Behind the scenes of knowledge sharing in a Japanese bank

Abstract

This exploratory study discusses the way in which knowledge is shared in one of Japan's commercial banks. In particular, it highlights the social factors which act as catalysts in the knowledge sharing process, and considers the impact of HRM practices and the low level of interaction with outside institutions. It acknowledges the embeddedness of knowledge in social relations by adapting the community model of knowledge sharing.Contrary to the belief that traditional bureaucratic people management practices have a limited ability to support knowledge management, this study reveals an HRM system that is able to strike a balance between those practices and a 'paternalistic adhocracy' approach to sharing knowledge through collaborative task sharing, trust building and personal social networking.

Human resource management practices stimulating knowledge sharing

“…Job rotation provides the opportunity for employees to work with others across various functions in the organization and keep the information network alive (Kubo et al, 2001). It can also help promote the flexibility of employees (Minbaeva et al, 2014;Soto-acosta et al, 2014).…”

“…For example, Kim and Ko (2014) state that if employees receive favourable treatment from their organization or managers, they tend to feel obligated to reciprocate by adopting a more positive attitude toward them. Kubo et al (2001) point out that job security connected with lifetime employment practice in the Michiko bank enhances knowledge sharing by providing the opportunity for employees to get to know each other over a long period of time and has the additional benefit of allowing its members to share the same experiences repeatedly.…”

“…Salient aspects of such organizational culture could be, based on a synthesis of literature findings, as follows: 1) a climate of fairness and mutual trust (see e.g. Lee and Ahn, 2007;Bock et al, 2005;Kubo et al, 2001, Rahman et al, 2016; 2) a climate of open communication with free-flowing information (see e.g. Bock et al, 2005;Cabrera and Cabrera, 2005); 3) a climate of innovation which tolerates wellintentioned failures and considers changes to be a part of life (see e.g.…”

“…Second, knowledge sharing affects financial performance -it enhances profitability (Pfeffer, 1998in Fong et al, 2011, reduces cost (Peet, 2012), as it reduces the need to train new employees by ensuring the use of certain knowledge repeatedly, thus avoiding making the same mistakes. Finally, knowledge sharing has an influence on the efficiency of human resource use because it contributes to better productivity and higher quality of an organization's performance (Law and Ngai, 2008;Tuan, 2012;Yen-Ku Kuo et al, 2014), reduces the risk of losing unique knowledge if a certain employee leaves the organization (Kubo et al, 2001), causes organization members to gather knowledge more conveniently and rapidly (Chiang et al, 2011), and so generate collective learning (Chen and Huang, 2009).…”

Non-disruptive knowledge and business processing in knowledge life cycles – aligning value network analysis to process management

“…In this sense, a great deal of trust and loyalty between the individual and the organization has to be established to leverage organizational knowledge, including its tacit dimension (cf. Kubo et al, 2001;Pan and Scarbrough, 1998;Krystek and Zumbrock, 1993). In addition, internalized knowledge is not easy to communicate and is mainly learned through practical examples, experience and practice.…”