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Abstract - This paper integrates theories and is employee's knowledge [30]but also their skills and
findings of the role of human resources management talent that are hard for competitors to imitate, which
(HRM) in the process of knowledge management (KM) makes them a powerful source of sustainable
in the information and communication technologies competitive advantage [11]. The tangible asset value
(ICT) sector in Croatia.In order to succeed, companies
decreases, while the value of intangible assets
must prevent the loss of knowledge. Therefore, they
must recognize the importance of human resources as
increases [10]. This is especially expressed in IT
the main factor of business. Only knowledge companies. Human capital is specific because it
management enables knowledge sharing.Furthermore, represents a unique asset. It is crucial for company
applications of information technology (IT) in the field development and society as a whole[14]. Consumers
of HRM can prevent the loss of knowledge and arise are no longer on the first place though employees are.
the transfer of knowledge among employees.For the It is assumed that consumers cannot be satisfied, if
purpose of this paper, a survey regarding human employees are not. Human resource management is
resource and knowledge management in IT companies the function with focus on planning of human
is conducted in order to analyze the structure of HR resources and maintaining their motivation in order
and the importance of knowledge sharing in an
to keep the key employees in the company [5].The
organization.
importance of human resource managers is growing,
Keywords: Human resource management, which is evidenced by the fact that much more
Knowledge management, ICT sector attention is turned toward their motivation and
reward. One of their most important tasks is
becoming how to leverage employer individual
1. Introduction knowledge assets via knowledge sharing with the
mission of creation collective knowledge
Nowadays in time of increasing globalization and resources[32].
rapid technological advancement in the market it has
become clear that companies which want to survive, In IT companies, employees’ knowledge has a high
should take advantage of ongoing training to equip value comparing with other resources. Human
their employees with additional skills and resources are the most valuable asset to any IT
knowledge. When employees reach their potential, companies.Human capital includes the combined
this will benefit the performance of the company. knowledge, skills and creativity. ICT industry in
Technology is changing and IT is now omnipresent Croatia has about 4,200 companies. Number of
and requires new needs [12]. Products and services employees in 2012 amounted up to 31,388
are characterized by short life cycles, and user’s employees[33]. According to these facts, we can
needs have to become individualized. Namely, it is realize the importance of ICT activities in the overall
necessary to use resources up to their maximum so activities in Croatia. However, although there are
that companies can achieve competitive advantage. more women than men in the world, women remain
Out of all resources, the most prominent is in the minority in the economy[27]. Accordingly,
knowledge, because it has hidden potentials and women represent only 30% of employees in ICT.
allows differentiation among competitors[20]. Recent research also showed that a typical Croatian
startup company founder is male (96%)[13].
Market value of the company consists of visible Increasing the number of women in the same activity
tangible and real but invisible intangible assets. would lead to an increase of GDP in the EU[39].
Tangible assets are machinery, buildings and “Greater gender equality in economic opportunities
equipment, while the most important intangible asset
purposes, innovation and through it increase the other hand, working in teams does not mean that
productivity. It is necessary in those companies to team members will not work independently. Task
define specific management policy [12]. Awareness independency also requires a flow of information and
of the importance of knowledge is growing. In his a high level of knowledge sharing. This would
research North [20]concluded that the awareness of indicate appropriate organisational structure or use of
the importance of knowledge management has been adequate technology to support the codification,
developed, and a growing number of companies storage, organisation, and retrieval of knowledge [4].
already make orientation towards KM.
Employees should be observed as investors of their
own knowledge. Accordingly, they decide if they
4. The importance of knowledge management want to invest their knowledge in company or not.
and the impact on the HRM Therefore, it is important that companies take a stand
through which will motivate employees and
„Knowledge is agglomerate of facts, information, encourage their knowledge investments [24].
