I share, we Share? A Mixed-Method Analysis of Helping Behaviors, HRM Practices and Knowledge Sharing Behavior

Abstract

Knowledge sharing represents a key process to create value in organizational environments that reflects a complex interplay of individual and organizational level factors. Driven and heavily reliant on individuals’ willingness to share with others, effective knowledge sharing behavior is fostered through organizational characteristics that can promote prosocial behaviors, such as structured Human Resources Management Practices (HRMP). Nevertheless, knowledge sharing represents an extra-role voluntary behavior that depends on individual intention to engage in altruistic behavior to help others. While several studies assess the mediation role of such helping behaviors (HB) between organizational conditions that can foster knowledge sharing, few studies explore the complex combination between HRMP and individual HB leading to knowledge sharing in organizations. Similarly, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how HRMP and HB can contribute to the absence of knowledge sharing. This study addresses such gaps by examining the impact of HRMP and altruistic HB as conditions leading to knowledge sharing in the service industry (n=130) using a mixed-methods approach. We follow a quantitative design, using a partial-least squares (PLS) analysis to explore the relationship between HRMP, HB and knowledge sharing. Then, we follow a qualitative design, using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative approach (fsQCA) to identify complex configurations between HRMP, HB, age and education contributing to the presence and absence of knowledge sharing. Our quantitative findings find a positive relationship between both HRMP and HB leading to knowledge sharing behavior (KSB). Our qualitative findings present four alternative ways leading to knowledge sharing and corroborate the quantitative analysis. Additionally, qualitative results show four different configurations leading to the absence of knowledge sharing. We offer insight of the convergence of results, providing managerial approaches that can be used to promote KSB. Similarly, we recommend best practices to counter an absence of KSB given our methodological options and preventive practices inside the scope of Human Resources Management (HRM).