A Study On The Influence of National Culture on Knowledge

Sharing

Laitinen, J. A. (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan)Pawlowski, J. M. (Hochschule Ruhr West University of

Applied Sciences, Germany)Senoo, D (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan)

ContentBackgroundOn knowledge sharing and national cultureResearch question, methodologyResultsFuture workReferences

BackgroundCulture

“[…] definitive, dynamic purposes and tools (values, ethics, rules, knowledge systems) that are developed to attain group goals” (Mabawonku, 2003)

Significant variance in national culture can exist within a single country (Hofstede, 1980)

Significant overlap can also be found in national cultures (Hofstede, 1980)

While simplifications of reality, cultural models can give guidelines on where the differences can be found. E.g. Hofstede (1980) and updated versions

On knowledge sharing and national culture

Various approaches to encompass the relevant aspects More abstract frameworks (Bhagat et al., 2002) Country-specific approach (Huang et al., 2008)

Frameworks discusses either organization or individual level variables in regards to a key topic E.g. individual level trust (Usoro et al., 2007) E.g Existence of formal knowledge sharing policy (Strach

and Everett, 2006), Need for frameworks detailing relevant factors in both

organizational and individual levels, and how they interact with national culture and knowledge sharing

Research methodologyTo discover the relevant influencing factors,

researchers decided to carry out semi-structured interviews

Countries: Finland and JapanInterviewee candidates: industry and academic

professionals, who have experience in knowledge management, and had experience in both countries. In total 9 interviews (4 Japanese and 5 Finnish)

Proposed framework

Overview of influencing factors

Influencing factor Influencing attributes

Links toNational Culture • Individualistic –

collectivistic• Horizontal – vertical• Long-term

orientation

• Individual• Organization• Trust• Willingness

Individual • Cultural distance• Language fluency of

the individual• Organization• Trust• Willingness

Organization • Incentives• Management support

for knowledge sharing practices

• Existence of formal knowledge sharing strategies

• Common goal

• Individual• Trust• Tools• Willingness

Trust • Competency-based• Integrity-based• Benevolence-based

• Willingness• Organization • Individual

Tools • Support communication with other employees

• Ease of use

• Willingness

Willingness • Sharing outside of group

• Knowledge sharing

Overview of influencing factors

Influencing factor Influencing attributes

Links toNational Culture • Individualistic –

collectivistic• Horizontal – vertical• Long-term

orientation

• Individual• Organization• Trust• Willingness

Individual • Cultural distance• Language fluency of

the individual• Organization• Trust• Willingness

Organization • Incentives• Management support

for knowledge sharing practices

• Existence of formal knowledge sharing strategies

• Common goal

• Individual• Trust• Tools• Willingness

Trust • Competency-based• Integrity-based• Benevolence-based

• Willingness• Organization • Individual

Tools • Support communication with other employees

• Ease of use

• Willingness

Willingness • Sharing outside of group

• Knowledge sharing

Benefits of the proposed framework

Proposed framework encompasses individual, organizational and national cultural influence factorsNone of the previous frameworks do this

Combination of three different cultural influence factors and other influence factors seem to to cover culture specific features Individualistic-collectivistic, Horizontal-vertical, Long-term

orientationE.g. Guanxi (China), Face (Japan)

Clearly shows where influence of culture can be found in individual and organizational level

The framework clearly shows the directions of influences making it easier for practitioners and researchers to apply the framework

Future research directionsFurther confirmation of the results through

quantitative methods.Subsections of the framework can be fruitful

Influence of national culture on tool customizationPreferences between explicit and tacit knowledge

References Bhagat, R. S., Kedia, B.L., Harveston, P. D., Triandis, H. C.: Cultural variations

on the cross-border transfer of organizational knowledge: an integrative framework. Academy of Management Review, 27(2), 204–221 (2002)

Huang, Q., Davison, R. M., Gu, J.: Impact of personal and cultural factors on knowledge sharing in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 25(3), 451–471 (2008)

Hofstede, G.: Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications (1980)

Mabawonku, A. O.: Cultural framework for the development of science and technology in Africa. Science and Public Policy, 30(2), 117-125 (2003).

Strach, P., Everett, A. M.: Knowledge transfer within Japanese multinationals: Building a theory. Journal of knowledge Management, 10(1), 55–68 (2006)

Usoro, A., Sharratt, M. W., Tsui, E., Shekhar, S.: Trust as an antecedent to knowledge sharing in virtual communities of practice. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, (5), 199–212 (2007)

Questions?Thank you for listening

Tokyo Institute of Technology, Senoo Laboratory

Located at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

Professor Dai Senoo Graduated from Hitotsubashi University, was

supervised by NonakaCurrently focusing on knowledge management4 full time PhD students, (3 foreigners, 1

Japanese)Additional part-time PhD students

14Prof. Dr. Jan M. Pawlowski

History

• Founded in 2009

• Public institution, regional development

• 3000 students, 70 professors and growing

• Western Ruhr area (Bottrop, Mülheim)

Business Information Systems

• Business Information Systems

• (Global) Process Management

• Supporting globally distributed workgroups in knowledge-intensive organizations

• Knowledge Management, E-Learning & Open Educational Resources

• Reference Modeling

• Cultural adaptation

Hochschule Ruhr WestRuhr West University of Applied Sciences

Web: http://en.hochschule-ruhr-west.de/research/computer-science/institute-members/professor-jan-pawlowski.html

http://www.idea-space.eu/

https://jp.linkedin.com/pub/jouni-laitinen/6b/706/308E-Mail: Laitinen.j.aa@m.titech.ac.jpjan.pawlowski@hs-ruhrwest.de

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