This conceptual paper investigates the process of knowledge transfer in project-based organizations from the perspective of organizational culture. The paper identifies obstacles to knowledge transfer in project-based organizations and emphasizes the importance of organizational and project cultures in this process. The study provides some suggestions for improving knowledge transfer in project-based organizations and notes the implications of the paper for project management.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify and examine various factors that influence the success or failure of knowledge management (KM) initiatives in project‐based companies.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a literature review, the study proposes a conceptual model of six factors of potential importance to the success of KM initiatives. The model is then examined through an online survey of project managers and assistant managers from project‐based businesses in Finland.FindingsThe study finds that a lack of incentives and the absence of an appropriate information system are the most significant barriers to successful KM initiatives in projects.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the study may be restricted in terms of generalisability because of the limited empirical study.Practical implicationsProject managers should formulate an attractive incentive package to encourage project members to participate in KM initiatives and to suggest ideas for new KM opportunities. Managers should also ensure that an effective user‐friendly information system is in place before introducing KM initiatives.Originality/valueThe study proposes a new model of critical success factors for KM initiatives in the context of project‐based business.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical factors that impact knowledge sharing (KS) and their importance in technology-intensive service organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach An extensive literature review was conducted to identify the critical factors for KS in technology-intensive organizations. Then, an analytical hierarchical process (AHP) was applied to prioritize the primary criteria and sub-criteria. This study consists of nine primary criteria and 34 sub-criteria that are relevant to KS in technology-intensive organizations. Findings The results show that organizational leadership (OL) is the most important factor that impacts KS in technology-intensive organizations, which is followed by organizational culture (OC), organizational strategy (OSY), corporate performance (CP), organizational process (OP), employee engagement (EE) and organizational structure (OST). According to the results, the least impactful factor is human resource management (HRM). Research limitations/implications Because the results in this study were only obtained from service organizations, future studies can include manufacturing organizations from different countries and additional success factors. Future studies could also use structural equational modelling methodology for better understanding the relations among these critical factors for KS. Originality value This paper is one of the first in the UAE to examine the broad range of critical success factors for KS in technology-intensive organizations.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discover the impact of different dimensions of organizational culture (mission culture, adaptability culture, involvement culture and consistency culture) on business excellence results criteria (customer results, people results, society results and business results) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and explore the moderating role of information and communication technology (ICT) use in both service and manufacturing industries. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected by questionnaire from 448 managers in nine companies that have won the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award in the last three years. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the data. Findings Organizational culture is significantly related to business excellence. However, these effects varied for different business excellence criteria. Three organizational culture types had a significant positive role in achieving excellent customer-related results. All four types of organizational culture had a positive role in achieving excellent people-related results. Only two culture types had significant role in achieving excellent society-related results. Business results were positively related to a balance between the four types of organizational culture. ICT use moderated the relationship between organizational culture and results related to customers, people and business, but not society. Research limitations/implications This study had some conceptual limitations. In particular, it considered the organizational culture as four types in the research model, but without structuring the indices under each type. It also had some methodological limitations. It was cross-sectional and used a self-administered questionnaire, which means that no causal relationships can be implied, and there may have been some bias in responding. Originality/value This is one of the first studies that investigate the relationship between organizational culture and business excellence in UAE excellence award-winning companies.

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