Organizational culture impact on knowledge exchange: Saudi Telecom context

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of some organizational culture attributes, including: openness to change, innovation, trust, teamwork, morale, information flow, employees' involvement, supervision, customer service and reward orientation on the knowledge exchange (KE) process within the context of the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) as a representation of the Saudi context. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive correlation design was used. A web survey was used to collect data from 378 employees working on STC using Random Number Generator 0.2 software. The sample was selected using an e‐mailing list. Findings The findings revealed that the cultural attributes of trust, innovation, information flow, supervision, and reward have an impact on KE within the context of the STC. Additionally, the study revealed a statistically significant correlation between organizational culture and KE as a whole (0.75), which emphasizes the effective role of organizational culture factors on exchanging knowledge within the context of the study. Research limitations/implications This study presents only preliminary results from limited data. Additional quantitative data are needed to employ more superior statistical analysis. Moreover, the current study is exploratory in nature with a relatively small number of respondents from the STC. Originality/value The originality of this study is derived from the importance of KM as a strategic organizational tool as well as the importance of culture as an influential factor. The STC, one of the biggest companies in the Middle East, is trying to implement aspects of KM. Towards this end, the company has created a new division of KM which is suffering from a lack of research studies that explore issues relating to KM in Arab countries in general and the Saudi context in particular, which makes the topic of this research not only unique but also of high practical significance.