Sources of knowledge acquisition and patterns of knowledge-sharing behaviors - An empirical study of Taiwanese high-tech firms

The new knowledge acquisition and sharing stage represents the start of the organization's overall knowledge creation process. It is especially important for contributing to the critical foundation of organizational knowledge creation. This study explores the relationship between employees' knowledge acquisition sources and the patterns of knowledge-sharing behaviors. We use structural equation modeling to test a sample of R&D professionals from high-tech companies in Taiwan. Data analysis suggests that most employees prefer to acquire knowledge from, and share knowledge with, their team members. This implies that greater familiarity between team members and strengthened cooperative relationships foster productivity. Furthermore, employees should be encouraged to participate in professional communities in order to acquire new knowledge. Knowledge acquired via these channels will facilitate the sharing of R&D knowledge within the organization.

[1]  N. Lin,et al.  Social structure and network analysis , 1985 .

[2]  N. Malhotra,et al.  Marketing Research: An Applied Approach , 2000 .

[3]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Knowledge Creating Company , 2008 .

[4]  Morten T. Hansen,et al.  The Search-Transfer Problem: The Role of Weak Ties in Sharing Knowledge across Organization Subunits , 1999 .

[5]  Robert W. Zmud,et al.  Behavioral Intention Formation in Knowledge Sharing: Examining the Roles of Extrinsic Motivators, Social-Psychological Factors, and Organizational Climate , 2005, MIS Q..

[6]  P. Senge.  The fifth discipline : the art and practice of the learning organization/ Peter M. Senge , 1991 .

[7]  M. McLure Wasko,et al.  "It is what one does": why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[8]  J. H. Dyer,et al.  Creating and managing a high‐performance knowledge‐sharing network: the Toyota case , 2000 .

[9]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[10]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Concept of “Ba”: Building a Foundation for Knowledge Creation , 1998 .

[11]  R. Grant,et al.  Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration , 2022 .

[12]  Gabriel Szulanski.  The Process of Knowledge Transfer: A Diachronic Analysis of Stickiness , 2000 .

[13]  Marc H. Anderson,et al.  Sources of Managers' Knowledge of Organizational Capabilities , 2000 .

[14]  Harri Laihonen,et al.  A Complexity Theory Approach to Knowledge Management - Towards a Better Understanding of Communication and Knowledge Flows in Software Development , 2005, ECKM.

[15]  J. Hulland,et al.  Managing An Organizational Learning System By Aligning Stocks and Flows , 2002 .

[16]  Allan Bird,et al.  Careers as repositories of knowledge: a new perspective on boundaryless careers , 1994 .

[17]  Alexander Laszlo,et al.  Evolving knowledge for development: the role of knowledge management in a changing world , 2002, J. Knowl. Manag..

[18]  B. Kogut,et al.  Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology , 1992 .

[19]  Chun Wei Choo,et al.  Innovation and knowledge creation: How are these concepts related? , 2006, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[20]  I-Chieh Hsu,et al.  Enhancing employee tendencies to share knowledge - Case studies of nine companies in Taiwan , 2006, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[21]  Marc Sacks,et al.  On-the-Job Learning in the Software Industry: Corporate Culture and the Acquisition of Knowledge , 1994 .

[22]  Paul Duguid,et al.  Structure and Spontaneity: Knowledge and Organization , 2001 .

[23]  Wenpin Tsai.  Social Structure of Coopetition Within a Multiunit Organization: Coordination, Competition, and Intraorganizational Knowledge Sharing , 2002 .

[24]  Thomas G. Reio,et al.  Field Investigation of the Relationship among Adult Curiosity, Workplace Learning, and Job Performance. [and] Invited Reaction: Relationship among Adult Curiosity, Workplace Learning, and Job Performance. , 2000 .

[25]  H. Tsoukas,et al.  What is Organizational Knowledge , 2001 .

[26]  B. Uzzi,et al.  Social Structure and Competition in Interfirm Networks: The Paradox of Embeddedness , 1997 .

[27]  Young-Gul Kim,et al.  Breaking the Myths of Rewards: An Exploratory Study of Attitudes about Knowledge Sharing , 2002, Inf. Resour. Manag. J..

[28]  Angel Cabrera,et al.  Fostering knowledge sharing through people management practices , 2005 .

[29]  R. Burt.  Structural Holes and Good Ideas1 , 2004, American Journal of Sociology.

[30]  Angel Cabrera,et al.  Determinants of individual engagement in knowledge sharing , 2006 .

[31]  J. Barney.  Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[32]  Mark S. Granovetter.  T H E S T R E N G T H O F WEAK TIES: A NETWORK THEORY REVISITED , 1983 .

[33]  Jie Yan,et al.  Sources of Knowledge Acquisition for Chinese Software Engineers , 2006 .

[34]  Koenraad Debackere,et al.  Knowledge Sharing Mechanisms in Industrial Research , 2006 .