A Cross-National Comparison of Knowledge Management Practices

The purpose of this chapter is to explore organizational knowledge-based practices. A distinguishing feature of the successful post-Network Age enterprise is its intrinsic entrepreneurial character that manifests itself in key organizational knowledge practices relating to organizational culture, processes, content, and infrastructure. The chapter reports on the outcome of field research in which entrepreneurial firms in four geographic regions were analyzed with the help of a diagnostic research tool specifically developed for profiling organizational knowledge-based practices. The diagnostic tool was applied in firms located in the U.S.'s Silicon Valley, Singapore, The Netherlands, and Israel. Key practices that were found to be common to leading-edge firms in all regions included: a propensity for experimentation , collective knowledge sharing, and collective decision making. The chapter describes the research in terms of a cross-cultural comparison of the four regions, derives key determinants of competitiveness, and profiles regional characteristics that enhance innovation and entrepreneurship.