Tacit Knowledge Sharing Behaviors in Extended Enterprises: a Cross-Cultural Comparison in France and Vietnam

Due to the particular nature of tacit knowledge, human behaviors deployed to share it are of particular interest in extended enterprises. Indeed, the existence of a worldwide global space leads not only to an international cultural context but also to a highly digital environment with the development of collaboration technologies. The impact of digital technology on tacit knowledge sharing behaviors is of particular interest in these extended enterprises and we argue that a better understanding of tacit knowledge sharing practices, habits, and behaviors would improve the effectiveness of tacit knowledge sharing during computer supported cooperative work in design. In this article, we present a study involving 190 participants, 88 in France and 102 in Vietnam, who expressed their tacit knowledge sharing behaviors as employees working in extended enterprises. The findings showed that: (1) the relation between made-explicit and tacit knowledge management implementation does not seem to be always true, and (2) rewards do not seem to impact employee's initiative in tacit knowledge management.