FAQ
You can find the answers to the following questions below:
1) Why to do the analysis?
2) Who is the analysis intended for?
3) What is the analysis based on?
4) What all is analysed in the study?
5) Is it possible to identify particular participants?
6) How much does the analyse cost?
7) How demanding is the questionnaire administration?
8) How does the final report from the analysis of knowledge sharing in the organizations look like?
9) Can I have a look on the questionnaire or the identification data sheet of organization in advance?
1) Why to do the analysis?
Knowledge sharing decreases the risk of valuable knowledge losses in case an experience employee leaves the organization. Additionally, many studies have found out that knowledge sharing increases innovativeness, productivity and organizational performance, it facilitates better and faster problem solving and it decreases costs. For example, costs related to a newcomer' adaptation are lower. A repeated use of knowledge and avoiding repeating the same mistakes decreases the costs as well. Moreover, knowledge sharing facilitates organizational innovativeness and better understanding of customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.
It is possible to use the analysis for the identification what to change to support knowledge sharing, how to improve organizational performance and interpersonal relationships in the organization, organizational culture moulding. You can gain also an idea what is appropriate to keep or deep because it has already facilitated knowledge sharing.
The offered analysis:
- Examines the level of knowledge sharing in the organization.
- Offers basic indicators of organizational performance, namely indicators of finance performance, innovativeness and the efficiency of the human resource use.
- Reveals factors, which knowledge sharing in the organization influence.
- Shows what it is appropriate to concentrate on if knowledge sharing in the organization should be more intensive.
- Reveals weak points in communication inside the organization.
- Examines employees' perceptions about organizational culture and their superiors.
- Captures employees' beliefs about their competencies for work performance.
- Summarises the advantages and the disadvantages of the current state of organizational management.
2) Who is the analysis intended for?
The analysis is interesting especially for firm managers which:
- Want
to know how employees perceive the organization and to strengthen employees´ engagement.
- Want
to find out if the current firm setting facilitates knowledge sharing and try to achieve higher innovativeness.
- Want
to identify potential barriers in knowledge sharing among employees.
- Need
inspirations or tips what to focus on to intensify knowledge sharing in the
organization.
The questionnaire, its analysis and the recommendations have been developed for the needs of medium and large firms. However, it is possible to use it in small firms or in no-business sectors. The size of the organization is taken into consideration in the given final recommendation. In case of organizations from no-business sectors the indicators of finance performance are not assessed. However, innovativeness of such organizations is examined.
3) What is the analysis based on?
The basic instrument for data collection is a questionnaire, which examines indicators measuring the quality of management, quality of human resources and work life in the organizational setting with the accent on its influence on knowledge sharing in the organization. The indicators are divided into several basic thematic topics, so-called modules. The analysis of all modules offer a complex picture about organizational climate and its influence on knowledge sharing. The analysis is based on employees' subjective evaluations. The number of questions in the questionnaire depends on the professional category of the participants. The questionnaire distinguishes three categories of work positions: HR employee, managers and others. The fulfilment of the questionnaire is approximately 30 minutes for HR employees and managers. The others spend on the filling the questionnaire approximately 20 minutes.
4) What all is analysed in the study?
The questionnaire consists of the following modules:
Module 1: Knowledge Sharing in the Organization
This module measures the intensity of knowledge sharing in the organizations, with regard to the intensity of knowledge documentation and work with such knowledge as well as the intensity of social interactions among employees.
Module 2: Impact of Knowledge Sharing on Organizational Performance
Basic indicators related to finance performance, perceived innovativeness of the organization and the efficiency of the human resources use are evaluated.
Module 3: Knowledge Sharing Instruments
The evaluation of knowledge sharing instruments is based on the intensity of their use and their perceived usefulness.
Module 4: Management Quality
Managerial skills of superiors are evaluated as well as how much their support for knowledge sharing is perceived.
Module 5: Organizational Culture
The following aspects of organizational culture are evaluated: innovativeness, fairness, cooperation, performance orientation and engagement, openness of communication and mutual trust.
Module 6: Employees' Characteristics
It is examined how much employees' characteristics facilitate knowledge sharing. The following employees' characteristics are analysed: 1) feelings, 2) knowledge, abilities and skills, 3) traits, 4) attitudes. It is found out which type of employee motivation for knowledge sharing predominates.
Module 7: Human Resource Management
It is evaluated how much the current setting of procedures for human resource management facilitates knowledge sharing in the organization. The attention is turned to the following human resource practices: 1) staffing, 2) job design, 3) retention and dismissals, 4) work performance management, 5) employee career management, 6) remuneration, 7) training and development, 8) care about employees.
We recommend to do the complex survey, i.e. with the use of all modules. Nevertheless, it is possible to do a selection survey (to focus only on specific fields which the organization is interested in and to apply only the chosen modules).
5) Is it possible to identify particular participants?
In the framework of the study the rules of ethic research are applied. A summary report which does not allow to identify individual participants is given to the organization. If only a small number of employees from the organization participate, identification questions (information about numbers of participants from work position categories - HR employee, managers, others - apart) are not analysed. The way how the summary report will be given to the organization is agreed in advance. Most organizations prefer to send it by e-mail.
If the organization requires an official confirmation about maintaining confidentiality of results from those who analyse data, it is possible to make an agreement about it.
6) How much does the analyse cost?
The analysis is free of charge in cases the organization agrees that the data will be further used for scientific goals (examination the relation among variables influencing knowledge sharing) by keeping the anonymities of individual participants and the anonymities of participated organizations as well.
7) How demanding is the questionnaire administration?
First, the organization decide if the organization wants to do the survey in the full extent or to examine only some specific fields of the organizational reality and to choose only some modules. The next step is a decision if to do the survey among all employees or only among a specific group of employees. After that the organization must decide if they choose a "pen and paper" questionnaire or an on-line questionnaire. Based on our experience we recommend rather the on-line questionnaire.
Prior to the survey accomplishment it is appropriate to inform employees about the intention to do the survey (e.g. by notice boards, the firm journal or meetings). Employees should be also informed about reasons why the management decided to do such a survey. Management should ensure employees about anonymity of the data. Employees will not fulfil their names in the questionnaire. They will be asked to answer several identification data (their gender, age category, highest education, category of employment period in the organization), but such data will be considered in the data analysis only if enough employees participate. Enough means so many that it will be possible to keep anonymity of participants. In case of "paper" form the questionnaire should be collected into a sealed box.
Data collection is based on self-fulfilment, i.e. questions are not read to participants by an interviewer, the fulfilment is completely in participant's charge. The method of self-fulfilment was chosen purposefully because of its lower finance demands and lower organizational demands, and comfort and calm psychologically perceived by participants as well.
To fill the questionnaire takes approximately 30 minutes in case of HR employees and managers. The others will have been filling it for approximately 20 minutes.
As the organizational performance is evaluated too, it is necessary to fulfil an identification data sheet of the organization. In the data sheet, data for finance performance evaluation is collected. Only one member of the organizational management fulfils this data sheet.
8) How does the final report from the analysis of knowledge sharing in the organizations look like?
You can find an illustration from the final report here:
9) Can I have a look on the questionnaire or the identification data sheet of organization in advance?
You can find such information here: