The Role of Organizational Culture in Facilitating Knowledge Management Practices

In the knowledge-based era، knowledge is the distinctive resource of organizations and knowledge management (KM) is considered as the primary task of organizations that strives to utilize their intellectual capitals effectively. Hence it is vital to understand carefully the appropriate contexts and enablers of knowledge management. Organizational culture is among the most influential factors affecting the quality of accomplishing KM practices. In spite of this vital effect، its role has not been studied carefully. This article tries to explore the correlation of the four types of organizational culture on the knowledge management practices. It will investigate the way in which these cultures can facilitate or hinder KM practices. The population of the research consists of educational and research centers. A sample of 275 participants was selected as statistical sampling. According to the research findings، these organizational cultures have a considerable effect on the KM practices. Clan and adhocracy organizational culture have a powerful positive relationship with KM practices، but this effect was negative for market and hierarchical cultures. These findings support the necessity of adopting a more humanistic approach for implementing knowledge management more effectively.