The Role of Organizational Culture

Culture refers to the underlying values, beliefs, and codes of practice that make a community what it is.

 The customs of society, the self-image of its members, the things that make it different from other societies, are its culture.

People join organizations from the surrounding community and bring their culture with them. 

Some key elements of organizational culture include:

1. Stated and unstated values,

2.Overt and implicit expectations for member behavior,

3.Customs and rituals,

4.Stories and myths about the history of the group,

5.Shop talk—typical language used in and about the group,

6.Climate—the feelings evoked by the way members interact with one another, with outsiders, and with their environment, including the physical space they occupy,

7.Metaphors and symbols—may be unconscious or embodied in other cultural elements.

Different Types of Culture

The first dimension, sociability is a measure for friendliness.

The second dimension, Solidarity is a measure for the task orientation. 

Culture at the Foundation of KM

1. Implementation of KM almost always require a culture change-if not a complete transformation, at least a tweaking of the existing culture in order to promote a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration.

2. Corporate culture is a key component of ensuring that critical knowledge and information flow within an organization.

3. The strength and commitment of a corporate culture will almost always be more important than the communication technologies that are implemented to promote knowledge sharing.

4. A knowledge sharing culture is one where knowledge sharing is the norm, not the exception, where people are encouraged to work together, to collaborate and share and where they are rewarded for doing so. 

Sharing of knowledge has the following characteristics:

1.Reward structure—recognition for knowledge sharing with peers,

2.Openness/transparency—no hidden agendas,

3.Sharing supported—communication and coordination between groups,

4.Trust—shared objectives,

5.Top management support—upward and downward communication.

Organizational Maturity Model

KM Maturity Model

1. Paulzen and Perc (2002) have proposed a knowledge process quality mode (KPQM) based on the major tenets of quality management and process engineering.

2. The authors make the assumption that since software development is a knowledge-based activity, it is valid to adapt these models for KM. 

The Forrester Group KM maturity model describes the different stages of maturity in terms of how people are supported throughout the KM Cycle.

This model is quite useful in determining the level of knowledge support that will be needed for effective KM to be established within a given organization.

CoP Maturity Model

•Maturity models have also been applied to the CoP life cycle.

•A CoP maturity model can serve as a good road map to show what steps need to be taken to move communities to the next stage. 

Transformation to a Knowledge Sharing Culture

•Changing structure by changing a rule and its enforcement         mechanism is rather simple when compared to changing a social value.

•Culture is resistant to change because many of the cultural control mechanisms become internalized in the minds of organizational members.

• Changing culture often means that members have to change their entire social identity.

• Although organizational change is difficult and often lengthy to undertake, it is a critical requirement for most, if not all, KM Implementation. 

Some initial steps to creating a knowledge sharing culture could include:

1. Having knowledge journalists begin interviewing key people to document projects, best practices, lesson learned and good stories.

2. Instituting KM get-togethers, which could be breakfast, lunch and learn sessions, or any type of informal gathering to help people get to know one another, sometimes with thematic talks and showing managerial support.

3. Producing newsletter to publicize KM initiatives and celebrate good role model.

4. Launching KM pilot projects, such as expertise location systems and intranets with space devoted to different communities of practice

5. Changing performance evaluation criteria to reflect and assess knowledge sharing competencies and accomplishments.

6. Censuring knowledge hoarders and rewarding effective knowledge shares.

7. Redesigning workplaces to allow for gathering places.

Impact of Merger on Culture

- Cultural integration in a merger situation isabout understanding and melding what can be

two very different “Shared Lives”, and growing in a new one in the process.

- When you have two organizations coming together, the challenge is to create, intentionally, a new culture that reflects the most strategic aspects of the parent organizations. 

Impact of Virtualization on Culture

Virtual organizations face additional challenges such as:

1.No formalization, with each organization following its own norms, styles, and ideas,

2.No shared values, beliefs, ideas, or norms,

3.No frameworks or policies that guide individuals working in the organization.