Knowledge Management and National Culture in SMEs : A case study of Turkish SMEs in Sweden -

Background: The modern world is frequently referred to as a world of knowledge. In today’s business the role of knowledge is gradually increasing. The problem of how to manage knowledge to gain efficiency and competitive advantage forced modern companies to think about Knowledge Management and its applications. However, many companies, and SMEs in particular, seem to be not so common to this process. Purpose: Since SMEs experience various problems in their daily activities this research aims to make them aware about the potential obstacles in Knowledge Management process. Therefore, this study tries to identify the cultural patterns in Knowledge Management, by considering it as a process. Delimitations: Considering the triangle in which corner stones are SMEs, national culture and Knowledge Management this research provides a limited scope on studied area. Realization: This study reviews its theoretical assumptions and tests them on the example of two case companies. The empirical findings gathered in those companies enlighten the assumptions of the authors and provide a ground for the analysis. Results: Focusing on the case of Turkish SMEs in Sweden the authors of this research were capable to confirm the theoretically driven assumption and to show the relation between the concepts of national culture, SMEs and Knowledge Management