Abstract

We present project knowledge management from a cross-cultural perspective, an approach that expands the role of knowledge management and enables an examination of the related concepts through empirical study. We also present the following propositions to examine their theoretical implications. P1: In international project settings, including virtual settings, tacit knowledge can be transferred from one locale to another, where it will be localized or internalized. P2: If international common tacit knowledge eventually emerges, then the knowledge processes in projects will function in a virtuous cycle. To examine these propositions in the context of theoretical implications, we conducted a case study of the knowledge processes in IT offshoring projects between Japan and China in a Company A. Data was collected by conducting questionnaire surveys among Japanese and Chinese project members, which were then analyzed by SPSS statistical software. The academic contribution of this study is to confirm the theoretical propositions by analyzing data from an actual business case. The practical contribution of this study is to identify solutions for cross-cultural knowledge issues in international projects by a cross-cultural knowledge management perspective.