The Role of Organizational Culture in Facilitating Knowledge Management Practices

Abstract

In the knowledge-based era, knowledge is the distinctiveresource of organizations and knowledge management (KM) isconsidered as the primary task of organizations that strives to utilize theirintellectual capitals effectively. Hence it is vital to understand carefullythe appropriate contexts and enablers of knowledge management.Organizational culture is among the most influential factors affecting thequality of accomplishing KM practices. In spite of this vital effect, its rolehas not been studied carefully. This article tries to explore the correlationof the four types of organizational culture on the knowledge managementpractices. It will investigate the way in which these cultures can facilitateor hinder KM practices. The population of the research consists ofeducational and research centers. A sample of 275 participants wasselected as statistical sampling. According to the research findings, theseorganizational cultures have a considerable effect on the KM practices.Clan and adhocracy organizational culture have a powerful positiverelationship with KM practices, but this effect was negative for marketand hierarchical cultures. These findings support the necessity ofadopting a more humanistic approach for implementing knowledgemanagement more effectively.

Keywords

• Knowledge
• Knowledge Management
• Organizational culture