Organisational culture's influence on tacit knowledge‐sharing behaviour

Abstract

Purpose

This research aimed at investigating the influence of organisational culture types on tacit knowledge sharing behaviour in Malaysian organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data was collected from 362 participants from seven organisations. Multiple regression was used to assess the research model.

Findings

The research findings indicate that organisational culture types influence tacit knowledge sharing behaviour and that such influences may be positive or negative depending on the culture type.

Research limitations/implications

The study only investigated seven organisations. A larger sample size may be necessary for a study of this nature. Aside from this the ipsative rating scale was not clearly understood by the respondents resulting in scoring errors by some.

Practical implications

Knowledge is considered the one and only distinct resource and is crucial for an organisation to sustain its competitive advantage. Determining the organisation's culture type will allow managers to implement, among the myriad knowledge sharing activities, the ones that would be more appropriate and relevant to the organisational culture.

Originality/value

Most of the knowledge in organisations is in tacit form. There is a dearth of literature on the influence of organisational culture types on tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. Aside from theoretical contributions, the findings of this study have the potential to assist organisations to unlock economic value from knowledge embedded in the minds of its employees.

Citation

Suppiah, V. and Singh Sandhu, M. (2011), "Organisational culture's influence on tacit knowledge‐sharing behaviour", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 462-477. https://doi.org/10.1108/13673271111137439