The Factors Influence Online Tacit Knowledge Sharing in Public Organisations: A Qualitative Case Study from Turkey

Abstract

Is knowledge considered a valuable asset in public sector? Most of the answers of top public managers would be yes to this question; however it is quite rare to see a public organisation with software systems to manage their knowledge repositories. Even top management support and the latest information technologies tools may not be enough to create an effective and efficient online tacit knowledge sharing (OTKS) system, as the case happened in Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), a large public organisation from Turkey. Even though the strategic decisions about OTKS are made by top managers, the success of these strategies depends on OTKS behaviour of employees.

This article, therefore, proposed a framework and reports the results of an exploratory study based on an in-depth qualitative investigation of factors influence OTKS behaviour of not only public managers but also public employees (n=50) of TurkStat. The results indicated that the OTKS platform was mostly used by the younger and well educated public employees. Apart from that nine out of a total number of sixteen OTKS factors were considered significant by public employees and the top management. Interestingly the public officers and the public managers, as two parties, considered the other party had more responsibility and impact on fostering OTKS. Moreover, each OTKS factor had considerable different significance levels for the managers and the employees. This paper is one of the first studies to explore the factors influence OTKS in a Turkish public sector institution from two different hierarchical perspectives.

Keywords

• online tacit knowledge sharing,public organisations,computer-mediated communication and collaboration,knowledge management

Kamu Örgütlerinde Çevrimiçi Örtük Bilgi Paylaşımını Etkileyen Faktörler: Türkiye'den Bir Vaka Çalışması

Abstract

Bilgi, kamu örgütleri açısından gerçekten önemli midir? Kamu yöneticilerinin tamamına yakını bu soruya evet yanıtını verecektir. Lakin etkin ve verimli bir biçimde kullanılan yazılı kurumsal hafızaya sahip bir kamu kurumu görebilmek neredeyse imkansız. Bu araştırma kapsamında Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu'nda (TÜİK) yürütülen vaka çalışmasında da tespit edildiği üzere; kamu kurumlarında üst yönetici desteği ve uygun bilgi ve iletişim teknolojileri araçları sağlansa dahi sanal ortamda çalışan etkin ve verimli bir Çevrimiçi Örtük Bilgi Paylaşım (ÇÖBP) sistemi tesis edilebilmesi mümkün olamayabilmektedir. Her ne kadar örgütsel ÇÖBP stratejileri büyük oranda üst yöneticiler tarafından şekillendirilse dahi, bu stratejilerin başarıya ulaşması esas itibari ile çalışanların ÇÖBP davranışlarına bağlıdır.

Nitel araştırma yöntemleri kullanılarak TÜİK'de yürütülen bu araştırmada sadece kurum üst yöneticileri değil aynı zamanda yönetici pozisyonunda olmayan 50 çalışandan da sırası ile derinlemesine mülakat ve yarı yapılandırılmış mülakat yöntemi ile veri toplanmıştır. Araştırma bulgularına göre TÜİK ÇÖBP platformu ağırlıklı olarak genç ve yüksek eğitimli kamu görevlilerince kullanılmıştır. Diğer yandan TÜİK'te ÇÖBP etkileyen toplam on altı faktör tespit edilmiştir. Bu faktörlerin dokuz tanesi hem yönetici hem de çalışanlar tarafından farklı derecelerde önemli olarak nitelendirilmiştir. Araştırma bulguları ayrıca ÇÖBP başarısı hususunda yöneticilerin çalışanları, çalışanların ise yöneticileri daha fazla sorumluluk sahibi olarak gördüklerine işaret etmektedir. Bu araştırma, Türk kamu sektöründe ÇÖBP faktörlerinin yönetici ve çalışan bakış açılarından ayrı ayrı aydınlatıldığı ilk çalışmalardan birisi olması hasebi ile önem arz etmektedir.

Keywords

• çevrimiçi örtük bilgi paylaşımı,kamu örgütleri,bilgisayar destekli iletişim ve işbirliği,bilgi yönetimi

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