UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP FOR CROSS-CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

This article examines the role of leadership in cross-cultural knowledge management (CCKM) because both knowledge management and cross-cultural management are now regarded as popular topics in both academic and practical research in the age of globalization. We discuss the existing literature on the relationship between leadership and cross-cultural management as well as the relationship between leadership and knowledge management to illustrate the importance of leadership in each field. The concept of cross-cultural knowledge management-an ambiguous term-will be presented from Nguyen, Umemoto, and Medeni's (2007) work, establishing an expanded role of cross-cultural management, which could be viewed as a subset of knowledge management. To emphasize the impact of leadership on CCKM, we discuss the influence of leadership on each factor in the theoretical model of CCKM. Our understanding of the role of leadership in CCKM suggests that international leaders should pay careful attention to managing fragmentation, integration, and differentiation when they want to create and manage the cross-cultural knowledge of their employees.