TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge-sharing hostility and governance mechanisms
T2 - An empirical test
AU - Husted, Kenneth
AU - Michailova, Snejina
AU - Minbaeva, Dana B.
AU - Pedersen, Torben
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - Purpose: This paper aims at further developing and empirically examining the concept of knowledge-sharing hostility. It seeks to analyze reasons for hoarding knowledge, reasons for rejecting external knowledge, and attitudes towards mistakes, as well as the influence of these factors on actual knowledge-sharing behavior. The paper aims to examine how two specific knowledge-governance mechanisms - commitment-based and transaction-based mechanisms - affect knowledge sharing Design/methodology/approach: The authors test the hypotheses on a sample of 1,639 respondents in 15 organizations in Denmark. Findings: The authors find that the use of transaction-based mechanisms promotes knowledge-sharing hostility by strengthening individuals' reasons for hoarding and rejecting knowledge, and by negatively affecting individuals' attitudes towards sharing knowledge about mistakes. In contrast, the use of commitment-based mechanisms diminishes knowledge-sharing hostility among individuals. Originality/value: The contribution of the paper is two-fold. First, it responds to the clear need to examine individual characteristics related to withholding knowledge in organizations. Second, by delineating specific organizational governance mechanisms that are critical for dealing with knowledge-sharing hostility, the research responds to the call for research aimed at explaining and detailing problems that lie in the intersection of organization and knowledge processes.
AB - Purpose: This paper aims at further developing and empirically examining the concept of knowledge-sharing hostility. It seeks to analyze reasons for hoarding knowledge, reasons for rejecting external knowledge, and attitudes towards mistakes, as well as the influence of these factors on actual knowledge-sharing behavior. The paper aims to examine how two specific knowledge-governance mechanisms - commitment-based and transaction-based mechanisms - affect knowledge sharing Design/methodology/approach: The authors test the hypotheses on a sample of 1,639 respondents in 15 organizations in Denmark. Findings: The authors find that the use of transaction-based mechanisms promotes knowledge-sharing hostility by strengthening individuals' reasons for hoarding and rejecting knowledge, and by negatively affecting individuals' attitudes towards sharing knowledge about mistakes. In contrast, the use of commitment-based mechanisms diminishes knowledge-sharing hostility among individuals. Originality/value: The contribution of the paper is two-fold. First, it responds to the clear need to examine individual characteristics related to withholding knowledge in organizations. Second, by delineating specific organizational governance mechanisms that are critical for dealing with knowledge-sharing hostility, the research responds to the call for research aimed at explaining and detailing problems that lie in the intersection of organization and knowledge processes.
KW - Denmark
KW - Governance mechanisms
KW - Individual behaviour
KW - Knowledge transfer
KW - Knowledge-sharing behaviour
KW - Knowledge-sharing hostility
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84866152922&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/13673271211262790
DO - 10.1108/13673271211262790
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84866152922
SN - 1367-3270
VL - 16
SP - 754
EP - 773
JO - Journal of Knowledge Management
JF - Journal of Knowledge Management
IS - 5
ER -