and skills acquired through experience or education;
the theoretical or practical understanding of a Employers are afraid of losing key people because
certain subject“[38].Knowledge emphasizes human they would lose knowledge as well. If this
resources. While the new knowledge arises by knowledge is not shared with other employees, it can
exchange of existing knowledge among cause huge losses for company[12]. HR managers
employees[34]. In their research study, Özbağ and can motivate employees to share their knowledge
Esenb[23] showed importance of the role of human among other employees, and not that there are look
resource management in fostering knowledge each other as a competition. Also, human resource
capability, which leads to more innovation in management can act on the barriers present in
companies. knowledge transfer [17]. Mediation of human
resource management with knowledge management
Management and transfer of knowledge are can be seen from the following definition: "a series
becoming more and more important aspects of of interconnected activities of the organization and
modern society, because new knowledge is helping management focused on the strategy and tactics of
to rebuild the forms of production [16]. Knowledge human capital and the development of knowledge,
is one way of differentiation of companies. It grows skills and competencies of employees in general,
when it is shared and gets the value when it is used. know-how, through education and training, gain
Unused knowledge does not bring added value for work and professional experience.“ [35].
companies[20].Knowledge becomes important for Strengthening the connection between knowledge
the company when it is available, and its value management, human resource management and
increases with respect to its availability[37]. organizational development is main criteria for
Knowledge transfer depends on the characteristics of achieving [18].
knowledge that is transferred, the source of
knowledge and the recipient [5]. HRM can contribute to the knowledge sharing by
different techniques. By encouraging teamwork,
Knowledge sharing in the IT companies is very participation of employee, job rotation, a high-level
important. Through team working, IT companies can of training, etc. [34]. Readiness to share knowledge
more flexibly adapt and react to complex and and being cooperative will have a large role in the
dynamic environments change [2]. They form project business success. Therefore, employee’s motivation
teams where employers have different roles. to work in teams is very important[20].
Therefore, some teams consist from business analyst,
programmers, testers, etc. Such approach allows A lot of research paper have identified ICT as one
better communication and easier detection of of the critical factors for enhancing KM [22].
potential problems in all phases of software Information technology can be helpful in knowledge
production[21]. This process is very important in IT managing. ICT are technologies, which facilitate the
companies because finding possible errors greatly management to share knowledge and information
reduces the cost of correcting them. In the IT [29]. It cannot be applied to all aspects of knowledge
companies, employment is often carried out from a management, but IT can support in way of online
remote location and therefore virtual teams have directories, search the knowledge base, access to
become popular. Usually, team members are people information about past events, etc. [8]. Accordingly,
from different countries and cultures. Therefore, IT can increase speed of creating and transmitting
knowledge sharing in virtual teams is much harder knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be stored and
than sharing knowledge inside the company[21]. On
Empirical research [31]about the knowledge With the research study, the authors wanted to find
sharing among employees has occurred to the out the importance of sharing knowledge in the IT
following conclusions: gender does not influence on companies, and its connection with the human
the cooperation and teamwork; employees with more resource management. In addition, the authors
years of employment have greater desire for wanted to find out what are the goals and motivations
cooperation; employees of higher qualifications are of employers in the IT sector.After extensive
more willing for teamwork; employees in large literature review and analysis of available materials
companies are more willing to cooperate compared four hypotheses were created:
to those in small companies. Human resource
management can influence to increase ability of H1. The number of women employed in the IT
receiving knowledge through job analysis, selection, companies does not exceed 30% of the total
employment, further education and evaluation. workforce.
Furthermore, it can influence to increase motivation
by reward and promotion [17]. European Commission data show that the share of
women in the last few years reduced and that men
Research made by Monteiro and Cardoso make even 4/5 of the ICT industry [39]. In
[18]shows a correlation between training as an accordance with the problems related to the small
educational investment and formal knowledge percentage of women in the IT sector with the first
management practices. Strategic management affects hypothesis the authors wanted to investigate if the
the practice of knowledge management. women also represent only 30% of employees in ICT
Organizational orientation to knowledge is sector in Croatia, more precisely in Zagreb County
significantly associated with informal knowledge and the City of Zagreb.
management.
