Impact of personal and organizational factors on knowledge sharing attitude of university teachers in Pakistan
| Published date | 25 March 2020 |
| Pages | 317-336 |
| Date | 25 March 2020 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-05-2019-0121 |
| Author | Javaria Javaid,Saira Soroya,Khalid Mahmood |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Impact of personal and
organizational factors on
knowledge sharing attitude of
university teachers in Pakistan
Javaria Javaid
University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan, and
Saira Soroya and Khalid Mahmood
Department of Information Management, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study is to examine the attitude of facultymembers towards knowledge-
sharing in the University of Education,Lahore. The impact of personal and organizational factors that may
contribute to effective knowledge-sharing among the university’s teachingstaff is also analyzed. The factors
affectingthe willingness of the faculty members to share knowledge are broadly classifiedas “organizational”
and “personal”factors.
Design/methodology/approach –A questionnaire-basedsurvey was conducted on permanent teaching
staff working at differentcampuses of the University of Education all over the province of Punjab, Pakistan.
The survey instrument for this study was adapted from four studies. The questionnaires were distributed
among 246 facultymembers personally.
Findings –The findingsof the study showed that the faculty members were familiar with the importanceof
knowledge-sharingand were also interested in sharingtheir knowledge and expertise with others.The results
showed that organizational factors (trust, reward system and organizational culture) played a vital role in
enhancing the knowledge-sharing attitude of faculty members. The impact of these factors on knowledge-
sharing attitudewas significant.
Originality/value –This is the very first study which explored the personaland organizational factors of
knowledge-sharing in a specific academicinstitution from Pakistan. The findings of the research provided
useful insights to the management of the University of Education particularly and other universities in
general to design strategies for enhancing knowledge-sharing culture in the higher education institution.
These findingsmay also be helpful for other developing countries.
Keywords Pakistan, Faculty members, Knowledge-sharing, Personal factors,
Organizational factors, Universities
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The world has become knowledge-oriented with an increase in the creation and rapid
dissemination of information and knowledge. Knowledge management (KM) is considered
as a vibrant tool for optimizing the efficiency of an organization. KM can be described as a
combination of practices thathave been used by an organization and individuals to analyse,
produce, represent and disperse knowledge(Bello and Oyekunle, 2014). Knowledge-sharing
Javaria Javaid and Saira Hanif Soroya contributed equally to this work.
University
teachers in
Pakistan
317
Received17 May 2019
Revised12 September 2019
4 December2019
4 January2020
Accepted16 January 2020
TheElectronic Library
Vol.38 No. 2, 2020
pp. 317-336
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/EL-05-2019-0121
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0264-0473.htm
(KS) is a very important unit of the KM system. It is a willful practice in which participants
disseminate or exchange their existent knowledge and build further knowledge by using
critical thinking,explanation, clarification and reflection from diverse perspectives.With the
growing concept of information and knowledge societies and knowledge-based economies,
KS is growing in importance in every sector of life. Organizations can maintain their
competitive advantageand be innovative in their products and services by using knowledge
existing inside their organizations(Lee and Yang, 2000). Moreover, KS is a group activity in
which social networks are developed and, thus, formal and informal gatherings can create
opportunities for mutual exchanges and generate social capital (Huysman and De Wit,
2004). KS culture has become a success indicator for organizations. Therefore, researchers
have been interested in investigating the KS behaviours and attitudes of employees in
different settings. They werealso interested in discovering the factors which may affectKS
attitude. Initially, this phenomenonwas investigated mainly among business organizations,
but later, other knowledge-basedsectors, such as educational organizations, also recognized
the importance of investigating this phenomenon with the purpose to apply its results to
improve the existing KS culture.
Knowledge is a basic asset for higher education institutions (HEIs) as in business
organizations. KS has become an important and challenging concept in organizations,
especially in higher learning institutions where knowledge is created, acquired and
distributed. The purpose of higher education is to support effective learning that prepares
students to apply competencies in a sophisticated, ever-changing society creatively and
collaboratively (Kuit and Fell, 2010). To support these shifts in educational practice, the
transformationof the learning environmentin higher education settings is critical (Williams,
2002). Advanced education institutions have transformed into reservoirs of information to
provide knowledge to students. These institutions oversee, manage, mix and share
information and knowledge among the teaching staff (Sohail and Daud, 2009). Teaching
staff and faculty members are the major elements in working together and sharing
knowledge in advanced education institutions (Seonghee and Boryung, 2008). They can be
called knowledge workers.Bello and Oyekunle (2014) posited that in the context of
universities as a centre of knowledge,KS among knowledge holders may help in improving
knowledge status within the universityenvironment. As an employee, a member shares and
transfers their valuable information to others in an organization, and then this knowledge
and information becomes a part of the organizationalknowledge (Jo, 2008). The achievement
of most organizations depends on discovering, attracting and motivating knowledge
workers and these knowledgeworkers are considered the key to success (Cross et al., 2003).
Gupta (2008) emphasized that successful KS efforts incorporate people’s attitudes,
values, beliefs and behaviours. All over the world, various studies have been conducted to
determine the KS attitude of employees. It has been adequately established that an
individual’s personal and organizational factors significantly affect the KS attitude of
employees working in different situations and environments (Bello and Oyekunle, 2014;
Bock and Kim, 2002;Cheng et al.,2009;Killingsworth et al., 2016;Koseogluet al.,2010;Kuo,
2013;Lee and Hong, 2014;Ryu et al.,2003;Seba et al., 2012;Seonghee and Boryung, 2008;
Singh and Sharma, 2011;Sohail and Daud, 2009;Tohidiniaand Mosakhani, 2010). However,
these studies mostly focus on KS practices among business organizations. Understanding
the KS attitude, practices,behaviour and culture is similarly essential for a knowledge-based
organization such as business organizations (Cheng et al., 2009). But only a few studies on
KS attitude of faculty members in HEIs have been carried out (Bello and Oyekunle, 2014;
Cheng et al.,2009;Jolaee et al.,2014;Seonghee and Boryung, 2008;Sohail and Daud, 2009).
EL
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