Academic & Business Research: Repsol Knowledge Transfer Case Study

This report investigates the impact of organizational culture on knowledge transfer within the oil and natural gas industry, using Repsol as a case study. It begins with an introduction outlining the importance of knowledge transfer in a globalized market and the challenges posed by cultural differences. The research poses questions and objectives to identify the elements of organizational culture and its influence on knowledge transfer. The study formulates hypotheses regarding the impact of power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, and trust. A literature review explores key concepts, including knowledge transfer, organizational culture, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, and the oil and gas industry in Spain. The research methodology employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data collection through surveys and interviews, with a detailed research plan outlining the timeline and tasks. The conclusion summarizes the findings and their implications for effective knowledge transfer within Repsol, emphasizing the importance of understanding cultural dimensions for business success.

Running head: ACADEMIC AND BUSINESS RESEARCH
Academic & Business Research
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction and Background......................................................................................................2
2. Business Research Questions and Objectives..............................................................................3
Research objectives.....................................................................................................................3
Research question........................................................................................................................3
Research Hypothesis....................................................................................................................3
3. Literature review..........................................................................................................................4
a) Field of research......................................................................................................................4
b) Combined field of research.....................................................................................................5
Synthesis of data..........................................................................................................................6
4. Research methodology.................................................................................................................7
Research plan...............................................................................................................................8
5. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................10
References and Bibliography.........................................................................................................11

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Topic: Impact of organizational culture on knowledge transfer in oil and natural gas industry-“ A
case study of Repsol”
1. Introduction and Background
This report will propose to evaluate the impact of organizational culture on the
knowledge transfer in the oil and natural gas industry. The organization that has been chosen for
the study are Repsol. Globalization has changed the overall market scenario where companies
making entries in to the foreign market. However, there are cultural differences in most of the
countries and work environment and pattern varies based on the national values and societal
values. This means that it is essential to understand the cultural differences in the subsidiaries to
understand the knowledge gained form the local market and effectively use it for the
development of the organization. The transfer of knowledge is difficult and implementation of
the transferred from both ways from the subsidiary to the multinational company and from the
multinational company to the subsidiary is extremely difficult due to the differences.
Knowledge is one of the most important strategic resource for companies entering into
new markets. Globalization has enabled free trade in developing countries that are making rapid
economic progress in the past few years where China, India and other Asian countries are
lucrative entry markets (Hajro, Gibson & Pudelko, 2017). However, knowledge about these
markets are key to successful expansion so knowledge transfer is one of the crucial elements of
business success. The cultural differences between two countries is one of the most common
barriers faced by companies in effective transfer of knowledge. The study will examine these
elements to identify the impact of organization culture and differences of effective transfer of
knowledge.

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2. Business Research Questions and Objectives
The research will aim to identify the different elements of organizational culture its
impact on transfer of knowledge between the main organization and its subsidiaries. The
hypothesis will be developed based on these factors to examine exactly the factors affecting the
organizational culture.
Research objectives
The objectives of the current study are as follows:
 To identify the different elements of organizational culture in Repsol
 To examine the influence of organizational culture on knowledge transfer in an
organization
 To recommend suitable strategies for improving the organizational culture and transfer
of knowledge
Research question
 What are the different elements of organizational culture in Repsol?
 What is the influence of organizational culture on knowledge transfer in an organization?
Research Hypothesis
H00: The power distance between the main organization and its subsidiaries does not affect the
transfer of knowledge in Repsol
H10: The power distance between the main organization and its subsidiaries effects the transfer of
knowledge in Repsol

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H01: Collectivism vs Individualism orientation does not have impact the transfer of knowledge
between the main organization and its subsidiaries in Repsol
H11: Collectivism vs Individualism orientation does have impact the transfer of knowledge
between the main organization and its subsidiaries in Repsol
H02: Trust between the main organization and their subsidiary does not have impact the transfer
of knowledge between the main organization and its subsidiaries in Repsol
H12: Trust between the main organization and their subsidiary does not have impact the transfer
of knowledge between the main organization and its subsidiaries in Repsol
3. Literature review
a) Field of research
1) Knowledge transfer (books, journals and articles)
Paulin, D., & Suneson, K. (2015). Knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing and knowledge
barriers–three blurry terms in KM. Leading Issues in Knowledge Management, Volume Two, 2,
73-94.
Ahammad, M. F., Tarba, S. Y., Liu, Y., & Glaister, K. W. (2016). Knowledge transfer and cross-
border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee
retention. International Business Review, 25(1), 66-75.
2) Organizational culture
Hogan, S. J., & Coote, L. V. (2014). Organizational culture, innovation, and performance: A test
of Schein's model. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1609-1621.