H2. IT companies with defined processes of
Research [35]conducted in the large Croatian knowledge sharing reward employee for good
companies showed that Croatia has poorly developed performance.
practice of knowledge management (11.8% activities
related to information and communication). Among Rewarding increases employee motivation with the
others, this is evidenced by the following: 33.3% of aim of improving its performance.Rewards are used
companies in the 2006 sent more than 50% of their as a tool for encouraging employee behavior to work
employees to further education, 20.6% of companies in the interests of the company. Therefore, the
required from employees to transfer knowledge from rewards are also used for encouraging knowledge
conferences, workshops, etc., 21.9% of companies sharing among employees [6].
conducted practice of meeting after the project
finished with the aim of transferring knowledge, H3. IT companies that invest in the employee’s
38.7% companies in which employees usually share education have developed a system of sharing
their knowledge among other employees, 23.5% of knowledge.
companies using software for KM, 40.6% of
companies use information technology to create a Education is important for knowledge sharing.
knowledge base. Further, studies have shown that Whereby the acquired knowledge can be shared at
82.4% of the companies have person responsible for formal and informal gatherings [6].
the knowledge management in the department of
human resources. One positive finding was that H4. There is a positive attitude towards
65.6% of companies have used information knowledge sharing in IT companies.
technology to document with the aim of transferring
knowledge. According to research results [16]of Teamwork is a specific for IT companies because
knowledge management and application of employees in teams work on specific projects. To
information technology, companies are given the achieve a common project goal, employees must be
highest score for the statement that the information complementary to each other according to their skills
tools enable efficient operation and the information and they have to share their knowledge to each other.
tools have been useful for data storing about
According to the results of the chi-square test H3. IT companies that invest in the employee’s
(Table 1) connection reward system for knowledge education have developed a system of sharing
sharing in accordance with defined processes for knowledge.
knowledge sharing, it could be noticed that there is a Results of chi-square test (Table 2) show that there
statistically significant difference is no statistically significant correlation between
2
�𝜒𝜒 = 32,757; 𝑑𝑑𝑓𝑓 = 8; 𝑝𝑝 = 0,000�. investment in education and development of the
Companies,
which have defined processes of knowledge sharing, system for knowledge sharing �𝜒𝜒2 = 2,731; 𝑑𝑑𝑓𝑓 =
tend to have developed reward system for knowledge 2 𝑖𝑖 𝑝𝑝 = 0,255�. About 16% of IT companies do not
sharing.For companies that have defined processes of invest in the education of employees on the annual
knowledge sharing is characterized: basis, but have a developed system of knowledge
• Supports the data exchange, exchange of sharing, while 62.2% of IT companies invest in
information and knowledge among employees training and have developed system of
organizational units (0.540) knowledge sharing. However, according to the
• A rewards and punishments system is clearly results of the chi-square test (p = 0.255) the
defined (0.636) hypothesis H3 is rejected because companies which,
• Evaluation system has a purpose that invest in education of their employees, do not
employees seek the same goal (0.527) necessarily developed a system of knowledge
• The needs of education are determined by sharing.
performance evaluation (0.532)
Table 2: Chi-square test connectivity investments in education and development of the system for knowledge
Chi-Square Tests
Asymp. Sig. (2-
Value df sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 2.731 2 .255
Likelihood Ratio 2.521 2 .283
Linear-by-Linear 2.305 1 .129
Association
N of Valid Cases 37
H4. There is a positive attitude towards knowledge 60% and the coefficient of significance is less than
sharing in IT companies. 0.05). Company’s’ opinion is neutral if p > 0.05 and
T-test was used to test the attitude of companies the respondents opinion is negatively if they
for knowledge sharing. The authors’ wanted to see if answered, "Disagree" or "Strongly disagree" (share
the attitude towards knowledge sharing in IT of the average value is less than 60% and the
companies is positive. Answers are positive if the coefficient of significance is less than 0.05).
company responded with "I agree" or "Strongly
agree" (share of the average value is greater than
The table 3 shows the average values for each are based on the information gathered from the
variable, and the proportion of their average value. In website Business Register of the Croatian Chamber
addition, it shows the value of t-test and significance of Commerce (CCC). In addition, one limitation of
coefficient (0.000). The total average value is 3.924 the study is the subjectivity of respondents that may
(78.48%) which is higher than 60% and the be affected by misunderstanding of questions,
coefficient of significance is less 0.05; 78.48% purposely gave distorted response and disinterest for
belongs to the answer "I agree". Thus, there is a the research. Furthermore, the limitations of the
positive attitude towards knowledge sharing in IT study is also linked to the lack of earlier conducted
companies, and therefore we accept the hypothesis research in Croatia which results could not be
H4. compared with the results of this study.