A comparison of Chinese and UK cultural preferences supporting knowledge management in organizations

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.