A study on the knowledge sharing behaviour of information management instructors at technological universities in Taiwan

This study was aimed at exploring the behaviour of instructors from information management departments with regard to knowledge sharing at technological universities. The influence of self-motivation and incentive mechanism on instructors' individual knowledge sharing and the obstacles encountered while knowledge sharing are investigated in this study. A literature analysis and questionnaire survey were conducted, and a self-constructed research tool was also used. A total of 370 questionnaires were sent to instructors at 31 vocational and technological colleges and universities in seven counties in southern Taiwan. A total of 175 valid responses were returned, yielding a 47.29% return rate. Frequency distribution, percentage, one-sample t-test, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson product-moment correlation and path analysis were used to analyse the collected data. The results show that instructors may encounter some barriers when sharing knowledge with others. In addition, the four aspects of knowledge sharing between instructors were correlated with their demographic information including gender, seniority of teaching, marital status, educational background, type of institute, institute location, administrative duties and age.