The correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance

Purpose – Organizational culture can significantly promote or hinder the success of knowledge management initiatives. Therefore, this study seeks to develop and test empirically a conceptual framework to investigate the correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaire and statistical analytical techniques were applied to gain best exploration on organizational culture, knowledge conversion and corporate performance. Findings – The results of the questionnaire analyses indicate that an adhocracy culture enables knowledge conversion and enhances corporate performance more than clan and hierarchy cultures. Research limitations/implications – The research investigates the correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance under a Chinese‐centric set of societal, cultural and linguistic attitudes and behaviors. However, different countries have different cultures. Future research could extend this study to other regions of the world with a different set of attitudes and behaviors. Practical implications – If the organization can nurture an adhocracy culture, it will be easy to create an environment where knowledge workers can learn, feel comfortable, and have the opportunity to be creative and innovative, improve corporate performance and increase the organization's value. Originality/value – A lot of evidence shows that successful knowledge management initiatives can increase business innovation capacity. However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence regarding organizational culture, knowledge conversion, and corporate performance. Thus, a statistical analytical model for assessing the correlation between organizational culture and knowledge conversion on corporate performance with three cultural aspects and four knowledge conversion activities was developed in the study.