Partnership between the employer and the staff as a vital factor for knowledge sharing

Abstract

Intra-organisational knowledge sharing has a significant influence on performance of organisations. Some researchers point out that knowledge sharing can be facilitated by organisational culture. This study examined which characteristics of organisational culture have positive impacts on knowledge sharing. A quantitative research with opinion-based questionnaires was applied. The findings indicated so-called knowledge sharing culture had a significant positive effect on the extent of knowledge sharing in the organisation. Four dimensions of knowledge sharing culture were suggested: partnership between the employer and the staff, cooperation among employees, user-friendliness of the used information system, and employees’ organisational commitment. All of them were moderate-significantly related to knowledge sharing. However, only partnership between the employer and the staff predicted knowledge sharing in the organisation. The results indicate that in the process of building knowledge sharing culture, partnership with the staff including support for employees from management, fairness and communication is essential.