Knowledge Sharing in the Internal Audit Department

Abstract: Aim: This study aims to investigate the factors that affect the practices of effective knowledge sharing in the Middle East region. Method: The research paper is based on a single case study about the internal audit department in a commercial Lebanese bank. Qualitative research methods have been applied which included semi-structured interviews. Results & Conclusion: The research results suggest that organizational, individual and IT are the factors affecting knowledge sharing practices at the bank. However, one of the main issues is related to the national cultural and more specifically to how power distance, individualism, and masculinity are spread throughout the IA department and proving a moderating effect towards organizational, individual and IT factors. This research paper shows that power distance is one of the main contributing factors concerning knowledge sharing. Barriers such as trust, lack of reward system, and centralized organizational structure and lack of information technology infrastructure are regarded as problems in knowledge sharing. However, the empirical results show that the principal issue lies in the power distance. Suggestions for future researches: Suggestions for further researches would be to get the perspectives from an internal audit department at another organization in the Middle East that is following a decentralized organizational structure, having advanced IT infrastructures, along with reward system, in order to compare it with the results given in this study. Furthermore, it would be interesting to make observations at the organization in order to deeply understand how knowledge is being shared at the field. Contribution of the study: This study shows that organizations that are identified with centralized organizational structure, lack of trust, lack of IT support and special rewards system entail different issues with individuals’ knowledge sharing practices. Besides, this research paper provides the organization with insights into what thoughts its employees have when it comes to knowledge sharing. Furthermore, this provides the literature about knowledge sharing in the Middle East with a new model showing the impact of national culture over the factors that affect knowledge sharing practices in the Middle East.