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.