What Drives? What Restrains? Hidden Dynamics of Knowledge Transfer from Buddhist Male Managers to Female Trainees

Abstract

Knowledge is power; if so, what hidden dynamics interplay during the employee training process between Buddhist male managers and their female subordinates who would potentially be future peers? Using a phenomenological enquiry, we explored hidden forces driving and restraining effective knowledge transfer and managers’ underlying beliefs, attitudes, prejudices, and motives. The findings revealed the societal and individual prejudices towards women as the restraining forces, while Buddhist ideologies and values as the driving forces of knowledge transfer. The results can be interpreted at individual, national, and organizational levels, thus leading to a new conceptualization of knowledge transfer practices in similar religious and ideological contexts. The underlying contradictions between Buddhist beliefs and societal prejudices thwarted knowledge transfer effectiveness. These findings guide practitioners to innovate practical training to initiate a paradigm shift to eliminate the harmful effect of societal ideologies and gender prejudices and integrate Buddhist values’ driving forces into knowledge transfer practices. We concluded that religious doctrines play a vital role in knowledge transfer practices, attitudes, values, and workplace behaviour in native Buddhist societies; however, future research would enhance the generalizability of the findings in similar religious contexts specific to South Asian countries.