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Organizational culture is a critical factor in building and reinforcing knowledge management in organizations. However, there is no theoretical framework that comprehensively explains the effect of organizational culture on knowledge management in organizations. This paper endeavors to develop a theoretical integrative framework for organizational knowledge management and organizational culture.

This is a conceptual paper. It modifies the “competing value framework” by adding a new dimension representing ethical and trusting culture, and then integrates it with the SECI model of knowledge creation and conversion by identifying the conceptual parallels between the two frameworks and then analyzing the interaction effects among the dimensions.

Based on the congruity between the modified competing values framework and the knowledge creation and conversion framework, the paper formulates six propositions about the propensity of organizations of different dominant cultural styles to engage in the four processes of knowledge creation and conversion.

The dynamic nature of the framework presented in the paper points to the importance of longitudinal and comparative research in understanding the effects of organizational culture on organizational knowledge management systems in organizations.

The proposed integrative framework would facilitate organizational learning and lead to the improvement of knowledge management practices in organizations as it helps managers to understand the linkages between culture and knowledge management.

This paper presents a new framework linking organizational culture to knowledge management. It moves away from analyzing culture only in terms of its positive and negative influences on knowledge management. Instead, it suggests a typology of the kind of knowledge management processes that organizations are likely to focus on depending on the culture that prevails in an organization.

This paper aims to refine cross-organizational knowledge creation theory by exploring the knowledge conversion process of University-Industry (U-I) collaboration in Chinese aerospace industry. An ancient Chinese philosophy named I-Ching is also introduced to illustrate dynamics of knowledge creation to achieve enlightenment.

To describe the knowledge conversion tendency, a theoretical framework is developed by reference to Boisot’s (1995) Information Space. The application of the framework is described in the in-depth case study of micro-electrode manufacturing for aerospace vehicles. The dynamics of each stage in knowledge conversion is investigated with the implications from I-Ching.

Analysis of the results suggests that seven certain stages can be especially indicative of cross-organizational knowledge creation, namely: demand codification; knowledge gain; knowledge digestion; knowledge sharing; knowledge propagation; knowledge spillover and knowledge degeneration. A knowledge gain, digestion, sharing and propagation (GDSP) knowledge creation theory is developed accordingly. The form of knowledge in different stages is variable, the change among various forms is effectively explained by I-Ching.

There is clearly a strong requirement to test the framework further with other cases, such as sampling cases from different industries and of different firm scales. Besides, the knowledge creation processes on the organizational level and the individual level are quite different, which call for further study.

First, the theory helps firms to get a better understanding of the nature of U-I collaboration, that is to say, knowledge creation. That will, in turn, power the firm to take the initiative to participate in knowledge creation activities. Second, the illustration through I-Ching provides reasonable and easily understandable interpretations for Chinese corporate managers and executives. Traditional Chinese culture will be beneficial to make U-I collaborations more efficient and effective in China.

A new “GDSP knowledge creation theory” which enriches and advances the typical socialization, externalization, combination and internalization (SECI) knowledge creation theory in some aspects is proposed. The theory is deeply grounded in Chinese culture. Furthermore, the conversion of different knowledge forms in the theory is considered from a totally new perspective of ancient Chinese philosophy: I-Ching.

This study developed a systematic measurement scale for the organizational knowledge creation practices. The authors used five knowledge creation phases – sharing tacit knowledge, creating concepts, justifying concepts, building prototypes, and cross‐leveling knowledge – from Nonaka et al.'s knowledge conversion theory as the theoretical foundation.

A total of 914 survey responses collected from 14 for‐profit Korean business organizations representing the country's leading businesses were used to examine the factor structure of those five phases, using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Results confirmed that the current version of knowledge creation practice measurement, which has five sub‐dimensions along with ten items, is valid and applicable specifically in the Korean for‐profit business context in terms of the psychometric properties of the measurement and measurement factor structure.

The generalization issue still remains one of the research limitations because all data sets were collected from Korean business organizations. More sample diversity needs to be considered for further research in terms of cross‐cultural comparison research, which could strengthen the validity of the current developed measurement.

From the practical standpoint, organizations can utilize this measurement to diagnose their status of knowledge creation, at team and organization levels.

This measurement could promote more dynamic research on areas of knowledge creation in terms of valid and economic size of measurement. From the practical standpoint, organizations can utilize this measurement to diagnose their status of knowledge creation at team and organization levels.

This article aims to contribute to the study of knowledge creation and management in business format franchising by focusing on the question of how franchisors can convert the tacit knowledge held by franchisees (such as insights, ideas, and hunches) to explicit knowledge.

The article is conceptual and is largely anchored on the assumptions of the knowledge management, theories of organisational learning and organisational knowledge creation theory.

The findings emphasise that the conversion of franchisees' tacit knowledge to new explicit knowledge is one of the key knowledge management practices required for successful business format franchising. Proposes that the concept of ba has much to offer in considering knowledge management in a business format franchise system.

With regard to future research avenues, conceptual and empirical studies are both needed to obtain a clearer understanding of the dynamic process of knowledge creation under business format franchising.

The article sensitises franchisors to think how knowledge is created under business format franchising, and in particular how the tacit knowledge that franchisees provide can be converted into the form of explicit knowledge. Underlines that franchisors can never control and direct dynamic process of knowledge creation among franchisees, but a franchisor can provide certain conditions that lead franchisees and other members of franchise system to create and disseminate knowledge.

The article proposes that both tacit and explicit knowledge under business format franchising are created in formal or informal groups encompassing bas that may span both horizontally and vertically throughout the business format franchise system.

