TY - JOUR
T1 - A comparison of Chinese and UK cultural preferences supporting knowledge management in organizations
AU - Lai, Han
AU - Graham, Margaret
PY - 2009/5
Y1 - 2009/5
N2 - A supportive organizational culture has been recognised as a critical factor for a successful knowledge management (KM) initiative. This research explores the national diversities in developing such a supportive organizational culture between China and the UK. Some critical cultural attributes are identified from previous literatures as key factors for a supportive culture for KM, namely, 'Team oriented', 'Trust', 'Working closely with others', and 'Sharing information freely'. It is assumed that a supportive culture will be created if these critical cultural attributes are nurtured in organizations. Based on the perspective of 'person-culture fit', a modified 'organizational culture profile' (OCP) is employed as a research instrument to explore the different organizational culture preferences among target samples from China and the UK. The conclusions from this study are, compared to the UK, China has preferences in creating a culture of 'Team oriented', and has difficulties in creating a culture of 'Trust' for knowledge management in organizations. At the same time, both countries may be faced with the same challenges in creating organizational cultures of 'Sharing information freely' and 'Working closely with others' for knowledge management.
AB - A supportive organizational culture has been recognised as a critical factor for a successful knowledge management (KM) initiative. This research explores the national diversities in developing such a supportive organizational culture between China and the UK. Some critical cultural attributes are identified from previous literatures as key factors for a supportive culture for KM, namely, 'Team oriented', 'Trust', 'Working closely with others', and 'Sharing information freely'. It is assumed that a supportive culture will be created if these critical cultural attributes are nurtured in organizations. Based on the perspective of 'person-culture fit', a modified 'organizational culture profile' (OCP) is employed as a research instrument to explore the different organizational culture preferences among target samples from China and the UK. The conclusions from this study are, compared to the UK, China has preferences in creating a culture of 'Team oriented', and has difficulties in creating a culture of 'Trust' for knowledge management in organizations. At the same time, both countries may be faced with the same challenges in creating organizational cultures of 'Sharing information freely' and 'Working closely with others' for knowledge management.
KW - Knowledge management
KW - National culture
KW - Organizational culture
KW - Person-culture fit
M3 - Article
VL - 9
SP - 139
EP - 150
JO - International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management
JF - International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management
SN - 1447-9524
IS - 5
ER -