Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify the individual and organizational factors that influence knowledge sharing (KS) behavior within Hungarian organizations. Design/methodology/approach The data were obtained from 238 completed questionnaires collected via the LimeSurvey system. The analysis is based on applied quantitative methodology, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The research investigated the relationships between individual and organizational characteristics and the KS behavior at individual and global levels. Findings Among individual factors, significant relationships have been identified regarding the generation and position of individuals, and KS behavior, while gender and education do not seem to play a significant role. With respect to organizational factors, the size of the organization and the tenure of individuals are found to be significant. Research limitations/implications The results of the analysis are limited because the data set was not large enough to investigate inter- and intra-industry variability. Practical implications The outcome of this research can support the design of managerial and organizational processes and incentives that will potentially facilitate KS in a more efficient and effective manner. Such improved KS is likely to improve the overall performance of knowledge-intensive organizations. Originality/value The original value of this research is that individual and organizational characteristics have been identified that influence KS behavior. The study focuses on a single country, Hungary, and provides relevant insight into the organizational dynamics of a specific national context.

The world slowly begins to recover from the economic crisis. According to the forecast of the most recent Davos World Economic Forum (2011), the entire world economy can anticipate a 6.5%, while the developed world-including the transition countries-an approximately 2.5-3% GDP growth. It was not easy to get to this point. Since October 2008, the actors of the world economy got many "slaps in the face" (ILO, 2009). Since October 2008, the global economy are very much "clout" for it lacks the good character and prudence (Palinkas, 2009). The crisis itself particularly affected to a large extent economies of Eastern Europe, choosen a neo-liberal way. (Csaba, 2009; Kiss, 2009 and Szelényi, 2009). Up to this day, we have a relatively small amount of specific data and few surveys (Bóday, 2009) on how the different companies and institutions survived the crisis from a HR and knowledge management point of view, what methods they used to mitigate the effects of the crisis. In the present study, we give a summary of our relevant observations gained from an empirical survey we conducted between October and December 2009 among Hungarian and Slovakian companies.