oa Knowledge Management and Organizational Culture in Higher Educational Libraries in Qatar

Knowledge management is now widely recognized as a competitive advantage, and an increasing number of organizations are incorporating knowledge management as a core strategy to enhance their organizational competitive advantage. Libraries in particular and education sector, in general, have however ignored to take advantage of the benefits of knowledge management. The literatures reviewed bear no evidence of any such research being conducted in the library environment anywhere. The current study aims to fill the crucial gap in the literature by presenting the results. This empirical research examined the relationship between organizational culture and knowledge management activities in higher educational libraries in Qatar using Competing Values Framework. The framework was used to analyze the different cultural profiles and how they might be related to knowledge management activities in libraries. Two research instruments are used in this study i. Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument for measuring four types of organizational culture (Clan, Adhocracy, Market and Hierarchy) and ii. Knowledge Management Assessment Instrument for assessing Knowledge management (capture, creation, organization, storage, dissemination and application). This research tries to identify the existing cultural profile in libraries in Qatar and find out if there is a relationship between organizational culture and knowledge management activities in Qatar. This study tries to give insights into how culture profiles affect knowledge management activities and what culture profile is conducive for a successful knowledge management program. 122 library employees from 20 higher education libraries, in different positions, were surveyed. The findings of this study are, i. Clan, Adhocracy & Market cultures are positively correlated with knowledge management, and Hierarchy culture is negatively correlated. The study also reveals that clan and market culture types are conducive for the success of knowledge management in the higher educational libraries in Qatar. ii. Knowledge management activities are not affected by gender, age, education or nationality. It is also not affected by the hierarchy and the job tenure of the respondents. However, it is affected only in one of the categories of the employment factor i.e. the type of institutions and that too in government institutions. It means that knowledge management activities are likely to be affected in government institutions and thereby affecting the organizational effectiveness. iii. Clan and Market Culture types were found to be conducive for Knowledge Creation, Knowledge Capture, Knowledge Organization, Knowledge Storage & Knowledge Application. However, Adhocracy and Hierarchy Culture type was conducive for Knowledge Dissemination. iv. The current organizational culture of higher educational libraries in Qatar presented a mixed culture; with dominance of Clan & Market in the majority of the libraries. The results of this study can be significant for libraries as they prepare their strategic plans and policies and implement knowledge management in the long run. The results of this study could also be significant and have pertinent value for library managers to understand the cultural profile that exists in their library and in the country. As Qatar moves towards knowledge-based economy, as envisioned in the Qatar National Vision Document, the long-term wellbeing of organizations demands that the implementation of strategic business initiatives be completed successfully. To this effect, this research helps in identifying what and how sustainable business practices can be implemented in libraries with specific culture profiles.