Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to identify key factors that facilitate knowledge sharing in collectivistic cultures and further help better understand knowledge management in the international context.
Design/methodology/approach
– Using a survey method, this study collected data from over 200 managerial employees in knowledge management-based project teams from China. Regression analysis was then conducted to analyze the impact of individual differences and environmental factors on the willingness to share knowledge among team members to identify key factors for successful knowledge retention in the constantly changing organizational environment in a collectivistic context.
Findings
– The results show that incentives are very important in individual’s decision to share knowledge in project teams even in a collectivistic culture like China and both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated individuals tend to share more knowledge with their team members. Individuals with high altruism are also found more likely to share knowledge with others. Moreover, a trusting environment and explicit knowledge will facilitate knowledge sharing for better retention.
Research limitations/implications
– More studies should be conducted in other collectivistic cultures to explore cultural barriers in knowledge management in the international context and comparative studies using samples from different cultural backgrounds are also encouraged to help extend the theories on knowledge management.
Originality/value
– While it is well-known that knowledge sharing is essential for organization to maintain competitive advantage, relatively few studies have examined knowledge sharing in collectivistic cultures, and even fewer have done so in China. This study adds values to the literature by identifying key factors for knowledge sharing in China, and thus helps refine the knowledge management theories and provides insights for multinationals on knowledge management in the Chinese market.
Research Summary: Drawing on entrepreneurial finance theory, we examine the tradeoffs among different sources of capital for entrepreneurial firms in emerging economies and their impact on innovation. In emerging economies, one of the unique aspects of firm financing is the presence of informal capital, as many formal sources of capital for new entrepreneurs have more constrained access than is the case in mature economies. We suspect that informal debt has an important effect on innovation, and this effect is contingent on the accessibility of formal debt and institutional development. The hypotheses are tested using survey data from 3,235 entrepreneurs in an emerging economy, China. Managerial Summary: This study demonstrates an inverted U-shaped relationship between the level of informal debt and entrepreneurial ventures' innovation performance. The value of informal debt for promoting innovation was found to be weaker for firms having little or no access to often less expensive institutional finance, whereas a betterdeveloped institutional environment strengthens the effects of informal debt. Copyright
Drawing on the relational and knowledge-based views of competitive advantage, this study links leaders' social ties and knowledge acquisition capability to competitive advantage of a firm. Specifically, it posits that leaders' business ties and government ties have differential effects on firm competitive advantage. It further posits that the effect of leaders' business ties on firm competitive advantage will be positively moderated by knowledge acquisition capability, and the effect of leaders' government ties on firm competitive advantage will be negatively moderated by knowledge acquisition capability. The hypotheses are tested based on a survey of 386 firms in China. The results provide support for the hypotheses.
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