Virtual Knowledge sharing in a Cross-Cultural Context

This article analyzes the factors that affect the sharing of knowledge and information online by employees in a cross-cultural context, with specific reference to American and Chinese Multi-National Corporations. It seeks to orient organizations to be proactive in removing cultural barriers for effective communication and better efficiency in performance.

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Article Annotation
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Article Information
Title: Virtual Knowledge sharing in a Cross-Cultural
Context
Author(s): Wei Li
Source: Journal of Knowledge Management, 14(1), 38-50.
Analysis Information
Purpose: With the path-breaking innovations in the
information technology and the increasing
dependency of human beings on the digital world,
the erstwhile mode of production relying heavily
upon human labour has been done away with. In
today’s world even economic activities are being
conducted by relying upon the wireless world. In
this context, it becomes important to identify the
factors which effect the sharing of knowledge and
information online by employees. With the advent
of globalization, the chain of sharing of
information and knowledge has been analyzed in
a cross-cultural context, with specific reference to
American and Chinese Multi-National
Corporations. This accounts for the purpose of the
article. It seeks to orient organization to be
proactive in removing the cultural barriers for
effective communication, and better efficiency in
performance.
Audience: By using the American and Chinese employees as
samples for conducting the survey research, the
article intends to convey to the Multi-National
Corporations about the prospects of the sharing
information and knowledge by online means.
Hence the target audience becomes specifically
the individuals at the top level managerial
positions of the Multi- National Corporations.
Subject: Several researches which have been conducted
before in the field of sharing information online.
However, there have been a lacuna in those
researches. Those researches have somehow
failed to address issue of online sharing of
information among the members of an
organization, in the cross-cultural context. This
gap is the matter of importance in this article. It is
impossible to conceive of conducting any

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economic activity without the usage of
computers, due to which the barrier of cultural
difference becomes intensified. Hence, it becomes
important to analyze the problem of cultural
barriers inhibiting sharing of information among
the members of the organization. Thus it can be
deduced that the subject matter of the article is to
address the gap in the literature available in the
field of enquiry concerned about the role of
cultural barriers in sharing information online.
Sources: The source of information have been a US based
Multi-National Corporation. A specific online
information sharing system by an imaginary name
ShareNet had been examined for the purpose of
gathering the necessary amount of data. On the
basis of it, the behavioural aspect of the
employees at America and at China had been
inferred. Apart from that the author has also
utilized several texts available on the subject
matter.
Primary details
Thesis: The thesis statement of this article emerges from
the premise that as the organizations grow and
expand in size they introduce members who
belong to other cultures. The organizations
function on the basis of efficiency, hence these
cultural barriers must be overcome in an effective
way so that they do not pose any problem in the
process of production. The individuals belonging
to various cultures are a rich source of enrichment
to an organization in terms of the inputs and ideas
they bring for the organization. Globalization has
taken advantage of this phenomenon in order to
enhance the productivity of the organization.
However there are several barriers in it which
have to be effectively lifted in order to facilitate
smooth functioning of the organization. This
research article seeks to harp on them.
Evidence: There have been three key findings which could
be deduced on the basis of conducting the
research. They are related to the performance of
the employees, the issue of culture and the role
played by the online CoPs.
- With regard to the issue of the

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performance of the employees it has been
observed that the expectation to perform
has been proven to be the strongest
motivating force of both the Americans
and the Chinese. They were more than
willing to share the necessary information
in an online portal such as the ShareNet in
order to enhance the level of their
performance.
- Culture does play an important role in
determining the openness of an individual
in sharing or divulging any kind of
information. It has been deduced that the
Chinese counterparts were less likely to be
expressive about disseminating or even
whole heartedly accepting information.
The American counterparts were however
more easygoing and liberal. It depends on
the employee on what form of
communication they were comfortable.
Some preferred not to show their face
while some were comfortable with it.
Culture is not an important factor in
determining it.
Limits: The study lacks the capability to be generally
applied as only one case study has been
conducted, including only the Chinese and the
Americans.
Point of view: The methodology applied had been qualitative
with focus on previous literature. The quantitative
aspect too was there. The point of view of the
author was that the existing researched had
focused less on the aspect of culture in exchange
of information. Hence the attempt was to show
that for overcoming the barrier, the cultural
background of the clients must be given due
consideration.
Presentation and Arguments
Concept/Words: The basic keywords of the research article are
organization, management, culture, information
and knowledge. The discussions revolved around
these concepts exclusively. These concepts are
inter-related to each other and that has been
upheld in the article as well. The concepts can be

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arranged likewise and understood as the centrality
of culture in organizational management with the
help of the knowledge and information.
Use of Evidence: The usages of the evidences have been quite
authentic and the findings have been deduced on
a subjective basis. The primarily evidences have
been derived by means of qualitative research on
the existing literature. The inputs gathered from
there were then testified against the evidences
collected by the quantitative research conducted
on ShareNet. The net results deduced, that the
factor of culture was indeed ignored.
Conclusion: The conclusion says that the factor is culture is
indeed an obstacle, however it can be overcome.
That is what the suggestions imply. On top of
that, the conclusion also hints at the fact that the
Americans are generally more open than the
Chinese people. Communication is a vital process
and for any organization to survive, it cannot be
inhibited.
Implications: It can be inferred that by overcoming the cultural
barrier the organizations can perform better. The
practical implications of the research necessitates
that the factor of culture be given due
consideration in the dealings of organizations.
Evaluation of the chosen article
Personal reaction: The article has been successful in talking about
the importance of knowledge sharing in the
contemporary organizations that has an impact on
the performance of a firm. The article has been
able in stating how the knowledge management
practices have been implemented in organization
with the help of advanced information along with
communication technologies. Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) has supported
the aspect of knowledge sharing in between the
culturally diversified members. The article has
successfully managed to clear the idea regarding
the aspect of knowledge sharing within cross-
cultural context. This goes as far as my personal
opinions are concerned.
Strength of Case: The strength of the case lies in the fact that by
making use of the Us based Multi-national
Corporation it has talked regarding how

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knowledge sharing can have an influence on the
issues in an organization. The case is of crucial
importance because it has talked about
performance expectancy that can motivate people
for the using of the information system within an
organization. The case has highlighted the fact
that there should be a built connection in between
knowledge sharing system and a need for
motivation so that one would use it by making use
of the information sharing system called Share
net. The strength of the case is due to the fact that
it has talked about the importance of training that
can help in the aspect of knowledge sharing.
Evaluation: The article has been successful in pointing out the
national cultural differences hat have an impact
on the Chinese along with American participants
aspect of knowledge sharing. The article has
rightly concluded that not having a common
language has an adverse effect on the aspect of
knowledge sharing in an organization. The article
is of crucial importance as it has talked about how
the members of multinational corporations
working within the foreign subsidiaries can make
posts in the native language so that they can be
circulated among a broader audience.
Quality: The quality of the article is high as it has very
authentically portrayed how the thinking logics,
one of the cultural dimension stated by Hofstede
can have an impact on the behavior of employees
in an organization. The article is authentic as by
making use of the semi-structured interview
instrument that helped in revealing the factors
that hampered the aspect of knowledge sharing of
the American and the Chinese employees.
Other: - The language could have been a
bit more argumentative. On an
overall basis the language is
quite lucid.
- However, it can be said that the net results
can be objectively applicable since
organizations deal with individuals from
various cultural backgrounds.

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Reference
Li, W. (2010). Virtual knowledge sharing in a cross-cultural context. Journal of Knowledge
Management, 14(1), 38-50.