Idrees, I.A., Vasconcelos, A.C. and Ellis, D. (2018) Clique and elite: inter-organizational knowledge sharing across five star hotels in the Saudi Arabian religious tourism and hospitality industry. Journal of Knowledge Management, 22 (6). pp. 1358-1378. ISSN 1367-3270
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to offer a theoretical and practical explanation for the nature and reasons for inter-organizational knowledge sharing across an informal clique of competing five-star hotels in the Saudi Arabian religious tourism and hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is an adapted form of the grounded theory approach deploying a four-stage research design using qualitative interviews with key players in the industry to inform the analysis of the knowledge sharing approaches. Findings: The findings illustrate the features of the knowledge sharing approaches across the five-star hotels studied. In particular, the findings highlight the existence of a cooperative-competitive tension in the relationships and knowledge sharing between the hotels. This illustrates the existence of a tacit strategy that cooperation can lead to long-term benefits for the competitor hotels. Originality/value: The study is unique in its focus on the cooperative-competitive tension of five-star hotels in the Saudi Arabian religious tourism and hospitality industry and on this influence on the inter-organizational knowledge sharing across hotels within an oligopolistic market structure. The study also has value in using elements of oligopoly theory and of game theory, particularly, the prisoner’s dilemma, in explaining how inter-organizational knowledge sharing occurs within this market context.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Emerald Publishing Limited 2018. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Knowledge Management. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Knowledge sharing; Game theory; Grounded theory; Coopetition; Oligopoly theory; Prisoner’s dilemma |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Information School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Mar 2018 16:11 |
Last Modified: | 11 Nov 2020 14:34 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Emerald |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1108/JKM-07-2017-0276 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:128893 |