Shaking the tea trolley, sharing the tree : organisational culture change in New Zealand public sector knowledge management initiatives

Abstract

This qualitative study set out to establish the effective methods of changing organisational culture in knowledge management initiatives in New Zealand public sector organisations. Five organisations took part, and were interviewed twice in order to obtain in-depth data and ensure validation. Among the effective methods of changing organisational culture are: 1. Designing change in line with the requirements and culture of the organisation 2. Gaining organisational support for change 3. Communication 4. Providing incentives for change 5. Providing opportunities for change. It was also found that the organisations which attempted to explicitly address organisational culture change had greater success with their knowledge management initiatives. Success was measured by the degree of acceptance or participation by staff in the activities. "To me, for knowledge management to work, everybody's got to think of what they're doing as knowledge management, it's not something separate that I do and you don't, it's something that we all do."