Propensity for Knowledge Sharing: An Equity Theory Approach

Determining which factors promote or impede the sharing of knowledge within organizations constitutes an important area of research. This paper looks at knowledge sharing through the lens of equity theory. The study will explore the impact of three types of justice – distributional, procedural and interactional – on knowledge sharing. Distributional justice refers to the judgments that people make with respect to the input/output ratios they experience relative to the ratios experienced by others with whom they identify (reference others). Procedural justice has to do with following procedures that are consistent, unbiased, accurate, correctable, representative and ethical. Interactional justice refers to the quality of interpersonal treatment. Hypotheses regarding the influence of distributional, procedural, and interactional justice on knowledge sharing processes are presented. These hypotheses will be tested based on the survey. The survey instrument will be developed based on the adaptation of previously validated scales in addition to new items where no existing measures are found. The new items will be subject to the review of an expert panel comprised of the IS graduate faculty. After incorporating suggestions of the panel, the instrument will be piloted on a sample of the investigated population. The proposed sample will consist of IT professionals working on software development project teams at several Fortune 500 companies representing various industries. The results of the pilot study and the feedback received at the consortium will help refine and modify the instrument before the administration of the final survey

Enabling Attributes for Team-Based Knowledge Sharing: A Preliminary Empirical Test

This study proposes and empirically tests a conceptual model of knowledge sharing in a team-based environment. Relationships among people in organizations play a significant role in the transfer of knowledge. Using social psychology as our theoretical frame of reference, we propose that empathy and helping behaviors lead to enhanced knowledge sharing. A written survey was developed and piloted to test these two enabling conditions. Our data show that both result in higher levels of transacting behaviors in which knowledge is shared

The Business Value of Knowledge Management

Knowledge has been recognized as a critical competitive asset and research about knowledge management (KM) has received increasing attention. However, knowledge has also been viewed not only as an asset, but as a process that includes acquiring, organizing, and communicating the knowledge of organizational members. Additionally, organizational culture has been shown to influence the behaviors central to knowledge creation and transfer, and therefore it is proposed that these two contextual factors will have a positive relationship to business value. Using a survey of IT executives, this study empirically tests these relationships and shows a significant relationship exists between KM process implementation and business value as well as between organizational culture and business value. Practical and research implications are discussed

Propensity for knowledge sharing: An organizational justice perspective.

Converting individual knowledge into organizational knowledge can be difficult because individuals refuse to share knowledge for a number of different reasons. Creating an atmosphere of fairness plays an important role in the creation of a knowledge-sharing climate. This dissertation proposes that perceptions of organizational justice are crucial building blocks of that environment, leading to knowledge sharing. Data was collected using a field survey of IT managers representing a broad spectrum of the population in terms of organizational size and industry classification. The survey instrument was developed based on the adaptation of previously validated scales in addition to new items where no existing measures were found. Hypotheses regarding the influence of distributional, procedural, and interactional justice on knowledge sharing processes were tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Based on the theory of reasoned action, which states that attitudes and subjective norms are the major determinants of a person's intention, the hypotheses examining the relationship between attitude toward knowledge sharing, subjective norm and the intention to share knowledge were supported. However, results did not support the hypothesis exploring the relationship between the organizational climate and the intention to share knowledge. The results show that all three types of justice constructs are statistically significant antecedents of organizational climate and interactional justice is an antecedent of an attitude toward knowledge sharing. The study attempts to merge streams of research from sociology and organizational behavior by investigating organizational justice and knowledge management. It contributes to theory by the development of the survey instrument, comprised of seven constructs that were developed by incorporating multiple theories to address various aspects of knowledge sharing and provide application to practice and research. It is relevant to IT managers who need to know how to design information systems that are most effective in distributing knowledge throughout organizations