The Impact of Organisational Culture on using Enterprise Social Networks for Staff Knowledge Sharing in Higher Education

This study is rooted in the complex and rapidly changing convergence of higher education, information systems, and the new wave of social media enabled knowledge management (KM). This wave is centred on the convergence of... [ view full abstract ]

This study is rooted in the complex and rapidly changing convergence of higher education, information systems, and the new wave of social media enabled knowledge management (KM). This wave is centred on the convergence of organisational applications of social media, known as enterprise social networks (ESN) and virtual communities of practice (vCoP). The research is based on an Action Research (AR) project and its main focus is to investigate how ESN can enable staff knowledge sharing in vCoP in higher education institutions (HEIs). The implementation of KM practices in HEIs has been identified as being at low levels by a number of studies, and the consequent lack of staff knowledge sharing has a negative impact on their overall performance. The use of ESN for knowledge sharing is gaining in popularity and has been identified as beneficial to the performance and competitive advantage of organisations. However, ESN have not yet gained a significant foothold in HEIs, and there has been little research into how they might be used to enable knowledge sharing in HEIs. The research questions examine the antecedents for a knowledge sharing environment, the dominant problems associated with staff using ESN and participating in vCoP, the key motivations for participating, and the perceived organisational and individual benefits of a vibrant knowledge sharing environment. The conceptual model for the research identified a number of key antecedents which must be present for a knowledge sharing environment to emerge. One of these is having an organisational culture that makes peer sharing of knowledge just as valid as top-down sharing. Many of the organisational and individual barriers stem from the presence of an organisational culture that does not promote or encourage knowledge sharing, and this is evidenced in management practices. This study seeks to explore the extent of the impact that organisational culture has on the knowledge sharing environment, and to discover if management and staff are committed to overcoming the barriers in order to realise the benefits that having an open knowledge sharing culture brings. The AR study was conducted over three cycles in 2015-16 and was qualitative in nature, using focus groups and semi-structured interviews as the primary data collection instruments. The key findings indicate that organisational culture and structure are major barriers to staff knowledge sharing and this problem is exacerbated in HEIs by the existence of a divide between faculty and staff. In addition, management have the most important role to play in shaping the knowledge sharing environment by leading change in the culture such that staff are suitably motivated to interact and collaborate with each other, and share knowledge freely. In general, the study findings provide an opportunity for educationalists to better understand the scope and the impact of employing ESN platforms for knowledge sharing. In seeking to determine the drivers and barriers to sustainable use, this research should also be of interest to practitioners and researchers undertaking similar projects.