The Impact of Organizational Culture and Structure on Knowledge Sharing

The aim of this paper is to examine how organizational culture, structure influence knowledge sharing in Malaysian MNCs. We pointed out that knowledge is shared through the organizational culture and structural systems which involve some key factors, i.e., support and collaboration, learning and development, leadership and commitment, formalization and centralization. As support and collaboration encourage learning and development for the knowledge worker enabling leadership roles to be cultivated and exercised to its full potential in the circumference of the organizational culture. On the other hand, design of the organisation's structure can be an essential factor that constrains the knowledge sharing practice in the organization. The approach of this research is quantitative in nature. The research findings indicate that out of the five independent variables, learning and development, leadership commitment and formalization are positively related to knowledge sharing. MNC's operating in Malaysia may use these findings to improve the practice of knowledge sharing among their employees. The findings of this research are limited to MNC's only. Furthermore, most respondents are from electrical and electronics companies. The conclusions of this study are based on the interpretation of survey results administered to 90 managerial staff in a number of Multinational Corporations in Penang, Malaysia. Further studies are required to draw a more generalized conclusion. The paper contributes to the body of literature relating to knowledge sharing in the high-tech semiconductor industry.