What Motivates Experts to Share? A Prospective Test of the Model of Knowledge-Sharing Motivation

Minna Stenius, Ari Haukkala, Nelli Hankonen, Niklas Ravaja

Human Resource Management · 2017 · Volume 56 · Issue 6

Abstract

Knowledge sharing is an employee behavior, critical to organizational success in knowledge-intensive work environments. This study set out to empirically test the model of knowledge-sharing motivation designed and presented in this journal by Gagné (2009). The model combines two established behavioral theories, the theory of planned behavior and self-determination theory, and connects various human resource practices to it. This prospective survey study (n= 200) in a large expert organization employed structural equation modeling. The results mainly supported the proposed model, with attitudes, autonomous motivation, and sharing norms predicting knowledge-sharing intentions (R2= .69), which predicted knowledge-sharing behavior ( R2= .42). We also identified potential ways to modify the model to better suit typical knowledge-sharing contexts. Implications for practice, with the emphasis on how our findings can benefit and be used by human resource management, are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords

autonomous motivation, identified regulation, knowledge sharing, self-determination theory, theory of planned behavior

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