The Effect of Geographical Proximity on Organizational Knowledge Sharing

Today, knowledge is considered as the main driver in “knowledge-based economy”. Increasing knowledge sharing would have a positive effect on organizational performance. There are a set of factors which effect on knowledge sharing such as: ICT supports, age, size, and geographical location or proximity. In this article we focus on the geographical proximity. The purpose of this paper is whether there is a significant relation among faculty members in Tehran and other cities in terms of the extent of inter- and intra-organization knowledge sharing and also how is knowledge sharing between faculty members in each cities of Iran?. The present study was based on mixed method and applied research. For data analysis, statistical software SPSS15 and two-sample mean T-student was used. Results indicates a significance difference among faculty members in Tehran and other cities in terms of the extent of intra-organization knowledge sharing and no significance difference was observed among them in terms of the extent of inter-organization knowledge sharing. With the comparison of the amount of intra- and interorganizational knowledge sharing, Isfahan, Tehran, Tabriz, Shiraz, Hormozgan, and Baghyat-allah medical university have higher than the average knowledge sharing and in medical research centres Pastor, Ahvaz, Behzisti, have higher than the average knowledge sharing. By focusing on the results of this research policy makers can promote this process in all country universities.