An exploratory study of the effect of national culture on knowledge management factors, expectations and practices: A cross-cultural analysis of Taiwanese and United States perceptions.

摘要

Knowledge management (KM) is an important part of international corporate strategy; however, there is a lack of empirical research on how KM is influenced by national culture. This study adds value to the understanding of the relationships between national culture and KM with a focus on Taiwan. The research question is: Are Taiwanese and U.S. knowledge workers' beliefs about the success factors, expectations and practices of knowledge management significantly different? Three hypotheses are formulated: (1) Taiwanese respondents' beliefs about the critical key elements of KM are significantly different from beliefs of U.S. respondents. (2) Taiwanese respondents' expectations about the benefits of KM are significantly different from expectations of U.S. respondents. (3) Taiwanese respondents' practices are significantly different from practices of U.S. respondents.; Statistical comparisons of perceptions on KM factors, expectations, and practices support all hypotheses in the study. In general, the KM beliefs, expectations, and practices of knowledge workers in Taiwan and the U.S. do differ significantly.; Additional analysis has provided some understanding of how the specific cultural traits of collectivism and Confucian Dynamism impact specific KM factors, expectations, and practices. The implications are that organizations from either country engaged in business, government, or educational objectives in the other country should adjust their implementations of KM practices to accommodate the differing perceptions of the people served.; Moreover, the Taiwanese knowledge workers agree more strongly with pro-KM statements than U.S. knowledge workers, suggesting that knowledge workers in Asian nations would respond even better to implementations of KM than U.S. knowledge workers. The difference in responsiveness is shown to be a result of their different national culture traits and values, particularly collectivism and Confucian Dynamism.; Asian workers have become knowledge workers because of the global Transfer of technology and the increase in knowledge-based jobs. With the sustainable advantage of knowledge integration, Taiwanese organizations potentially can enhance their global competitiveness in the knowledge economy. Additionally, the collectivist culture of Taiwanese knowledge workers suggests that they would adopt new technology more readily and faster than their U.S. counterparts.