The Effects of Rewards on the Motivation of Experts to Transfer their Knowledge

Theorists have taken a keen interest in the factors that boost or diminish employees’ motivation to share knowledge. Of a crucial concern is: what are the effects of rewards on knowledge transfer? Why do rewards sometimes undermine and sometimes enhance employees’ disposition to share their knowledge? The present paper suggests that the passion for knowledge is a predictor of an intrinsically-driven behavior, which is, in its turn, a predictor of a knowledge-sharing behavior. When extrinsic rewards boost self-regulation, a feeling of competence and self-relatedness, they may enhance knowledge sharing because they provide a fostering-ground for curiosity and passion.

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