Knowledge sharing: Seeking to understand intentions and actual sharing

Knowledge sharing has been argued to be one of the essential processes for knowledge management, if not for efficient business practice in general (Bock & Kim, 2002; Goodes, 2003; Islamabad, 2002; Pan & Scarbrough, 1998; Stewart, 2000; Woods, 2001). However, there lacks an understanding of why and under what conditions are people willing to share their knowledge within a more comprehensive framework. Furthermore, the research on knowledge sharing explains little variance in actual knowledge sharing behaviour. This research: (a) uses a model grounded in Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975); (b) examines the possible role of Perceived Value of Knowledge in knowledge sharing behaviours; and (c) examines the impact of the target type (i.e., an individual versus the "generalized other") on the predictors of knowledge sharing.; Two studies were conducted in this thesis research: a qualitative study based on interviews with knowledge workers, and a quantitative survey. The qualitative study investigated the nature of knowledge sharing behaviours and perceived value of knowledge in order to develop measures for the quantitative survey as well as to further understand these constructs and their possible relationship. In addition the potential influence of target type and perceived value of knowledge on knowledge sharing was examined. The quantitative survey tested the research model, the Knowledge Sharing Model, and its associated hypotheses. The purpose of the Knowledge Sharing Model was to understand better the predictors of knowledge sharing behaviours and intentions to share knowledge within a more comprehensive framework.; The results of this research indicate that within a comprehensive framework, many of the antecedents proposed by the knowledge management literature are not important in predicting intentions to share knowledge at the individual level of analysis. The key predictors were: intention to share knowledge was positively related to actual knowledge sharing; perceived management support of knowledge sharing and perceived value of knowledge were both positively related to intention to share knowledge; and psychological ownership of knowledge was negatively related to intentions. Propensity to share knowledge was significantly related to all of the antecedent variables except for organizational ownership. The strength of the relationships differed among the different target types.; The implications for theory and practitioners are discussed along with possible limitations of this research. Avenues for future research are also explored.