Knowledge-Sharing Barriers in Non-Profit Environments in Thailand

Introduction

The importance of knowledge sharing (KS) in the organization confirmed in the literature, which indicated as vital process in the institutions by generating new knowledge and business ideas as well as creating more organizational development opportunities through learning activities. Furthermore, the KS process was high related to the innovation in the organizations (Castaneda and Cuellar, 2020). Investigations of the KS in private sector have been much emphasized in competitive environment, and applied in the business context (Bloice and Burnett, 2016). In general, there were several approaches in terms of KS and its definitions. For instance, Dyer and Nobeoka (2000) explained that the KS is the organizational activities for promoting knowledge exchange and upgrading organizational learning capacity in order to increase the staff’s ability to reach organizational goal and individual perspectives. Furthermore, the KS is an action that performed by people in the organization, but it is not automatic process via information systems (Castaneda and Durán, 2018). In the non-profit environment, knowledge management (KM) at the non-profit organizations (NPOs) was approached basing on their own definition and adopted a customized approaches from for-profit organizations (Bloice and Burnett, 2016; Pukhovskaya et al., 2020). The studies of KS were examined in several aspects (Chang et al., 2021); however, a comprehensive understanding of KS is not straightforward (Hume and Hume, 2008; Curado et al., 2021). Therefore, this paper attempts to highlight and re-identify critical barriers of the KS in the non-profit environment especially in the NPOs in developing countries.

The NPOs were labeled as third sector organizations. Third sector is difference from for-profit and public (government) sector. According to Salamon and Anheier (1997), the NPOs consisted of widely align of social institutions that work for both the market and the state. This included diversity of types of organizations, for instance, the not-for-profit, nonprofit, non-government, voluntary, civil society, and charitable organizations (Downes, 2014). Furthermore, these organizations operated with multiple working roles which delivered range of human services brought unaddressed social issues to the public arena or presented opportunities for social development (Downes, 2014). However, the development of the third sector in these roles has not yet led to a concomitant development of research agenda in the area.

In the context of the NPOs, knowledge is critical role to trigger and leverage for competitive advantage to increase financial gain (Kong, 2007). Pukhovskaya et al. (2020) recently identified key factors that affected to KM-NPO procedure including individual motivations, characteristics, trust, social ties, leadership, culture, and structure in the organizations. Guldberg et al. (2013) also noted that the NPOs provided social services and care for the society, which KM can be applied to reach additional institutional priorities. It was included namely; transferring and sharing of best practices, developing the body of knowledge for social development and social care (Guldberg et al., 2013). Therefore, KM is critical tool supporting the NPOs to achieve organizational goal and maximize bringing social services to the communities. However, these organizations encountered with budget limitation and working in competitive environment (Bloice and Burnett, 2016), particularly in competing with other NPOs in terms of delivering the social services to local communities. The studies in non-profit sector noted that commercial practices, for instance, KM, is a method for the NPO can be competed and improved strategic performance. This study attempts to examine the KS barriers in these NPOs, especially in the context of developing countries. From academic side, the study contributes to the development of KM-NPO theories by re-identification the obstacles of knowledge activities in these organizations. Practically, senior managers of the NPOs can be provided an insight about KM applicability, which allows strengthen their organizational knowledge practices.