The mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between organizational culture and knowledge management in Jordanian banking sector

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the positive effect of organizational culture on knowledge management (KM) by clarifying the mediating effect of job satisfaction on the banking sector in Jordan. The study was conducted on Jordanian banks to develop the organizational culture concept to be reflected in the bank activities. The population of this study consists of junior and senior customer service and administrative employees working at Jordanian banks in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach The sample of this research is purposive one because the research cannot get a list containing names of customer service employees for privacy reasons. Various statistical tests were employed to test the research hypotheses. The study utilized two statistical packages – Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and SPSS-AMOS – for analyzing the data. Findings The development of organizational culture at banks in Jordan is still not stable and efficient. This may be affected by the management style and teamwork spirit in Jordan and other factors related to bank culture and how it will be reflected in customer service. The creation and application of KM at banks in Jordan is still modest. Knowledge is mainly shared internally within the bank with little efforts dedicated to soliciting knowledge from the external environment including customers. The job satisfaction at banks in Jordan is still modest. Originality/value The purpose of this study is to investigate how the organizational culture can improve job satisfaction for efficient work knowledge. The relationship between organizational culture and KM of organizational members is developed and analyzed herein by proposing a mediating role of job satisfaction. Few research papers have focused on job satisfaction and its mechanism contributing to individual effectiveness in the Jordanian market, and many ignored the benefits of KM and value of culture in many sectors.