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Lee, Y., & Kramer, A. (2016). The role of purposeful diversity and inclusion strategy (PDIS) and
cultural tightness/looseness in the relationship between national culture and organizational
culture. Human Resource Management Review, 26(3), 198-208.
3) Hofstede’s cultural dimension
Mazanec, J. A., Crotts, J. C., Gursoy, D., & Lu, L. (2015). Homogeneity versus heterogeneity of
cultural values: An item-response theoretical approach applying Hofstede's cultural dimensions
in a single nation. Tourism Management, 48, 299-304.
Bakir, A., Blodgett, J. G., Vitell, S. J., & Rose, G. M. (2015). A preliminary investigation of the
reliability and validity of Hofstede’s cross cultural dimensions. In Proceedings of the 2000
Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 226-232). Springer, Cham.
4) Oil and natural gas industry in Spain
Junior, F. H., Galleli, B., Gallardo-Vázquez, D., & Sánchez-Hernández, M. I. (2017). Strategic
aspects in sustainability reporting in oil & gas industry: The comparative case-study of Brazilian
Petrobras and Spanish Repsol. Ecological indicators, 72, 203-214.
b) Combined field of research
Impact + Organizational culture+ Knowledge transfer + Oil and natural gas industry in Spain
Lee, J. C., Shiue, Y. C., & Chen, C. Y. (2016). Examining the impacts of organizational culture
and top management support of knowledge sharing on the success of software process
improvement. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 462-474.

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Paulin, D., & Suneson, K. (2015). Knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing and knowledge
barriers–three blurry terms in KM. Leading Issues in Knowledge Management, Volume Two, 2,
73-94.
Synthesis of data
There have different definitions of knowledge management and different authors had
diverse opinion on it. As stated by Paulin and Suneson, (2015), knowledge management is the
effective retention, acquisition, sharing and utilization of knowledge between, across and within
individuals. On the other hand, Ahammad et al. (2016) Knowledge management is also defined
as the strategic method of developing, evolving, disseminating and evolving to meet the strategic
needs of the organization. Hogan and Coote, (2014) states that knowledge transfer is the
effective way of transfer the acquired from one party to another through human interaction.
Lee and Kramer (2016) states that organizational culture is the beliefs, norms, values and
understanding between the workforces in a particular organization. The national culture and
country of operation directs, develops and shapes the organizational culture in a country. As per
Hofstede’s cultural dimension, it has been seen that the different dimensions have affected the
organizational culture (Bakir et al., 2015). Reward, learning and development, leadership and
communication are crucial factors of developing an effectively. However, the source of the
organizational culture is developed from the working environment society and their shared
beliefs. The difference in national culture will affect the differences organizational cultural
between the headquarters and the subsidiary organization. Lee, Shiue and Chen, (2016) states
that power distance and collectivism vs individualism are two factors that highly affects the
organizational culture and transfer of knowledge. Therefore, this study will take this idea to
check how the difference in organizational culture affects the transfer of knowledge.

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4. Research methodology
This is an applied research where the results can be used by the managers of the
concerned organization address the specific issue identified in the study. Experimental method is
appropriate in this case as it facilitates description of behaviours and defining the cause and
effect relationship between the variables (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). This is a mixed
method study where both quantitative and qualitative data will be collected. However, the data
will be collected using primary data collection technique and in case of the literature review, the
data will be collected from high quality peer reviewed journals, articles and web articles. The
primary data will be collected by using survey and interview questionnaires (Flick, 2015). The
survey questionnaire will consist of close ended questions that will be asked to the lower level
employees and the qualitative questionnaire will consist of open ended questions where in depth
answers will be collected from the managers in Repsol.
The data will be analysed using coding and inferential statistics. Coding will be used for
analysing the qualitative data where open coding will be used to identify the theories mentioned
in the questionnaire and axial coding will be used to develop relevant findings from the raw data.
The quantitative data will be analysed using SPSS (statistical package for social sciences) where
the collected data will be developed into frequency tables and graphs (Smith, 2015). The
descriptive statistics will also be calculated which will consist of mean, median, mode and
standard deviation. Pearson’s correlation will be used to develop the correlation matrix which
will identify the nature and degree of association between the variables. Regression analysis will
develop the overall equation between the independent and the dependent variable (Hox,
Moerbeek & Van de Schoot, 2017). Sampling will consist of simple random sampling for

