Introduction
Information sharing is an important part of knowledge management in the company. Assessing the context of information sharing, it can be said that it is associated with personal attributes, as information sharing is “voluntary act of making information available to others, [where] sharer could pass information on, but does not have to.” (Jarvenpaa & Staples, 2000)
Main Body
The attitudes about information sharing, in addition to personal factors, can be influenced also by organizational culture and policies. In the context of the team of EEST Company, which culture can be characterized by a people-oriented approach, the user satisfaction of the communication and information access is high, unlike the cultures in which the emphasis is given to individualism and competitiveness. (Jarvenpaa & Staples, 2000)
Accordingly, with a high focus on interpersonal relationships, it can be said that the willingness to exchange information within the organization is directly correlated with the value of interpersonal communications and the approval of the workgroup. Additionally, there are other factors facilitating information sharing, and which can be considered characteristic to the company’s organizational culture. Such factors include the social context, where the employees in the organization assess the impact of the information sharing on the long term, assuming further collaboration with other departments and employees.
Also, the openness of the company’s structure can be seen in the interdependence of task between the employees, and teamwork, and thus the employees are motivated to collaborate with information to get the job done. Another factor can be seen through the company’s concern for the employees, where the satisfaction of the employees is reflected on the way they are managing their relations with colleagues, and accordingly on their willingness to cooperate with them.
In what concerns rewards and recognition, and the way people are promoted and compensated, the culture of the organization is also an influential factor in that matter. The direct relation can be seen through motivation. In EEST, the motivation is an important factor to raise the company’s productivity. The company values its employees, and the employees acknowledge such appreciation through the system of rewards implemented by the company. The people-oriented culture is an appreciative culture, and thus the primary reward is intrinsic reward, i.e. recognition. (Ashkanasy, Wilderom, & Peterson, 2000) In that regard, teams in the company are rewarded as whole, in order for the productivity and the morale of the group not to be lowered.
Conclusion
In that regard, the culture of the company implies the acknowledgement of the needs of its employees. Maintaining the productivity and the creativity of the team is primarily motivated by such intrinsic aspects as interest, satisfaction, passion, and challenge. The company does not focus on extrinsic rewards, as the employees will tend to attribute their behavior to the rewards. Accordingly, as the culture of the company has a climate of high trust, the company does not use extrinsic rewards for motivation. (Ashkanasy, et al., 2000, p. 232)
References
Ashkanasy, N. M., Wilderom, C., & Peterson, M. F. (2000). Handbook of organizational culture and climate.
Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Staples, D. S. (2000). The use of collaborative electronic media for information sharing: an exploratory study of determinants. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 9(2/3), 129-154.