Analysis of regional and organizational cultures on knowledge-sharing in Philippine higher educational institutions: The case of Philippine Normal University

Abstract

The educational institution’s knowledge comprises a mix of experiences, values, relevant knowledge, and professional insights of its teachers having diverse cultures, enabling a combination of expertise to create new knowledge. The exchange of knowledge among teachers provides effective learning, which can become a model of knowledge-sharing that promotes knowledge creation, dissemination, and practical application. However, knowledge does not always flow easily and straightforwardly in enhancing knowledge creation. Knowledge-sharing plays a vital role across educational domains. Nevertheless, knowledge-sharing success is affected by one’s behavior to share. A person’s behavior is shaped by environmental influences, such as societal norms, cultural practices, and institutional policies, where he grew up or stayed for a significant amount of time. Through the modeling of behavior, one becomes attuned to and inhabited by the culture transmitted by this environment. This research aims to obtain insights into the cultural values (national cultural dimensions) and organizational factors (organizational culture) manifested in higher educational institutions (HEI). Its primary purpose is to determine cultural values from different levels (national, organizational, academic institution, and local academic institutions) and how these influenced the knowledge-sharing intention transformed into behavior. It administered an online survey of teacher participants from different university branches to obtain insights into the cultural and organizational factors. It determined their influences on the knowledge-sharing behaviors of teachers in HEI. It captured the theoretical or conceptual model of the influences of national culture and organizational culture (exogenous) on knowledge-sharing intentions (endogenous) and the probability of the intentions transformed into actual knowledge-sharing behavior (endogenous). Path analysis, a statistical method used to examine causal relationships, was employed to analyze the proposed models that exhibit causal relationships between cultural factors, of which the outcome knowledge-sharing intention is also a predictor variable of another variable, knowledge-sharing behavior. The path analysis frameworks were tested to check the mediation processes of which relationships were examined and evaluated. The findings suggest that while all cultural variables may appear similar, their impact on knowledge-sharing intentions varies. Therefore, the success of knowledge-sharing in a specific location can be attributed to the comprehensive understanding of cultural factors such as (national) power distance, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and communication system (organization) for knowledge-sharing. The university's knowledge-sharing framework reveals that local institutions exhibit varying knowledge-sharing behaviors. The manifestation of cultural traits, their perceptions of knowledge, and the implementation of sharing techniques differ for each institute, underscoring the need for thorough research and analysis. As cultural orientation and beliefs significantly affect the value of shared knowledge, it becomes the responsibility of academic institutions to empower their teachers to participate effectively. Institutions must proactively consider and respect the diversity of cultures and beliefs within their community for successful knowledge-sharing. This necessitates a comprehensive needs assessment in each local institution, considering the influences of national and organizational cultures in formulating policies and programs for knowledge-sharing. The diversity and variability of respondents can provide substantial evidence, fostering a profound understanding of the diversity of behaviors influenced by many distinct cultures. The educational institution's knowledge comprises a mix of experiences, values, relevant knowledge, and professional insights of its teachers having diverse cultures, enabling a combination of expertise to create new knowledge. The exchange of knowledge among teachers provides effective learning, which can become a model of knowledge-sharing that promotes knowledge creation, dissemination, and practical application. However, knowledge does not always flow easily and straightforwardly in enhancing knowledge creation. Knowledge-sharing plays a vital role across educational domains. Nevertheless, knowledge-sharing success is affected by one's behavior to share. A person's behavior is shaped by the environmental influences where he grew up with or stayed for a significant amount of time. Through the modeling of behavior, one becomes attuned to and inhabited by the culture transmitted by this environment. This research aims to obtain insights into the cultural values (national cultural dimensions) and organizational factors (organizational culture) manifested in higher educational institutions (HEI). Its primary purpose is to determine cultural values from different levels (national, organizational, academic institution, and local academic institutions) and how these influenced the knowledge-sharing intention transformed into behavior. It administered an online survey of teacher participants from different university branches to obtain insights into the cultural and organizational factors. It determined their influences on the knowledge-sharing behaviors of teachers in HEI. It captured the theoretical or conceptual model of the influences of national culture and organizational culture (exogenous) on knowledge-sharing intentions (endogenous) and the probability of the intentions transformed into actual knowledge-sharing behavior (endogenous). Path analysis was employed to analyze the proposed models that exhibit causal relationships between cultural factors, of which the outcome knowledge-sharing intention is also a predictor variable of another variable, knowledge-sharing behavior. The path analysis frameworks were tested to check the mediation processes of which relationships were examined and evaluated. Findings insinuate that although all the cultural variables were parallel, this did not mean that each factor had the same degree of effect on knowledge-sharing intentions. The results varied when the direct impact of each cultural factor was tested. Hence, the success of knowledge-sharing in a specific location can be attributed to how comprehensive the program is structured, considering cultural factors such as (national) power distance, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and communication system (organization) for knowledge-sharing. Likewise, the university's knowledge-sharing framework indicates that local institutions vary in knowledge-sharing behaviors. The manifestation of cultural traits, their perceptions of knowledge, and the implementation of the sharing techniques vary for each institute. Cultural orientation and beliefs affect the value of shared knowledge, and academic institutions exert efforts to motivate their teachers to participate effectively. For knowledge-sharing to be implemented successfully, the academic institution must take into consideration the diversity of cultures and beliefs of people in the community. Hence, the university will need to conduct a needs assessment in each local institution and consider the influences of national and organizational cultures in formulating policies and programs for knowledge-sharing. The diversity and variability of respondents can elicit more substantial evidence that can draw out a profound understanding of the diversity of behaviors influenced by many distinct cultures.