The Interactive Relationship between Corporate Cultures, Leadership Style and Knowledge Management

In the knowledge economy era, increasing attention has been on the myths and secrets of knowledge management (KM). Being the core of the intangible assets of organizations, proper and effective KM is an inimitable and sustainable competitive advantage in today’s competitive world. Taking this into consideration, this paper probes the dynamic relationship and impact mechanism between corporate culture, leadership styles and knowledge management in organizations based on literature review in this field. This research shows that corporate culture can serve as a propeller or inhibitor in KM. Knowledge-supportive and knowledge-sharing corporate culture has a positive influence on KM, while hierarchical and paternalistic corporate culture has a negative influence. Leadership style has a direct and indirect impact on KM through the formation and components of corporate culture. Leaders impact the organization’s KM in various ways. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-0276-2.ch005