Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Anca Mândruleanu
In Table 2, <strong>the</strong>re are two main aspects for this research: <strong>the</strong> values <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first column (Scale Mean <strong>of</strong>
Item deleted) and <strong>the</strong> values <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> last column (Cronbach’s Alpha if Item deleted). Taking into
account <strong>the</strong> values obtained, we notice that item Q4 (17,96) has <strong>the</strong> strongest correlation with <strong>the</strong>
scale, meaning it has a major role in this analysis. The weakest correlation with <strong>the</strong> scale belongs to
<strong>the</strong> item Q2 (16,14). Thus, we can conclude that <strong>the</strong> management encourages <strong>the</strong> transfer <strong>of</strong> tacit
knowledge, by capturing tacit knowledge for organizational use. As <strong>the</strong> figures show, <strong>the</strong> managers
promote collaboration among employees, tries to build a strong organizational culture and promotes
innovation in products and services. Still, taking into account <strong>the</strong> value 16,14 <strong>of</strong> Q2, we can notice
that not all <strong>the</strong> managers are convinced that <strong>the</strong>y implement correctly <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> knowledge
transferring. In Table 2, we can also notice <strong>the</strong> value <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> last column Cronbach’s Alpha if Item is
deleted. The values are less than <strong>the</strong> value <strong>of</strong> 0.829, previously obtained. Thus, we can conclude that
all <strong>the</strong> items that were initially selected are relevant for <strong>the</strong> present study. This value shows us that
removing any <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> selected items means a loss <strong>of</strong> information in analyzing <strong>the</strong> results. In addition,
<strong>the</strong> Significance from <strong>the</strong> ANOVA table equals zero, which means that <strong>the</strong> analysis is significant at
any level.
Going back to <strong>the</strong> initial hypo<strong>the</strong>ses, after analyzing <strong>the</strong> data, we can conclude that both hypo<strong>the</strong>ses
are valid and we can state that in <strong>the</strong> analyzed Romanian companies, <strong>the</strong> managers consider that
managers encourage <strong>the</strong> knowledge transfer in <strong>the</strong> companies <strong>the</strong>y run and consider <strong>the</strong> tacit
knowledge more important than <strong>the</strong> explicit knowledge. In addition, <strong>the</strong>y promote innovation in
products and services; still, <strong>the</strong> encouraging <strong>the</strong> knowledge transfer is just <strong>the</strong> first step <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> process
implementation itself, so more efforts in identifying <strong>the</strong> best way and approach in order to do this
effectively are needed. This will lead to a better cooperation a will stronger <strong>the</strong> organizational culture.
5. 4BConclusions
Romanian managers do believe that encouraging <strong>the</strong> knowledge transfer is essential, because this
will lead to an increase <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> company’s effectiveness. Although <strong>the</strong> term “knowledge management”
implies formalized transfer, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most important elements is to develop specific strategies to
encourages spontaneous exchanges. When a business is struggling, people naturally ga<strong>the</strong>r to talk
through problems and share ideas about how to solve <strong>the</strong>m. These conversations are more likely to
generate creative solutions than keeping <strong>the</strong> employees at <strong>the</strong>ir desk and dealing with individual
tasks. Transferring knowledge through personal conversation is being threatened not only by
industrial age managers but also by <strong>the</strong> move in virtual <strong>of</strong>fices. Because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> financial crisis, many
Romanian SMEs are adopting work arrangements in which workers, especially those in <strong>the</strong> customer
oriented functions as ales and service, are encouraged to work at home or at a customer site.
Although <strong>the</strong>se arrangements <strong>of</strong>fer benefits for <strong>the</strong> employee in terms <strong>of</strong> flexibility and more time
spent with <strong>the</strong> client, it also lower <strong>the</strong> frequency <strong>of</strong> informal knowledge transfer.
Romanian managers understand <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> knowledge transfer and <strong>the</strong>y are willing to find <strong>the</strong>
best ways for implementing it, even during national financial difficulties. To make a start on becoming
knowledge driven, managers have to investigate and study <strong>the</strong> best practice. They need to analyze
<strong>the</strong> things that can work well in <strong>the</strong>ir organization and refine and change things that may have worked
well elsewhere, but for a variety <strong>of</strong> reasons will not be able to work well in <strong>the</strong>ir companies
Acknowledgment
We would like to acknowledge <strong>the</strong> support received from UEFISCSU ROMANIA through PNII
research project ID_1812/2008
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