Information culture: a perspective from Mainland China

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of information culture in Mainland China and apply the information culture framework to an organizational setting. Design/methodology/approach The foundation for the research is provided by a review of Chinese and English language literature and a case study of a university library was conducted, involving semi-structured interviews. Findings The information culture framework facilitated identification of factors not recognized in previous information culture research, including uniquely Chinese factors of egocentrism, guanxi (relationships), mianzi (face), hexie (harmony) and renqing (mutual benefit). A further finding highlighted the profound differences between archives and library institutions in China. Originality/value The paper provides the first step toward further exploring features of Chinese organizational culture which will not only influence information management practices but also highlight the issues relating to collaboration between libraries and archives in China.

Clashes of cultures in an international aid organisation: Information cultures, languages and the use of information systems

“…Every organisation has one or several information cultures, its own ways of dealing with information, which are impacted by the environment in which it operates and the cultural background and competencies of its employees. While one strand of the literature has presented information culture as a characteristic that some organisations possess and that is conducive to good information management, another strand affirms that all organisations have an information culture (Lian & Oliver, 2019). This paper places itself in the second category and adopts Oliver and Foscarini's definition of information culture as “the values accorded to information, and attitudes towards it, specifically within organizational contexts” (2014, p. 11).…”

Information culture and recordkeeping: a case of Chinese enterprises

“…Oliver and Foscarini (2014) proposed a comprehensive three-level pyramid model of information culture framework (ICF), which is used to identify relevant cultural characteristics of organizations and give guidance on using the framework to provide basis for the development and promotion of sound recordkeeping/information management practice. The abovementioned research on the typology and analytical framework of information culture has been adopted to empirically explore the information culture in universities, project teams and government and the relationship between information culture and knowledge creation, information/records management (Oliver, 2017; Lian and Oliver, 2020; Vick et al. , 2015; Svärd, 2014).…”

Effects of supply chain quality event announcements on stock market reaction: an empirical study from China

“…On the one hand, China’s cultural background, economic environment, industrial development and ownership structure have unique characteristics that are different from those of developed countries (Jia and Rutherford, 2010; Schoenherr, 2012; Schoenherr et al. , 2012; Richards, 2014; Lian and Oliver, 2020; Shi et al. , 2020).…”

“…The research findings in China can provide new insights for the research of SCQEs. On the one hand, China's cultural background, economic environment, industrial development and ownership structure have unique characteristics that are different from those of developed countries (Jia and Rutherford, 2010;Schoenherr, 2012;Schoenherr et al, 2012;Richards, 2014;Lian and Oliver, 2020;Shi et al, 2020). Taking China as the research background is of great significance and may obtain unique research conclusions.…”