Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology

This paper intended to determine the role corporate culture plays in facilitating or hindering knowledge management (KM) practices, especially knowledge sharing, in selected private higher education institutions in Botswana and whether there is a fit or misfit between organisational culture of these institutions and international KM best practices.
Several key literary KM sources were consulted in which the theoretical underpinnings of the study were firmly grounded. This study used a quantitative method through the questionnaire as a data collection instrument.
A sample comprising 132 respondents was chosen from a total population of 670 comprising academic staff from five selected higher education institutions. The culture of these institutions was found to be negatively impacting on KM practices by, for example, not recognising and rewarding employee effort in promoting KM behaviour, not involving employees in decision-making, and failing to cultivate trust among employees and between employees and management.

  Organisational Culture as a Knowledge Management Enabler in Selected Private Higher Education Institutions in Botswana: A Question of Fit or Misfit (636.9 KiB, 3,003 hits)

Tacit knowledge is an organizational resource that is difficult to cultivate. It requires that responsible agents in the organization take an active role in encouraging trust and the development of relationships where individuals feel that their voice will be heard and that there will be a benefit from them passing knowledge onto someone else. In knowledge work tacit knowledge is especially important.
This research found that servant leadership is an important factor in influencing tacit knowledge sharing, however leader-member exchange is a factor that will strongly support the sharing of tacit knowledge.
If there is a dearth in servant leadership, then leader-member exchange quality is able to act as an influencer of tacit knowledge sharing. This indicates the conclusion that while servant leadership has its virtues, it is possible that other leadership constructs will be useful in encouraging tacit knowledge sharing.

  In Service for Sharing: Leadership and Leader - Follower Relationship Factors as Influencers of Tacit Knowledge Sharing in the IT Industry (932.2 KiB, 2,025 hits)