Assessing the Role of Culture in Knowledge Sharing

It is generally acknowledged that the organization culture affects how knowledge processes, such as knowledge sharing, evolve. Despite the growing attention for aspects of culture, the knowledge management debate has not paid systematic attention to the diagnosis of a knowledge culture. The central question of the article is how such a diagnosis can be conceived. An answer to this question is presented, mainly based on a literature review, consisting of four elements: an identification of cultural elements ordered in knowledge sharing terms, a specification of facets of knowledge sharing as cultural behavior, the specification of different types of relationships between culture and knowledge sharing and a sequence of diagnosis steps connecting the first three elements. The article presents the case study of a Dutch government institution to illustrate the diagnostic framework and procedure.