ISMAEL EL SAYED, A.A. 2018. The impact of national culture on knowledge management processes in the context of an economic transition to a knowledge-based economy: the case of Qatar. Robert Gordon University [online], PhD thesis. Available from: https://openair.rgu.ac.uk The impact of national culture on knowledge management processes in the context of an economic transition to a knowledge-based economy: the case of Qatar. ISMAEL EL SAYED, A.A. 2018 The author of this thesis retains the right to be identified as such on any occasion in which content from this thesis is referenced or re-used. The licence under which this thesis is distributed applies to the text and any original images only – re-use of any third-party content must still be cleared with the original copyright holder. This document was downloaded from https://openair.rgu.ac.uk THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL CULTURE ON KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES IN THE CONTEXT OF AN ECONOMIC TRANSITION TO A KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY THE CASE OF QATAR ASHRAF ALI ISMAEL EL SAYED DInfSc 2018 THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL CULTURE ON KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES IN THE CONTEXT OF AN ECONOMIC TRANSITION TO A KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY THE CASE OF QATAR ASHRAF ALI ISMAEL EL SAYED A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Robert Gordon University for the degree of Doctorate of Information Science September 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful to all those with whom I have had the pleasure to work with during this project. I would specially like to thank my dissertation supervisor Dr. Simon Burnett for his guidance, motivation and support. I would also like to thank my parents for their love and care. For their unending inspiration, I wish to thank my loving and supportive wife Nehal, and my children Sara and Ali. 1 | P a g e Abstract In recent years, a global movement towards a knowledge-based economy through the provision of adequate and appropriate infrastructure and development programs for leveraging the potential of human capital has started. There has been tremendous cognitive development in the developed countries including the Arab countries, but in the developing countries, things are still slowly progressing towards a level of knowledge capture, creation, and dissemination that will allow them to rise to the level of developed countries. The central administration derived from the authoritative patriarchal structure of the Arab society significantly affects the motives of their qualified workforce in their quest to utilize their knowledge for the desired development towards a knowledge society. The research investigates the influence of national culture on the progress of knowledge economy four pillars ranked by World Bank Knowledge Economy index, education, information and communication technology infrastructure, innovation, and adequacy of supporting institutional framework. The research adopts Nonaka & Takeuchi’s SECI knowledge management model to study the impact of national culture upon knowledge acquisition, transfer, creation, and dissemination as facilitated through Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) cyclical knowledge management model by People, Process, and Technology. Furthermore, the research introduces a conceptual framework and detailed analytical framework (Figure 6) illustrating relationships and mapping governing principles to the research aim and objective. The research keeps a specific focus on the influence of Qatar’s national culture on the knowledge management process prevalent in the country as the research aims to explore elements that may affect Qatar’s transition towards a knowledge-based economy. The research surveys a sample of Qatari nationals community to profiles Qatar National culture, interviews a sample of Qatari professionals to investigate the impact of cultural dimensions on knowledge management process, and validate the concluded analysis by identifying Qatar’s ranking in relevant Knowledge Economy global indexes. The research assert the possible influence of national culture on knowledge conversion processes as critical to the success of country’s economic transition to knowledge economy. Keywords: knowledge management, knowledge conversion, knowledge economy, National culture, cultural dimensions, economic transition, Arab countries, Qatar, patriarchal structure, knowledge economy pillars 2 | P a g e Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 1 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Figures and Tables ....................................................................................................................... 7 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 9 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 9 1.1.1. Changing global economic landscape ............................................................................. 9 1.1.2. Knowledge process and the human factor ...................................................................... 9 1.2 Research background/rationale ............................................................................................. 10 1.2.1 Transitioning to knowledge economy ........................................................................... 10 1.2.2 Knowledge economy..................................................................................................... 10 1.2.3 Knowledge management ............................................................................................... 11 1.2.4 Knowledge management and culture ............................................................................ 11 1.2.5 Knowledge economy in developing countries .............................................................. 11 1.2.6 Knowledge economy, knowledge management, and the MIDDLE EAST ................... 12 1.3 Research aim and objectives ................................................................................................. 12 1.4 Showcasing QATAR ............................................................................................................ 12 1.4.1 QATAR’S transition to knowledge-based economy ..................................................... 13 1.5 The research approach .......................................................................................................... 14 1.5.1 Research questions ........................................................................................................ 15 1.5.2 Thesis Structure............................................................................................................. 16 2 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 17 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Theoretical orientation .......................................................................................................... 17 2.3 Knowledge and knowledge types ......................................................................................... 18 2.3.1 Knowledge .................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.2 Knowledge management ............................................................................................... 22 2.4 Knowledge Management Models ......................................................................................... 28 2.4.1 De Long and Fahey (2000) ........................................................................................... 28 2.4.2 The SECI Model ........................................................................................................... 31 2.4.3 Knowledge as Technology ............................................................................................ 33 2.5 Knowledge economy ............................................................................................................ 33 2.5.1 Characteristics of the knowledge economy ................................................................... 34 2.5.2 Component of Knowledge Economy ............................................................................ 34 2.6 Knowledge economy and knowledge management .............................................................. 35 2.6.1 Knowledge economy indicators .................................................................................... 35 3 | P a g e 2.7 Culture................................................................................................................................... 36 2.7.1 Culture and Knowledge Management ........................................................................... 36 2.7.2 Cultural Dimensions of Hofstede .................................................................................. 38 2.8 Cultural Dimensions’ Impact on Tacit Knowledge Transfer ................................................ 40 2.8.1 Knowledge/Technology Transfer and National Culture ............................................... 41 2.9 Knowledge Gap ...................................................................................................................