Transformational Leadership Style and Knowledge Management in the Private Sector Firms
Keywords:
knowledge management, transformational leaders, charismatic, motivation, tacit and explicit knowledgeAbstract
The sustainable competitive advantage of a firm relies on how well the resources of the firm are managed. The leadership role plays an important role in this regard. The modern organizations are such that they are knowledge based; the relevant and actionable knowledge is available and scattered around throughout the organization among the employees; it needs to be distributed to the whole of the organization. Leaders are the one who are able to influence others and who possess managerial authority. Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals. Leaders are the one who directs, oversees, communicates and motivates the most valuable resource of an organization that is the human resource that is from different biographies and environment. This study is conducted among one hundred people working in different private sector firms in the Kingdom of Bahrain to find out the relationship between Transformational Leadership Style and Knowledge Management by conducting a survey. The data calculated was analysed using correlation and regression models of statistical tools. The results of the survey showed a significant relationship between the leadership style in knowledge management. The transformational leaders who are generally charismatic and motivate employees by inspiring them, consider them individually, and stimulate their intellectual needs are highly influential among their employees and can lead the work force towards the organizational goals. The firm continues to be successful one provided if the resources are fully utilized and this study identified a positive relation between the leadership style and the knowledge management.
References
Bass, B. (1985) Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: Free Press.
Bass, B.M.& Avolio, B.J. (1994) Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Baines, A. (1997). Exploiting organizational knowledge in the learning organization. Work Study 46(6):202-206.
Barth, S. (2003). A framework for personal knowledge management tools. KMWorld, 12(1), 20-21.
Belbin, R. M. (1993) Team Roles at Work. Oxford: Butterworth
Barling, Julian Starter, Frank, (2000), Transformational and emotional intelligence : an exploratory study, Organisational Development Journal, Vol.21/3,157-161 No3.
Burns, J. M. (1978) Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper and Row.
Grant, R. M. (1996). Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17(Special Issue), 109–122.
Heinrichs, J., & Lim, J. (2005). Model for organizational knowledge
Hitt, W. D. (1995). The learning organization: Some reflections on organizational renewal. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 16(8):17-25.
Lang, J. C. (2001). Managerial concerns in knowledge management. Journal of Knowledge Management 5(1):43-57.
Leonard, D., & Sensiper, S. (1998). The role of tacit knowledge in group innovation. California Management Review, 40(3), 112-132.
Maier, R. (2005), “Modeling knowledge work for the design of knowledge infrastructures”,
Journal of Universal Computer Science, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 429-51.
Nold, H. (2009). Knowledge creation as a change management model. Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, 10(3).
Nonaka, I., & von Krogh, G. (2009). Tacit knowledge and knowledge conversion: controversy and advancement in organizational knowledge creation theory. Organization Science, 20(3), 635-643.
Nonaka, I. (1994). A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization Science, 5(1), 14-37.
Nonaka, I., & Konno, N. (1998). The concept of “ba”: Building a foundation for knowledge creation. California Management Review, 40(3), 40-54.
Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nonaka, I., & Toyama, R. (2003). The knowledge-creating theory revisited: Knowledge
Nonaka, I. (1994). A dynamic theory of knowledge creation. Organization Science, 5(1), 14–37
Shamir, B., House, R. J., & Arthur, M. B. (1993). he motivational effects of charismatic leadership: a self concept theory. Organizational Science, 4, 577–594.
Szulanski, G. (1996). Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17(1), 27–43.
Seng, C. V., Zannes, E., & Pace, R. W. (2002). The contributions of knowledge management to workplace learning. Journal of Workplace Learning 14(4):138-147.
Tichy, N. and Devanna, M. (1986) Transformational Leadership. New York: Wiley.
Von Krough, G. (1998). Care in knowledge creation. California Management Review, 40(3), 133–153.
Yukl, G. (1994) Leadership in Organizations. 3rd edn. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
