Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T04:07:59.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ecotourism and environmental sustainability knowledge: An open knowledge sharing approach among stakeholders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2018

Jean Marie Ip-Soo-Ching ,
Suzanne Zyngier  and
Tahmid Nayeem
Jean Marie Ip-Soo-Ching*
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Sports and Tourism, La Trobe University, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Suzanne Zyngier
Affiliation:
School of Business, Kent Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Tahmid Nayeem
Affiliation:
School of Management & Marketing, Charles Stuart University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The discipline of knowledge management (KM) considers knowledge as potentially the most valuable organisational asset that must be shared among staff and stakeholders and even communities in order to yield considerable returns and benefits. However, in a real-world context, managers in industries such as high technology, manufacturing and finance jealously guard their valuable knowledge and prevent other entities from gaining access to this resource. Open cases of knowledge sharing among stakeholders such as staff, customers, business partners, competitors and the public are rare. Therefore, the philosophical premise of KM — knowledge must be openly shared — is often unrealised. Knowledge of environmental sustainability is a valuable resource for ecotourism operators because they operate in natural environments such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Sipadan Marine Park in Malaysia, and depend on the quality of these environments for their ongoing success. This research provides evidence that knowledge dissemination in the form of environmental sustainability knowledge can be openly shared among staff, customers, competitors and the public, thereby linking KM and environmental education. This article provides an interpretivist analysis of knowledge sharing by innovative ecotourism operators in Australia and South East Asia (Malaysia and Thailand). Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 14 executives, field observations and analysis of company documents. Results from this research found that ecotourism managers are passionate believers of environmental sustainability and benevolently share their valuable organisational knowledge and beliefs with all stakeholders.

