Technological, institutional, and social-psychological influences on knowledge sharing in work groups

: a multilevel investigation

Abstract

Recognizing knowledge as a valuable asset and as an important factor of competitiveness and sustainability, organizations are purposefully deploying knowledge management initiatives. One of the main objectives of these initiatives is to enhance knowledge sharing. Modern organizations increasingly adopt group settings to cultivate knowledge sharing among group members. The most important initiatives taken in this regard include: 1) the deployment of technologies such as knowledge management systems (KMS), and 2) meta-structuring actions such as championship and redesigning business processes and reward systems to increase the interdependence among individuals within groups. Although both researchers and practitioners recognize the importance of such initiatives, there is very little empirical evidence of their effectiveness. Furthermore, the effects of these initiatives on the social/psychological factors driving knowledge sharing are not well understood. More importantly, there is a lack of a theoretical framework explaining the direct and indirect effects of technological and meta-structuring factors on individual knowledge sharing within groups. Methodologically, prior research examining the drivers of knowledge sharing has focused on one single unit of analysis, either the individual level or the group/organizational level. Such an approach fails to explain the interrelationship between the macro meta-structuring actions and the individual‘s micro socio-psychologies. To address these theoretical and methodological gaps, this thesis uses the structuration theory as framework and follows a multilevel approach to examine how KMS and meta-structuring initiatives affect group member knowledge sharing behavior. A research model explaining the direct and indirect effects of KMS appropriation and meta-structuring factors, i.e., championship and interdep endence, is developed, theoretically justified and empirically tested. The KMS appropriation factors are based on the theory of adaptive structuration and technology-in-practice. The group structures are identified on the basis of the interdependence and leadership research to reflect the institutional aspect of structuration. Individual socio-psychological factors shaping individual motivation and cognition, derived from social identity theory and the literature of climate, are identified as mediators of the effects of group structures. The empirical study consists of a survey administered in China, involving 473 individual members nested in 60 knowledge-intensive work groups from 10 different organizations. The results of a multilevel analysis reveal the distinct roles of technology appropriation, group meta-structuring and individual socio-psychological factors on the group member knowledge sharing. The results highlight the importance of KMS appropriation within groups – the consensus of the KMS use at the group level would be beyond individual attitudes. The study also demonstrates the mediating effects of individual socio-psychologies that link the purposive managerial practices to individual knowledge sharing behavior. Theoretical, methodological and practical contributions are discussed in the thesis. Keywords: Knowledge Sharing, Structuration, Social Identification, Knowledge Management Systems, Appropriation, Multilevel Research, Work Group

Date of Award	15 Jul 2009
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Mohamed KHALIFA (Supervisor)