A study on the influence of national culture on knowledge sharing

Abstract

The influence of national culture on knowledge sharing has important implications for all organizations. However, the existing frameworks only cover a subset of relevant factors or limit the research of the framework to either organizational or national level. Hence, a more encompassing framework is needed. The question this articles answers is how does national culture influence knowledge sharing. Based on extensive literature review and interviews carried out in Finland and Japan, this article sets forth a foundation for a new framework. The framework details how national culture influences individual level and organizational level factors and technical tools. Additionally, the framework includes a new dimension, time-dimension, which is usually disregarded in knowledge sharing research. For researchers and practitioners, the derived framework provides key insight on relevant factors on knowledge sharing and national culture. Finally, future research directions are discussed.