Knowledge sharing in Chinese construction project teams and its affecting factors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore knowledge sharing in a Chinese context and to examine the impact of some key contextual factors that affect knowledge sharing within project teams in the Chinese construction sector.Design/methodology/approach – Self‐administered questionnaires were used in this study. Data were collected by surveying 222 managerial employees from different project teams in the construction sector in China. Regression analysis was then used to explore the relationship between different factors and the willingness to share knowledge. The potential influence of Chinese traditional cultures on this relationship was also explored.Findings – This paper shows that within the Chinese context, explicit knowledge promotes knowledge sharing while tacit knowledge creates barriers to knowledge sharing in project teams. Moreover, trust is positively related to knowledge sharing but justice, leadership style, and empowerment do not influence whether employees will share knowledge among ...

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