title: The Impact of Leadership on Employees’ Knowledge Sharing in the General Secretariat of the Executive Council in the UAE
Creators: name: Alketbi, O
Publisher: name: Liverpool John Moores University
Year: 2024

description: This study investigated the enablers and barriers of implementing a knowledge sharing strategy within the General Secretariat of the Executive Council (GSEC) in line with the 2030 Vision in the UAE. It seeks to evaluate the current leadership styles at GSEC to find out whether they have a direct bearing on successfully driving or hindering knowledge sharing initiatives. This study gauges the perspectives and perceptions of the different key stakeholders regarding leadership styles and their impact on driving effective knowledge sharing at GSEC.
The extant literature on leadership is extensive. However, much of the debate and deliberation on how different styles of leadership stimulate and drive followers to be creative and share knowledge within an organisation is inconclusive as many questions remain unanswered. The key literature focuses mainly on defining leaders’ qualities and attributes, highlighting the main leadership models, theories and styles to find out which leadership style is most suitable for different organisational settings. The literature also suggests that the relationship between leadership styles and knowledge sharing is complex and multidimensional. Firstly, knowledge in today’s volatile economies has become a driving force for the sustainability of organisations working in dynamically-competitive environments. Secondly, leaders who have the skills and attributes to motivate and boost knowledge creation and sharing activities, play a key role in the process. There is a consensus among authors that there is a positive correlation between leadership styles and knowledge sharing.
Based on the purpose of the study, the nature of the problem and research questions, the philosophical paradigm underpinning this study is predominantly positivist because this study aims to find out the answer to a question through numerical data. Quantitative data are collected using a questionnaire involving employees at GSEC.
Findings revealed that knowledge sharing (KS) initiatives at GSEC are experiencing some resistance due to traditional leadership styles and employee knowledge creation and sharing processes are not working to full potential. There is a recognition of the pertinence of KS but there is a need for adequate investment in training to produce significant outcomes and progress. Findings suggest that there are no clear policies or documents to support the practice of KS. The results also showed that there is little motivation or incentive for employees to share knowledge and drive the organisational structure and culture towards an effective sharing of knowledge strategy. The findings of this study identified some challenges hindering the implementation of KS within GSEC, namely the lack of clear and consistent policies, regulations and commitment by key stakeholders. This study’s findings are consistent with similar studies within the broad literature related to KS.
This study has provided a platform for further in-depth research into the challenges of leadership styles and their impact on knowledge sharing by expanding the literature which will benefit future research. The findings will benefit the leadership in understanding the drivers and challenges of KS enablers. It raises awareness of management engagement, employee training and incentivisation as crucial to ensuring the implementation of KS strategy and to coordinate efforts to effectively create a knowledge sharing culture among employees.