ABSTRACT
Recent advances in knowledge management (KM) and KM-related systems (KMS) have sparked interest in examining the organizational effects of such technology-based innovations. Drawing from a variety of organizational paradigms, researchers have attempted to answer such questions as: How do KMS potentially enhance a firm’s ability to create, store, and share its intellectual resources? What factors influence a firm’s effectiveness in using KM technologies? How do KMS affect organizational performance? In addressing such questions, organizational culture theory is one such paradigm that has received limited attention in explaining KM system uses and its organizational impacts. This chapter examines the work related to organizational culture and KM and suggests directions for further research. To accomplish this, we briefly trace information-based systems advancements and the dominant organizational paradigms used to investigate the organizational effects of such systems. Next, the chapter discusses organizational culture and its implications for KMS implementation. We do this through first presenting an organizational culture framework and then by discussing the various themes in KM-culture research. The chapter then concludes with an examination of potential directions for future research in KM-organizational culture research.
