognised three main categories of potentially significant factors: organisational issues, national culture and computer-mediated communication. Although scholarly efforts have been taken in each of the three single areas, no previous study has integrated all three categories systematically. A review of the existing studies in all three areas shows that each areas is limited in some way, for understanding how and why people with different national cultural values, share or do not share knowledge through online systems within the same organisation. This paper explains the importance of identifying and addressing the research gaps, as well as suggests ways in which scholars can make use of new research methods that provide better explanations of why certain knowledge sharing behaviours exist.