Over the last decade, the public sector of many economies has undergone various reform initiatives. A central element of these reforms is the introduction of “market‐oriented commercial practices” in the sector. Such initiatives have required public sector entities to engage in constant organisational learning processes. Using the New South Wales State mail service as a case illustration, this paper explores the “new knowledge creation” aspects of such reform initiatives. The paper explores how the State mail service underwent “new knowledge‐creation” processes as part of the commercialisation initiative. It is argued that the newly introduced commercial technologies have played a significant role in the process of creating and transferring knowledge within the organisation.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a measurement tool for assessing organizational knowledge creation practices based on the socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization (SECI) processes of the knowledge creation theory.

Data were collected from a sample of 455 knowledge workers from four Korean for‐profit organizations, utilizing a systematic procedure, which includes: initial item and domain development based on a comprehensive literature review, reliability assessment and item deduction, and construct validity and psychometric property assessment.

Results show that 17 items related to individual and team members' practices of acquiring and sharing knowledge in organizational contexts measure the four domains of SECI knowledge creation practices.

Although samples from Korean business settings indicate a limited generalizability, this study's theory‐grounded item specification and systematic procedure of scale development (i.e. descriptive statistics, reliability and inter‐correlation analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis using the random split method) can be replicated in future similar studies or scale development research.

Scores at the individual, group, or firm level can be utilized for comparison or development purposes to promote the collaborative knowledge creation practices in organizations.

The purpose of the paper is to provide a review of knowledge management (KM) literature by adapting and extending McElroy's KM generations model.

The paper draws from a range of KM research published in the academic and trade literature. An interpretive stance is adopted to provide a holistic understanding and interpretation of organizational KM research and related knowledge management systems (KMS) and models.

To be effective organizations need not only to negotiate their migration from a knowledge sharing (first generation) to a knowledge creation (second generation) culture, but also to create sustained organizational and societal values. The latter form the third generation KM and represent key challenges faced by modern organizations. A true value creation culture is nurtured through a blended approach that factors a number of perspectives to KM, including human networks, social capital, intellectual capital, technology assets, and change processes.

The interpretive approach adopted throughout the review is limited to, and focused on, understanding the implementation and organizational implications of KM initiatives and technology.

While value creation focuses on the organizational and societal impact of knowledge management, the paper describes how human networks, social capital, intellectual capital, technology assets, and change processes emerge as essential conditions to enable knowledge value creation.

Looking at the practical experience of organizations pursuing knowledge management, it is found that their efforts are primarily focused on creating the conditions and the context that will enable knowledge creation. This need for developing enabling conditions and contexts was identified more than a decade ago when Nonaka and associates introduced the concept of “ba.” This paper aims to map the development of the concept of “ba” in a number of disciplines in order to understand its theoretical evolution and practical application.

A comprehensive search and evaluation of the literature resulted in a database of 135 papers, four dissertations and four books. Using content analysis, citation analysis, and concept mapping, four categories of research findings are identified that in turn suggest four groups of conditions for enabling knowledge creation.

The paper discusses each of these conditions (the social/behavioral, cognitive/epistemic, information systems/management, and strategy/structural), and introduces a framework that relates these conditions to the type of knowledge process and the level of interaction that characterize a knowledge management activity in the organization.

It is concluded that managing knowledge in organizations is fundamentally about creating an environment in the organization that is conducive to and encourages knowledge creation, sharing and use. Organizations interested in pursuing knowledge management and innovation may wish to be guided by the enabling conditions presented here that have been discovered over ten years of research. These conditions and the frameworks of which they are part can help managers to analyze, discuss, and introduce specific combinations of enabling factors that are tailored according to the type of knowledge process and level of interaction needed to address a particular knowledge problem or vision.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the applicability of using concept maps in organizations where knowledge management is the goal.

Based on the principles stated by Nonaka and Takeuchi about knowledge creation and conversion and on the work by Novak and Gowin on concept maps, the core idea is to present the use of concept maps as a technique that facilitates, in some cases, and supports, in others, the realization of the following knowledge conversion operations: socialization, exteriorization, combination and internalization. These are the operations that, according to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1999), allow for the transformation of individual knowledge into collective knowledge and vice versa. Furthermore, it aims to answer the question of how to support the process of knowledge management in an organization through the use of a software application like CmapTools.

This paper shows that knowledge evolves through various stages, with particular characteristics that need to be acknowledged in order to be managed properly.

The technique of employing concept maps is appropriate to sponsor and facilitate the transitions among these stages of knowledge. It even allows for the preservation of the valuable knowledge of a person through the management of individual knowledge or the knowledge of a group of persons in an organization. This, in turn, promotes knowledge management in the enterprise itself.

In current business management, knowledge is considered to be a strategic resource that can strengthen an organization’s competitiveness. Today, under the process of continuous globalization, almost all companies are rapidly exposed to global competition regardless of their scale or type of business. However, multinational management is very complicated and uncertain and it is hard for multinationals to effectively coordinate and manage their global value chains. In light of this, the utility of multinational management based on knowledge is increased. The present study examines multinational firms’ knowledge management systems, knowledge creation processes and global supply chain performance and attempts to reveal any significant linkages between these latent variables. For this research interest, we proposed 18 items to measure four types of knowledge creation processes (SECI) designed by Nonaka (1994) and revised by authors considering the global business environment, in particular involving the global supply chain management concept. Utilizing the confirmed SECI model, 128 sample companies were classified into four groups according to the levels of their knowledge creation processes. The empirical results of this study reveal important linkages between a multinational firm’s knowledge management system and knowledge creation process, as well as between its knowledge creation process and global supply chain management performance. In particular, the current work suggests that the creation and conversion of tacit knowledge as well as explicit knowledge can be effectively supported by information and communication technology.