The impact of culture on knowledge sharing

Abstract

In the new global economy, knowledge is recognised as one of the most valuable organisational assets and an important competitive advantage. Therefore organisations need to concede that knowledge sharing is imperative in order to survive and compete effectively in the global economy. This study examined the extent to which culture impacted the effectiveness of knowledge sharing in an organisation. There were four dimensions of culture identified that influence knowledge sharing namely individualism/collectivism, power distance, masculinity/feminity and uncertainty avoidance. This research was quantitative in nature. A web based questionnaire was administered to a sample of 96 respondents in top and middle management by means of convenience sampling. The findings in this study indicate that age, gender and work experience have no influence on the impact of culture on knowledge sharing. It was further found that three out of the four cultural dimensions impacted knowledge sharing positively. They were low individualism and high collectivism, low power distance and low masculinity and high feminity. The fourth cultural dimension uncertainty avoidance was found to be high indicating a negative impact on knowledge sharing. Recommendations for future research include a larger sample size for a more comprehensive study, a comparative study with other chrome manufacturing operations and identifying the necessary tools required to reduce high uncertainty avoidance cultures. Copyright