Links between bureaucratic culture and knowledge creation: the mediating role of knowledge-oriented leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to test the impact of bureaucratic culture on knowledge creation and how this nexus is mediated by knowledge-oriented leadership. Bureaucracy as the identity of organisations in Northern Iraq has been the centre of discourses for reform and change. Managers have tried to harmonise knowledge management within the bureaucratic system in the public sector but that has not led to success yet. A part of the problem manifests itself from the leadership side as well; however the knowledge-oriented leadership may play a positive role to facilitate knowledge management practices within a bureaucratic culture of organisations. This empirical study is based on a sample of 175 employees working in different public universities located in the north of Iraq. The results show that the bureaucratic culture is negatively related to knowledge creation and this relationship is fully mediated by the knowledge-oriented leadership. The results of this study will be an addition to the existing literature because it the first attempt in its kind that has been conducted in an untested context. Also, the investigated public universities can enhance their knowledge management practices by implementing knowledge-oriented leadership styles.