Organisational culture as an antecedent of knowledge sharing in NGOs

Abstract

Knowledge sharing (KS) is a challenge for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) given its high turnover and the informal nature of KS. We examine KS in Portuguese NGOs by adopting the three levels of Schein's theory of organisational culture: artefacts, norms/values, and basic assumptions. We test the influence of the three variables we propose to be proxies of the three levels: internal communication, ethical climate, and altruism. This study's objective is to a) ascertain whether the different levels are correlated with each other, and b) to understand the effects of organisational variables on KS. We found evidence to sustain the correlation among the three levels showing that Schein's theory is supported in the NGO's. Our findings confirm that an ethical climate and altruism have a positive impact on KS. However, the analysis fails to support the influence of internal communication. Altogether, we conclude that organisational culture positively impacts KS at NGOs.

Do Strategic Human Resources and Artificial Intelligence Help to Make Organisations More Sustainable? Evidence from Non-Governmental Organisations

“…This becomes critical when one considers the organisational structure of NGOs, the primary mission of which is to volunteer in civil society in response to state failures. To accomplish this goal, NGOs must manage their resources efficiently to ensure their sustainability [28].…”

“…The materials for this study were obtained through previous research. A total of 6 questions adapted and modified from [25] were used to assess strategic human resource management, 6 items were used to assess artificial intelligence [15], 16 items were used to assess organisational learning [40], 20 items were used to assess CSR [28], and 11 items were used to assess organisational performance [128].…”

“…Non-governmental organisations face a number of obstacles to success, including a lack of stability and uncertainty [27]. NGOs must effectively manage their resources [28]. These are the organisational structures that enable two distinct goals to be pursued: individual (self-realisation) and social (satisfaction and responsibility) [29].…”

Organizational culture, knowledge sharing and organizational performance: a multi-country study

“…However, while there is much appreciation of the organizational culture-knowledge sharing relationship in literature, with the exception of the few, research mainly looks at the construct of organizational culture in a broader sense and in a specific context such as openness, and innovativeness. Curado et al (2023), for example, examine the relationship between organizational culture and knowledge sharing but study those aspects of organizational culture such as norms, values, artifacts, basic assumptions, communication and ethical climate. Some notable exceptions include Ng (2022), which, for example, examine Organizational culture and performance the different types of organizational cultures and examine their relationship with aspects such as affective trust, affective commitment, and knowledge sharing tendency.…”

Effects of organizational culture, affective commitment and trust on knowledge-sharing tendency

“…Employees’ tendency to share knowledge may be affected by their organization’s culture because culture influences how employees think, act and respond (Borges, 2013; Lee et al , 2016; Suppiah and Singh, 2011). Organizational culture (OC) reflects the deep meanings, values and beliefs that generate the norms which influence the behavior of members in that organization (Curado et al , 2021; Schein, 2010). In the knowledge-sharing context, OC influences the employee’s behavior and willingness to share knowledge, i.e.…”