Impact of Culture on Knowledge Management: A Meta-Analysis and Framework

Abstract

Culture, both national and organizational, can have profound impacts on knowledge management. Yet the literature on exactly how culture impacts knowledge management is complex with no clear generalizable results. A meta-analysis was conducted on 52 articles from ten IS journals for the years 2000-2010 combining both quantitative and qualitative studies in a unique methodological approach. Key findings include a marked shift away from normative language towards more interpretive and critical discourse emphasizing the power issues inherent in the cultural context of knowledge management. Trust and openness are key organizational cultural dimensions that impact knowledge management processes, but these traits are achieved through effective business leadership, rather than a particular technological artifact. The most striking generalizable finding from the cross-case analysis is that organizational culture can overcome or mitigate differences in national culture. An overall framework is provided to illustrate the findings and to serve as an important guidepost for future research.

The role of organizational culture in the knowledge management process

“…On the other hand, a loosely controlled culture may increase an individual's contribution of their own knowledge to the achievement of organizational goals (Jarvenpaa and Staples, 2001;Wei, 2005;Alavi et al, 2005Alavi et al, -2006Jacks et al, 2012). Therefore, this leads to a reverse hypothesis of H 2b-2 to test which of the H 2b hypotheses is correct: H 2b-2 : A tightly controlled culture will have a more negative effect on the individual's knowledge storage intention than a loosely controlled culture.…”

“…An open system culture encourages the individual to communicate and interact with outsiders and newcomers (Gupta et al, 2000;Wei, 2005;Jacks et al, 2012). As the most difficult part of knowledge transfer is the transfer of tacit knowledge, the sharing of such knowledge must be done through continuous openness, trust, common language, and tacit agreement (Norman, 2004;Ajmal and Koskinen, 2008).…”

“…As the most difficult part of knowledge transfer is the transfer of tacit knowledge, the sharing of such knowledge must be done through continuous openness, trust, common language, and tacit agreement (Norman, 2004;Ajmal and Koskinen, 2008). In light of this, an open system culture tends to be beneficial for knowledge transfer (Kayworth and Leidner, 2003;Bhatt, 2001;Alavi et al, 2005Alavi et al, -2006Ajmal and Koskinen, 2008;Jacks et al, 2012). In contrast, a closed system culture is distrustful of outsiders, permitting only inner circle interaction and being resistant to communication with others.…”

Managing Knowledge and Managing Knowledge Work: What we know and what the Future holds

“…This view treats knowledge as an asset (a resource) and as an object that can be extracted from an individual's mind and stored externally to be used by others, like any other object. A review by Jacks et al (2012) suggests that the literature has moved from an essentially normative approach to more interpretive and critical views of knowledge over the 10-year period between 2000 and 2010, although there is still considerable research that remains wedded to the resource view of knowledge, even if this is only implicit.…”

“…Some studies have also looked at the impact of national culture. Thus, a metaanalysis on the impact of culture, both national and organizational, on KM, covering the period 2000-2010 (Jacks et al, 2012) revealed that most research has focused on organizational rather than national culture. In terms of national culture, this meta-analysis revealed that those studies that have been undertaken identify the importance of uncertainty avoidance and power distance (Hofstede, 1980) as having most influence on knowledge sharing; while at the organizational level, trust and openness are most important, with these influencing knowledge sharing directly but also indirectly through business leadership's vision and strategy.…”