Examining the impacts of organizational culture and top management support of knowledge sharing on the success of software process improvement

Although numerous studies have discussed the importance of the relationship between knowledge management and software process improvement (SPI), a research gap still exists in relation to how the specific role of knowledge sharing influences successful SPI implementation. This study advances our knowledge by developing an innovative model for exploring the impact of knowledge sharing on SPI success, the impact of knowledge sharing in specific organizational cultures, and how the support of top management specifically influences the path to SPI success. To empirically test the model, this study adopts the statistical technique of partial least squares (PLS) to analyze 118 samples collected from SPI-certified Taiwanese organizations. The results suggest that clan-type organizational culture has a stronger association with knowledge sharing than hierarchy-type in the context of SPI success. SPI knowledge sharing is found to be a mediator of both clan culture and top management support in the context of SPI success. The findings also include the implication to improve our knowledge about how organizational culture and top management support drive effective knowledge sharing on the way to SPI success.