Keywords

Knowledge managementenvironmental sustainability knowledgeenvironmental educationknowledge sharingecotourism
Type
Feature Articles
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 62 - 82
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water Pollution and Communities. (2010). National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development. Retrieved from http://www.environment.gov.au/about/esd/publications/strategy/intro.htmlGoogle Scholar
Bock, G., Zmud, R., Kim, Y., & Lee, J. (2005). Behavioral intention formation in knowledge sharing: Examining the Roles of extrinsic motivators, social-psychological forces, and organizational climate. MIS Quarterly, 29, 87–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bos, L., McCabe, S., & Johnson, S. (2015). Learning never goes on holiday: An exploration of social tourism as a context for experiential learning. Current Issues in Tourism, 18, 859–875.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brookes, A. (1999). Nature-based tourism as education for sustainability: Possibilities, limitations, contradictions. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 15, 23–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, N. (2011). Australia’s Great Barrier Reef ‘at risk from pesticide’. Retrieved October 13, 2011, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14516253Google Scholar
Casimir, G., Lee, K., & Loon, M. (2012). Knowledge sharing: Influences of trust, commitment and cost. Journal of Knowledge Management, 16, 740–753.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cater, E., & Lowman, G. (1994). Ecotourism: A sustainable option? Chichester, NY: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Cavaleri, S. A. (2004). Principles for designing pragmatic knowledge management systems. The Learning Organization, 11, 312–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cousteau, J. Y. [Director]. (1991). Borneo: The ghost of the sea turtle [Documentary]. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Video.Google Scholar
Davenport, T. H., & Prusak, L. (1998). Working knowledge. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Deshpande, R. (1983). ‘Paradigms lost’: On theory and method in research in marketing. The Journal of Marketing, 47, 101–110.Google Scholar
Eisenhardt, K. M., & Graebner, M. E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 50, 25–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foss, N. J., Husted, K., & Michailova, S. (2010). Governing knowledge sharing in organizations: Levels of analysis, governance mechanisms, and research directions. Journal of Management Studies, 47, 455–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glesne, C., & Peshkin, A. (1992). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction. New York, NY: Longman Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Grant, R. M., & Baden-Fuller, C. (1995). A knowledge-based theory of inter-firm collaboration. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, 1995, 17–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). (2009). Great barrier reef outlook report 2009: In brief. Townsville, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). (2011). www.gbrmpa.gov.au/zoning-permits-and-plans/permits.Google Scholar
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). (2014). Great Barrier Reef Region Strategic Assessment: Strategic assessment report. Townsville, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Green, R. (2005). Community perceptions of environmental and social change and tourism development on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, 7–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2006). An inconvenient truth: A global warning [DVD]. Hollywood, CA: Paramount.Google Scholar
Haas, M. R., & Cummings, J. M. (2015) Barriers to knowledge seeking within MNC teams: Which differences matter most? Journal of International Business Studies, 46, 36–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, C. M., & Page, S. (2011). Tourism in South and South East Asia: Issues and cases. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hau, Y. S., Kim, B., Lee, H., & Kim, Y. G. (2013). The effects of individual motivations and social capital on employees’ tacit and explicit knowledge sharing intentions. International Journal of Information Management, 33, 356–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heizmann, H., & Olsson, M. R. (2015). Power matters: The importance of Foucault’s power/knowledge as a conceptual lens in KM research and practice. Journal of Knowledge Management, 19, 756–769.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Husted, K., & Michailova, S. (2002). Diagnosing and fighting knowledge-sharing hostility. Organizational Dynamics, 31, 60–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ip-Soo-Ching, J.-M. & Veerapa, N. (2015). Permaculture: An insight into kitchen gardens operated by an environmental and eco-tourism operator in the Maldives and Thailand. Acta Horticulturae, 1088, 633–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ip-Soo-Ching, J.-M., & Zyngier, S. (2014). The rise of ‘Environmental Sustainability Knowledge’ in business strategy and entrepreneurship: An IT enabled knowledge-based view of tourism operators. In Ordóñez de Pablos, P. (Ed.), International business strategy and entrepreneurship and information technology perspective (pp. 23–40). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karagiannis, S., & Apostolou, A. (2004). Knowledge management in eco-tourism: A case study. Practical Aspects of Knowledge Management, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 336, 508–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, D. (2012). Half of Great Barrier Reef ‘disappeared’ in past 27 years. Retrieved October 2, 2010, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19796890.Google Scholar
Leonard-Barton, D. (1992). Core capabilities and core rigidities: A paradox in managing new product development. Strategic Management Journal, 13, 111–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lundberg, C., Fredman, P., & Wall-Reinius, S. (2014). Going for the green? The role of money among nature-based tourism entrepreneurs. Current Issues in Tourism, 17, 373–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maher, M. (1986). Environmental stewardship: ‘Where there’s a will, is there a way?’. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 2, 7–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, M. (1996). Sampling for qualitative research. Family Practice, 13, 522–526.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mills, A. M., & Smith, T. A. (2011). Knowledge management and organizational performance: A decomposed view. Journal of Knowledge Management, 15, 156–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, M., Watson, R., & Moore, S. (1991). Encouraging water saving: The role of knowledge, attitudes, and intention. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 7, 71–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musa, G. (2002). Sipadan: A scuba-diving paradise: An analysis of tourism impact, diver satisfaction and tourism management. Tourism Geographies: An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment, 4, 195–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newsome, D., Moore, S. A., & Dowling, R. K. (2013). Natural area tourism: Ecology, impacts and management. Bristol, UK: Channel View Publications.Google Scholar
Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovations. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Nonaka, I., Toyama, R., & Hirata, T. (2008). Managing flow: A process theory of the knowledge-based firm. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
North, C., & Hutson, G. (2011). Environmental myopia: The case for bifocals. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 2, 229–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Gorman, K. D., MacLaren, A. C., & Bryce, D. (2014). A call for renewal in tourism ethnographic research: The researcher as both the subject and object of knowledge. Current Issues in Tourism, 17, 46–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, T. M., Bastianoni, S., & Simpson, M. (2006). Tourism and climate change: Two-way street, or vicious/virtuous circle? Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 14, 339–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prahalad, C. K., & Hamel, G. (1990). The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review, 68(3), 79–91.Google Scholar
Rabinow, P., & Sullivan, W. M. (1988). Interpretive social science: A second look (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Rakić, T., & Chambers, D. (2010). Innovative techniques in tourism research: An exploration of visual methods and academic filmmaking. International Journal of Tourism Research, 12, 379–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabah Parks. (2017). US tech to beat fish bombing. Retrieved September 12, 2018, from http://www.sabahparks.org.my/index.php/sabah-parks-latest-news/242-us-tech-to-beat-fish-bombingGoogle Scholar
Schofield, J. W. (2002). Increasing the generalizability of qualitative research. In Huberman, A. M. & Miles, M. B. (Eds.), The qualitative researcher’s companion. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Sokhanvar, S., Matthews, J., & Yarlagadda, P. (2014). Importance of knowledge management processes in a project-based organization: A case study of research enterprise. Procedia Engineering, 97, 1825–1830.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spender, J. (1993). Competitive advantage from tacit knowledge? Unpacking the concept and its strategic implications. Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 8, 37–41.Google Scholar
Thomas, C., Jennings, P., & Lloyd, B. (2008). Issues in renewable energy education. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 24, 67–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, C. J., Locander, W. B., & Pollio, H. R. (1989). Putting consumer experience back into consumer research: The philosophy and method of existential-phenomenology. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 133–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, B., & Redmond, J. (2014). Changing the environmental behaviour of small business owners: The business case. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 30, 254–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiig, K. M. (1997). Knowledge management: Where did it come from and where will it go? Expert Systems with Applications, 13, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, P. (1998). Coastal tourism development in Southeast Asia: Relevance and lessons for coastal zone management. Ocean & Coastal Management, 38(2), 89–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wongthong, P., & Harvey, N. (2014). Integrated coastal management and sustainable tourism: A case study of the reef-based SCUBA dive industry from Thailand. Ocean & Coastal Management, 95, 138–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, T. M., & Maxwell, T. A. (2011). Information-sharing in public organizations: A literature review of interpersonal, intra-organizational and inter-organizational success factors. Government Information Quarterly, 28, 164–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yin, R. K. (1984). Case study research: Design and methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishing.Google Scholar