Tacit Knowledge Capacity: A Comparison of University Lecturers in Germany and North Cyprus

Abstract

The importance of universities as knowledge hubs is increasing due to knowledge production via research and teaching. An emerging aspect of knowledge management literature is the study of the knowledge requirements of universities. In particular, the transformation from knowledge creation to knowledge sharing has proved to be important in the university context and is subject to cultural differences. For example, previous research has indicated that a physician’s Tacit Knowledge Capacity (TKC) is affected by social software and social media. This creates opportunities to carry out new research on different occupations that have an intense TKC.As part of this research, a survey was conducted in order to assess the TKC of lecturers in both Germany and North Cyprus. These are two countries that have universities providing knowledge management programmes. The research determined the TKC in both countries and compared the two in order to determine if cultural factors affect the TKC of the profession. Through this research, the authors aimed to contribute to the ongoing research on the knowledge requirements of universities that will enable them to be knowledge intensive institutions. The Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Near East University, which has 2200 students and 20 chairs, was compared with the Faculty of Business and Economics at the Technische Universität Dresden, which has 2800 students and 23 chairs. The study was carried out to provide an intercultural comparison, which is currently lacking in the Knowledge Management field. The research findings have highlighted the factors influencing the transfer and the accumulation of tacit knowledge.