The Synergistic Effects of Knowledge Sharing and Learning on Organisational Learning: Demonstrating Organisational Performance

Abstract

Advancement in technologies has moved organisations from the traditional methods of strategic and tactical formulations to knowledge-based fabricated methods and strategies. Nowadays, knowledge management became an important success reason for the formulation of any strategy of every company. This knowledge dependent trend is not only dominant in developed economies and their firms, but also has attracted and motivated businesses operating in developing countries. Aiming on the degree of knowledge management influence, this study primarily tried to look at the effects of knowledge sharing (KS) on knowledge learning (KL) and organisational learning (OL), and to see the effect of OL on organisational learning culture (OLC) influencing the business performance. A research survey was conducted and obtained 214 (71%) valid responses from the sample of 500 respondents of the sales departments of six telecommunication companies. The Model fit Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) results show a positive effect of KS on KL and OL; however, KL effect on OL is insignificant. Consequently, the data did not support the effect of OL on OLC. However, OLC positively influenced organisational performance (OP). The results may guide the telecommunication companies to improve their knowledge management activities for better performance. The discussion and conclusions, managerial implications, and future research recommendations are presented at the end.

Impacts of knowledge sharing: a review and directions for future research

“…Knowledge sharing is critical to the development of organizational absorptive capacity , as it supports a continuous leveraging of existing knowledge to build innovative new knowledge (Khan et al , 2015; Liao et al , 2007; Iqbal et al , 2015; Yang, 2007. According to Wang et al (2016), knowledge sharing improves organizational learning capability and thus supports knowledge embeddedness in routines and procedures and exploitation of knowledge in relationships with stakeholders.…”

Personality Traits Influencing Knowledge Sharing in Student–Supervisor Relationship: A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis

“…Therefore, the success of KS initiatives ultimately depends on people's willingness to share that knowledge Khan et al (2015). However, the unpredictability of human behaviour makes KS the most challenging part of the knowledge management (KM) process (Yiu and Law, 2012;Yaakub et al, 2013).…”

“…Despite the volumes written on KS, there is little consensus as to what shapes KS from an individual perspective (Schauer et al, 2015, p. 770). Therefore, understanding the factors that help or hinder KS, including individual level aspects of KS, is important to both managers and those in academia, for the successful implementation of KS initiatives (Amayah, 2011;Khan et al, 2015).…”

Understanding the Impact of Opinion Leaders’ Characteristics on Online Group Knowledge-Sharing Engagement from In-Group and Out-Group Perspectives: Evidence from a Chinese Online Knowledge-Sharing Community

“…Besides, while the literature on the background of knowledge-sharing has been continuously growing since 2000, the results of studies are becoming more complex and cross-disciplinary, especially in works done on the motivators of online knowledge-sharing at the individual level [54][55][56] and the impact of knowledge-sharing on resource-or capability-based competitive advantages at the firm level [90,91]. Prior research has stressed investigations of the relationships between knowledge-sharers within a group (e.g., opinion leaders) and their influence on other online group users (e.g., in-group members) in the context of online communities; however, opinion leaders' cross-group influence on knowledge-sharing engagement at the group level has rarely been studied thoroughly [92].…”