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Purpose -Leadership theory and research has not addressed the role of leaders in knowledge management, despite its importance to organizations. Consequently, information and knowledge management as key leader functions have not been explored. This study is an attempt to generate a preliminary theory of the role of leaders in knowledge management through a grounded theory approach. Design/methodology/approach -This study builds a grounded theory of the role of leadership in knowledge management by comparatively analyzing 37 in-depth interviews of CEOs. Combining deductive and inductive methods, this study establishes the key role of top executive leaders of organizations in knowledge management. Findings -The data from the interviews suggest that leaders are acutely aware of the role of information and knowledge sharing and design knowledge networks that serve to maximize organizational effectiveness. Moreover, leaders use information technology and knowledge management to better focus on key internal and external customers. Thus, this grounded theory emphasizes both the leader behavior dimensions of information and knowledge sharing. More importantly, this study links the processes of knowledge management and customer-focused knowledge management to leader and organizational effectiveness. Additionally, there seems to be evidence that such knowledge management activities implemented by leaders can positively impact organizational performance. Research limitations/implications -This grounded theory study has identified relationships/ processes of leadership that are inherently longitudinal. A key limitation, however, is that the end result is theory, which needs to be tested and refined through other conventional mechanisms. Originality/value -This study makes significant contributions to both the leadership and knowledge management literatures.

In a globally connected world, it is increasingly common for individuals to belong to and be influenced by more than one culture. Based on a critique of conceptualizations from psychology, management, marketing, anthropology, and sociology, we bring clarity and consistency to conceptualizing and measuring multiculturalism at the individual level. We propose that individual-level multiculturalism is the degree to which someone has knowledge of, identification with, and internalization of more than one societal culture, and recommend methods to measure each dimension. Finally, we suggest how individual-level multiculturalism influences and is influenced by social networks and power dynamics in international organizations.

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This study focuses on the impact of knowledge management in supplier relations (termed as supplier-focused knowledge management, SFKM) within the automobile industry of an emerging economy (Brazil), on financial and product performance. A model of the relationship between supplier-focused knowledge management, including its associated processes, and performance is described and the associated hypotheses are developed and then tested. Knowledge sharing through face-to-face communication is positively related to both product and financial performance, while technological knowledge sharing has a positive impact on product performance under conditions of high technological dynamism. Supplier involvement in the production process is related to product performance and use of knowledge management tools is related to financial performance. The results support the major hypotheses of our SFKM model. These results are discussed in the context of the knowledge management and supplier-relations literatures in terms of the contributions, implications for research and practice, and directions for future research. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007.