Purpose In recent times, organizations and leaders are focusing on new strategies to increase the success rate of organizational change (OC) implementation. Therefore, the study attempts to uncover the sources and role of knowledge sharing (KS) to overcome the challenges of OC implementation. Design For this research, data have been gathered from respondents based on their key designations by using unstructured interview method. Thematic analysis was then performed using the NVivo 11-Plus software. Findings It has found that employees in public sector organizations are opposing OC due to lack of effective communication, lower level of participation in decision making, and barriers of, for example, a cultural, social, structural, and political nature. Therefore, this study suggests how KS can employ to overcome the challenges of OC implementation. Implications KS has become necessary to ensure incremental and radical changes in the survival of dynamic businesses. The results are useful to enhance understanding regarding the role of KS in the context of OC among change leaders, researchers, academicians, and policy makers. Originality The study provides meaningful and novel knowledge regarding role of KS to overcome the challenges of OC implementation. No prior research that contributes practical and theoretical knowledge in the perspective of KS and OC has been found especially in the context of developing countries and Asian culture. Therefore, this investigation attempts to explore the role of KS and presented overarching conceptual framework in the real context of OC implementation.

Introduction

KS has been recognized as a most significant construct of knowledge management (Hendriks, 1999; Baskerville and Dulipovici, 2006; Muqadas et al., 2016). KS is increasing viewed as an important feature of a successful organization (Vong, Zo, and Ciganek, 2016). It is found that KS among employees extensively influences the performance of both private and public sector organizations (Silvi and Cuganesan, 2006). In knowledge management studies, the public sector is an important research context (Massaro, Dumay, and Garlatti, 2015). A study is revealed that most of the researchers have focused on role of KS in private sector organizations (Sandhu et al., 2011). Other researchers argue that role of KS in public sector organizations have not yet gained substantial attention among researchers (Amayah, 2013; Willem, and Buelens, 2007). KS has described as a positive intentions of employees to share knowledge with their colleagues (Gibbert and Krause, 2002). Some other researchers have explained KS as a process through which knowledge (i.e. information, expertise, and competencies) is shared among employees, families, friends, communities, and organizations (Alsam, Rehman, and Imran, 2016; Bosua and Scheepers, 2007). Furthermore, KS refers to create task information, providing optimal solutions to resolve organizational issues and implementing policies, developing new ideas and facilitating synchronization among colleagues and supervisors (Alsam et al., 2016; Dorsey, 2003). In the context of progression of technology and competitive strategies, KS would be beneficially applied to bring new changes in an organization (Park and Kim, 2015). Knowledge management has focused on creating, managing, and sharing knowledge for resolving organizational issues i.e. resistance to the implementation of OC, low level of employee participation in organizational activities, and a lack of knowledge regarding the benefits of OC (Imran et al., 2016; Park and Kim, 2015). KS can enhance competency skills and enable employees to respond positively to OC (Fehér, 2004; Yang, 2007).