Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Inter-organizational knowledge transfer in Omani SMEs: influencing factors

Inter-organizational knowledge transfer in Omani SMEs: influencing factors Inter-organizational knowledge transfer (IOKT) is important especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Organizations need external knowledge to improve learning capabilities and their own competitiveness. SMEs are important for every nation’s economy. IOKT can enable SMEs’ learning and innovation and consequently its contribution to the national economy. This study aims to examine the factors that influence the IOKT process in Omani SMEs.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses qualitative methodology. Participants were ten Omani SMEs from the information and communications technology sector, a knowledge-intensive sector. The study is based on face-to-face semi-structured interviews and content analysis.FindingsThe results confirmed that inter-organizational knowledge is considered to be important to SMEs. This research also showed that IOKT is affected by many factors related to the donor organization, recipient organization, nature of the knowledge and inter-organizational dynamics. The core factor to IOKT in SMEs is risk and trust.Originality/valueLiterature shows that there is an emphasis on the importance of studying knowledge management in SMEs; however, there is little work that has been done. Such study is even more important for Omani SMEs to improve their learning, innovation and contribution to a national diversified economy. This study provides valuable insights to establish an effective foundation for IOKT in Omani SMEs. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems Emerald Publishing

Inter-organizational knowledge transfer in Omani SMEs: influencing factors

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/inter-organizational-knowledge-transfer-in-omani-smes-influencing-4P3CWbJson

References (61)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2059-5891
DOI
10.1108/vjikms-10-2017-0069
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Inter-organizational knowledge transfer (IOKT) is important especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Organizations need external knowledge to improve learning capabilities and their own competitiveness. SMEs are important for every nation’s economy. IOKT can enable SMEs’ learning and innovation and consequently its contribution to the national economy. This study aims to examine the factors that influence the IOKT process in Omani SMEs.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses qualitative methodology. Participants were ten Omani SMEs from the information and communications technology sector, a knowledge-intensive sector. The study is based on face-to-face semi-structured interviews and content analysis.FindingsThe results confirmed that inter-organizational knowledge is considered to be important to SMEs. This research also showed that IOKT is affected by many factors related to the donor organization, recipient organization, nature of the knowledge and inter-organizational dynamics. The core factor to IOKT in SMEs is risk and trust.Originality/valueLiterature shows that there is an emphasis on the importance of studying knowledge management in SMEs; however, there is little work that has been done. Such study is even more important for Omani SMEs to improve their learning, innovation and contribution to a national diversified economy. This study provides valuable insights to establish an effective foundation for IOKT in Omani SMEs.

Journal

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management SystemsEmerald Publishing

Published: Aug 13, 2018

Keywords: SMEs; Knowledge management; Knowledge transfer; Inter-organizational knowledge transfer; Omani SMEs

There are no references for this article.