Knowledge Sharing Culture Among Academic Staff

Effective knowledge sharing for knowledge producing organizations like higher educations is importance.Innovations and new findings are the backbones for one country socio-economic development.Therefore,the collaborative work of researchers and academicians are essential.Collaboration,teamwork and effective knowledge sharing comes through the culture of knowledge sharing.The study was guided by the Social Exchange Theory(SET),the Theory of Reasoned Action(TRA),and the Knowledge Market Perspective(KMP)intended to examine knowledge sharing culture of Addis Ababa government universities academic staffs share knowledge in terms of the following aspects:staff attitude,motivation to share,opportunity to share,trust in the management,and ways of knowledge sharing.Moreover,in light of the model of effective knowledge sharing based on literature review,major challenges of the studied universities were identified and coping strategies and measures were recommended.This study applied a mixed method(qualitative and quantitative approach),382 participants from two government-run universities in the capital city of Ethiopia,Addis Ababa,took part in the study.In addition,30 managers were interviewed and observation was conducted to check the available facilities through checklists,field notes,and photos.The quantitative data were analyzed with the aid of SPSS,using various statistical techniques,including One-way ANOVA,independent samples t-test,correlation analysis descriptive analyses and multiple mediation analysis,while qualitative data were presented through narration in both universities.The results showed that that motivation,opportunity to share knowledge and management support predict knowledge sharing culture significantly and also,staff attitude and trust played an important role in enhancing knowledge sharing culture among academic staffs in Addis Ababa government universities.The correlation result displayed there was an optimal degree of relationship between trust and knowledge sharing culture,staff attitude,motivation,and management support.Thus,to creating a knowledge sharing culture,management support,providing opportunity and motivation are important.The major challenges identified were limited management support,reward system and,opportunity to share knowledge in selected Addis Ababa government universities.In addition,ways of communication to share knowledge were only depending on informal chat,phone call,and email and underutilization of infrastructure.In conclusion,staff attitude,motivation,and trust are important to create a knowledge sharing culture in higher institutions.The coping strategies for the major challenges identified the researcher would recommend were that the managers should create knowledge sharing culture and vibrant reward system,facilitating necessary infrastructures,and providing an opportunity for staff members to share their knowledge.