Suchergebnisse

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Knowledge management (KM) issues support the possibility of achieving competitive advantage. However, it is not a simple process, as knowledge sharing does not come naturally. Hence, there is a need for research on individual, team and organisational antecedents using a wider range of methods. Investigating the causes of selective knowledge concealment is the main objective of the article, as well as the impact of organisational culture and the determinants of knowledge concealment or sharing by employees.
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with managers and employees to collect empirical data, while thematic content analysis was used to analyse the collected data and draw conclusions.
THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: Perceptions of the world and of organisations are shared by people from a given environment. Mental models take into account the multifaceted nature of the phenomena under study: perception, focus and experience. The beliefs held by employees are important because they imply management actions at all levels: tactical, operational and strategic.
RESEARCH RESULTS: Employees do not hide their knowledge automatically but selectively. They subliminally assess the value of the knowledge sought, the value of the seeker, the immediate situation and wider contextual and organisational factors. Interestingly, respondents surveyed were more likely to share knowledge with foreign colleagues from a different national culture than with colleagues of the same nationality and cultural background.
CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: A number of recommendations of an applied nature were presented in the article. It is important to create a common willingness to share knowledge among employees. A skilful increase in social capital should foster a decrease in the concealment of valuable knowledge and at the same time increase the extent of sharing. An efficient reward system, individually designed for the needs of the organisation, could support this process.

Purpose
Bahrain is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is the third smallest country in Asia. Like its neighbours', Bahrain's economy is developing fast and the place of women in the work landscape is evolving. But few papers discuss the situation of women entrepreneurs in this country. The purpose of this paper is to study the evolution of women entrepreneurship in Bahrain, a country in the midst of high transition. The research question is: How do Bahraini women cope with the evolution of their environment? And how far are they keen to develop their own businesses?


Design/methodology/approach
After a literature review, a qualitative research was conducted among 12 women entrepreneurs of 19 to 51 years of age.


Findings
The results show a new kind of female entrepreneurship in the Arab region based on the support of the sociocultural environment, which is in contradiction with the literature. Also, it seems that Bahrain women are more in pull, not push situation to entrepreneurship. However, they need a role model to achieve their goals, which is new to the literature about women entrepreneurship in general and that in the developing countries in particular. As regards the obstacles, some Bahraini women seem to suffer from a lack of experience and knowledge in setting a business online. However, the results show that the companies of these women are mostly small and evolving in the service sector, with a trend in online businesses.


Research limitations/implications
This study is limited by the number of persons interviewed, which does not allow the generalization of the results. Also, generalization to the whole region is not possible because each country of the GCC has its own rules and practices towards women. Also, this study has not investigated the attitude towards the risk and the balance between family and profession.


Originality/value
This paper is one of the few research studies on female entrepreneurship in Bahrain. The findings are in contradiction with the literature on women entrepreneurship in developing countries and more specifically in the GCC. This study offers many research perspectives and could help governmental and non-governmental institutions to empower and support women in their actions.

PurposeDespite failure rates of around 30 per cent, international joint ventures (IJVs) continue to grow. It is argued that IJVs provide a platform for organisational learning, which facilitates organisational performance. Intuitively, IJVs that are learning oriented should have a positive impact upon organisational performance. However, it is unclear as to whether a firm in an IJV should focus more on being learning oriented, or market oriented. The paper aims to address this question.Design/methodology/approachA survey of 168 senior managers involved in IJVs in Malaysia. Data were analysed using two‐stage least squares estimators for latent variable models.FindingsResults suggest that for IJVs, a market orientation has a more positive impact on organisational performance than a learning orientation. The non‐linear relationship between market orientation and performance suggest that larger gains in performance are achieved by firms who have low initial levels of market orientation. Thus, in the absence of one or the other, it is preferable for a firm in an IJV to have a strong market orientation.Practical implicationsFor managers of IJVs, the study would suggest that firms should concentrate on improving their organisations' overall level of market orientation if they are to improve the level of business performance.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to examine the relative effects of a market orientation and a learning orientation in the context of IJVs.