Factors affecting knowledge sharing intention among academic staff

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors affecting knowledge sharing among academic staff in universities. Utilizing the theory of reasoned action (TRA) as the underlying research framework, the main objective of this study was threefold. First, was to examine the relationship between attitude, subjective norm, and trust with knowledge sharing intention. Second, was to examine the relationship among factors, i.e., self-efficacy, social networks and extrinsic rewards with attitude toward knowledge sharing intention and the third objective was to find out the relationship between organizational support and subjective norm. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed among academic staff at three social science faculties in one public university in Malaysia. Collectively, 117 usable responses were returned. Partial Least Square analysis was utilized to analyze the data. Findings – The results indicated that of the two components of the TRA, only attitude was positively and significantly related to knowledge sharing intention. The findings also show that social network and self-efficacy significantly affect attitude and organizational support showed a strong influence on subjective norms toward knowledge sharing intention. Research limitations/implications – Future research should consider type of knowledge that is being shared. Besides, it would also be interesting to investigate potential differences of the knowledge sharing intention between academic staff in the private and public universities. Practical implications – This study offers a more clear vision of the factors that affect knowledge sharing intention among academic staff. Therefore, managers can implement practical plan to support those factors. Originality/value – Factors affecting knowledge sharing among academic staff in universities were reviewed to suggest a framework to explain this behavior in a specific context.

Impact of Knowledge Sharing Adoption on Universities Virtual Learning Communities

“…Offering motivating rewards to workers empower and fortify the positive conduct and culture required for successful knowledge sharing [39]. Research led by [34] in Malaysian university and its outcomes demonstrated that the rewards have a positive impact on the state of mind in the knowledge sharing contexts in terms of academics.…”

“…As expressed in [31] there has been the rhetoric of utilizing e-learning to bolster the knowledge based-economy by proposing more extensive and diverse sorts of access for learning. As indicated by [34], the knowledge sharing is the primary…”

“…Same as other organisations, universities as knowledge-based bodies have a tendency to depend on more on the sharing of knowledge. Nevertheless, a little research has explored the knowledge sharing adoption by the academic staff in academic institutions, particularly in Saudi universities e-learning communities context [34], [4,5].…”

Sharing of Knowledge among Faculty in a Mega Open University

“…Numerous researchers (Jolaee, Nor, Khani & Yusoff, 2014;Kuo & Young, 2008;Cabrera, Collins & Salgado, 2006;Bock, Zmud, Kim & Lee, 2005;Lin & Lee, 2004;Bock & Kim, 2002) have investigated knowledge sharing behaviour in terms of factors such as attitude, intention, subjective norms, and so on. Some other factors, found to be influencing knowledge sharing, are organizational context, management support, hoarding, reciprocity, trust, rewards mechanisms, and relationship with recipient.…”

A Systematic Review and Model Development of the Factors that Affect Knowledge Sharing in Educational Institutions

“…However, the majority of the previous studies has been conducted in business organizations. Few studies have investigated the knowledge sharing behavior in educational institutions such as universities [19], [20], [21]. Further, researchers who have investigated the knowledge sharing in the educational institutions have not come to an agreement regarding the factors that affect academic or nonacademic staff to share their knowledge.…”