The Complete Guide to Knowledge Management: A Strategic Plan to Leverage Your Company's Intellectual Capital

Chapter 4. The Role of Culture in a Successful Knowledge-Creating and Knowledge-Sharing Organization

In this chapter you will:

Learn that knowledge management hinges on developing a system of shared values and norms, and a management style that seeks employees' knowledge.

Learn that this management style is based on a shared culture, trust rather than hierarchical command and control, and respect for the knowledge of the workers.

Receive guidelines for embarking on the complex process of assessing your culture and changing it to fit with successful knowledge management.

There is a certain desirable organizational culture with positive values and norms which is a prerequisite for knowledge management. To attain the desired culture, it is your duty as a manager to assess the current situation in your organization and make the necessary changes.

Initially we were not sure if the culture issue was so important that it really required a lot of detail. But the unified message we got from managers we've consulted with convinced us it was a key component of a solid knowledge management process:

Why Bother with Culture? A Unanimous Message

A decade ago, when Tuvya began his study on knowledge management (KM), he went on a tour, visiting various organizations in Europe and the United States. Almost every conversation with each local KM expert began with the same mantra: Without the right organizational culture and values, you cannot have proper knowledge management.

His hosts also seemed to be suspiciously ...