PurposeThis research aimed at investigating the influence of organisational culture types on tacit knowledge sharing behaviour in Malaysian organisations.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data was collected from 362 participants from seven organisations. Multiple regression was used to assess the research model.FindingsThe research findings indicate that organisational culture types influence tacit knowledge sharing behaviour and that such influences may be positive or negative depending on the culture type.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only investigated seven organisations. A larger sample size may be necessary for a study of this nature. Aside from this the ipsative rating scale was not clearly understood by the respondents resulting in scoring errors by some.Practical implicationsKnowledge is considered the one and only distinct resource and is crucial for an organisation to sustain its competitive advantage. Determining the organisation's culture type will allow managers to implement, among the myriad knowledge sharing activities, the ones that would be more appropriate and relevant to the organisational culture.Originality/valueMost of the knowledge in organisations is in tacit form. There is a dearth of literature on the influence of organisational culture types on tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. Aside from theoretical contributions, the findings of this study have the potential to assist organisations to unlock economic value from knowledge embedded in the minds of its employees.

Purpose -Postgraduate students who are more mature and have greater job experience are more likely to be inclined towards entrepreneurship. However, postgraduate students face various barriers such as lack of funds, fear of failure and lack of social networking that may hinder their entrepreneurial inclination. The barriers faced by these postgraduate students may also exhibit different dimensions compared with barriers faced by existing entrepreneurs. This study aims to examine the relationship between perceived barriers to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial inclination. Design/methodology/approach -Based on a survey-based methodology, data were collected from a sample of 267 postgraduate students from various Malaysian universities. Respondents' perception towards five barriers to entrepreneurship (aversion to risk, fear of failure, lack of resources, lack of social networking, and aversion to stress and hard work) and their entrepreneurial inclination were assessed. Findings -The model R-squared indicated that 31.5 percent of the variation in the entrepreneurial inclination is explained by the five perceived barriers. The highest ranked barrier to entrepreneurship was lack of social networking followed by lack of resources and aversion to risk.Research limitations/implications -The findings in this study cannot be generalized to non-student populations since it covers only postgraduate students. The quantitative approach used was unable to uncover in-depth information on the various barriers. A qualitative approach may be more appropriate to obtain further details. Originality/value -This research provides interesting insights into the entrepreneurship barriers faced by postgraduate students from a developing nation where such research is lacking.

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of organizational climate and trust (TR) on knowledge-sharing (KS) behaviour in selected multinational firms in an emerging market – Malaysia. Two dimensions of KS – knowledge collecting (KC) and knowledge donating (KD) – were separately studied for this research. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from 231 participants from 25 multinational firms. Multivariate analysis was used to assess the research model. Findings – The research findings indicate that organizational climate dimension, affiliation, is positively related to both KD and KC, while fairness dimensions of organizational climate are not positively related to KD and KC. Among the two dimensions of TR (cognitive and affective), it was found that cognitive TR is positively related to KD, while affective TR is positively related to KC. Research limitations/implications – The sampling was confined to the Klang Valley area of Malaysia. Practical implications – The study is useful because it makes an attempt to study the relationship between organizational climate and the two dimensions of KS, KC and KD, separately. The study examines the similar relationship with TR. Originality/value – This research has provided both theoretical and managerial implications to further advance the literature on the impact of organization factors such as organizational climate (OC) and individual factors such as TR on KS behaviour. This research examines the relationship of OC with specific KS dimensions such as KD and KC. Limited research has addressed this. This research has also contributed further to business literature by applying social capital theory in explaining the impact of multidimensional categories of TR: affective TR and cognitive-based TR on KD and KC.

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to: identify the views of public sector employees towards the importance of Knowledge Sharing (KS); identify the barriers to KS; and identify initiatives that may encourage KS.Design/methodology/approachThe design employed in this research was mainly descriptive in nature. A survey‐based methodology employing a research questionnaire was used to elicit the views of public sector employees towards KS. A total of 320 questionnaires were randomly distributed and 170 were successfully collected, giving a response rate of 60 percent.FindingsThe results showed that the respondents were very positive in their views towards “importance of KS” and they also strongly felt that knowledge was a source of competitive advantage. However, they were of the view that the importance of knowledge sharing was not clearly communicated and many of them were not sure whether KS strategy existed in their department. The public sector employees also showed self‐serving biases when it came to their willingness to share knowledge compared with their perception of their colleagues' willingness to share knowledge. Respondents perceived organizational barriers as being more critical compared with individual barriers. Main organizational barriers were lacking in IT systems and there was a lack of rewards and recognition. Lack of time, lack of interaction and lack of interpersonal skills were identified as the main individual barriers. The most favoured KS initiatives found in this study was use of e‐mail systems; inter‐agency activities and use of information and communication technology (ICT) followed by support from top management.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is confined to the public sector and thus it cannot be generalized to all organizations. The sample for this study is also limited to two public sector departments: ICU (Implementation Coordination Unit) and PWD (Public Works Department) and thus the views are strictly limited to these agencies. The findings from this study can be useful in enhancing public policy towards effective management and implementation of KS programs.Originality/valueSince there is limited research on KS in the public sector from developing and emerging nations such as Malaysia, this empirical contribution will further enhance the theoretical knowledge on KS in the public sector from a developing nation's perspective. Second, this is one of the few studies that examine views towards knowledge donating and knowledge receiving in the public sector. This area needs the utmost attention, since it was found in this study that employees' perceived knowledge‐sharing willingness (donating) may differ from colleagues' perceived KS willingness (knowledge receiving).

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