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quantitative analysis and convenience sampling will be used for collecting the qualitative data. In
this study, 100 employees will be surveyed and 5 managers will be interviewed.
Research plan
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Research plan 72 days Mon 10/15/18 Tue 1/22/19
Selection of the research topic 7 days Mon 10/15/18 Tue 10/23/18
Identifying suitable topic for research 3 days Mon 10/15/18 Wed 10/17/18
Discussion with professor 2 days Thu 10/18/18 Fri 10/19/18
Finalize topic 2 days Mon 10/22/18 Tue 10/23/18
Milestone 1: Topic selected 0 days Tue 10/23/18 Tue 10/23/18
Collection of secondary data 12 days Wed 10/24/18 Thu 11/8/18
Search for articles, peer reviewed
journals and web articles
7 days Wed 10/24/18 Thu 11/1/18
selecting the relevant sources 1 day Fri 11/2/18 Fri 11/2/18
designing with the layout of the research 5 days Fri 11/2/18 Thu 11/8/18
Milestone 2: collection of secondary data
completed
0 days Thu 11/8/18 Thu 11/8/18
Literature review 22 days Fri 11/9/18 Mon 12/10/18

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Examination and analysis of the collected
data
6 days Fri 11/9/18 Fri 11/16/18
annotated bibliography 5 days Mon 11/19/18 Fri 11/23/18
Forming literature review 11 days Mon 11/26/18 Mon 12/10/18
Milestone 3: review of literature
completed
0 days Mon 12/10/18 Mon 12/10/18
Research methodology and Analysis 9 days Tue 12/11/18 Fri 12/21/18
Choosing the Appropriate Research
Techniques
7 days Tue 12/11/18 Wed 12/19/18
Validate the methods 1 day Thu 12/20/18 Thu 12/20/18
Check for reliability 2 days Thu 12/20/18 Fri 12/21/18
Milestone 4: Selection of research
methods completed
0 days Fri 12/21/18 Fri 12/21/18
Data collection from primary sources 10 days Mon 12/24/18 Fri 1/4/19
Conduct survey of consumers and
employees
7 days Mon 12/24/18 Tue 1/1/19
Sampling to select respondents 2 days Wed 1/2/19 Thu 1/3/19
Data analysis using SPSS 3 days Wed 1/2/19 Fri 1/4/19
Milestone 5: primary collected and 0 days Fri 1/4/19 Fri 1/4/19

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analyzed
Conclusion of the Study 12 days Mon 1/7/19 Tue 1/22/19
Develop rough paper 5 days Mon 1/7/19 Fri 1/11/19
Checking with the professor 4 days Mon 1/14/19 Thu 1/17/19
Final project development and
submitting it
3 days Fri 1/18/19 Tue 1/22/19
Milestone 5: Project concluded 0 days Tue 1/22/19 Tue 1/22/19
5. Conclusion
This study is expected to analyse the relationship between organizational culture and
knowledge transfer in respect to Repsol. The different dimensions of the Hofstede cross culture
will provide the essentials for effective transfer of knowledge in Repsol.

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References and Bibliography
Ahammad, M. F., Tarba, S. Y., Liu, Y., & Glaister, K. W. (2016). Knowledge transfer and cross-
border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee
retention. International Business Review, 25(1), 66-75.
Bakir, A., Blodgett, J. G., Vitell, S. J., & Rose, G. M. (2015). A preliminary investigation of the
reliability and validity of Hofstede’s cross cultural dimensions. In Proceedings of the 2000
Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 226-232). Springer, Cham.
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Hajro, A., Gibson, C. B., & Pudelko, M. (2017). Knowledge exchange processes in multicultural
teams: Linking organizational diversity climates to teams’ effectiveness. Academy of
Management Journal, 60(1), 345-372.
Hogan, S. J., & Coote, L. V. (2014). Organizational culture, innovation, and performance: A test
of Schein's model. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1609-1621.
Hox, J. J., Moerbeek, M., & Van de Schoot, R. (2017). Multilevel analysis: Techniques and
applications. Routledge.
Junior, F. H., Galleli, B., Gallardo-Vázquez, D., & Sánchez-Hernández, M. I. (2017). Strategic
aspects in sustainability reporting in oil & gas industry: The comparative case-study of Brazilian
Petrobras and Spanish Repsol. Ecological indicators, 72, 203-214.