Knowledge content quality, perceived usefulness, KMS use for sharing and retrieval. A flock leadership application
| Date | 12 November 2018 |
| Published date | 12 November 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-08-2017-0054 |
| Pages | 470-490 |
| Author | Khaldoon Jahmani,Samson Oluwaseun Fadiya,A. Mohammed Abubakar,Hamzah Elrehail |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Knowledge management,Knowledge management systems |
Knowledge content quality,
perceived usefulness, KMS use for
sharing and retrieval
A flock leadership application
Khaldoon Jahmani
Department of Management Information Systems, Girne Amerikan Universitesi,
Girne, Cyprus
Samson Oluwaseun Fadiya
Girne Amerikan Universitesi, Girne, Cyprus
A. Mohammed Abubakar
College of Business, Antalya Bilim Universitesi, Antalya, Turkey, and
Hamzah Elrehail
Department of Business Management, American University in the Emirates,
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Purpose –Flock leadership theory explores how different collective learning capacities emerge when
interacting individuals work through challenges. While research has link other leadership styles with
knowledge management systems (KMS), studies examining flock leadership and KMS are largely lacking.
This paper aims to investigate the nexus between flock leadership, knowledge content quality, perceived
usefulnessof KMS, KMS use for sharing and KMS use for retrieval.
Design/methodology/approach –Using survey data (n= 442) from health-care establishments in
Jordan,the authors applystructural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings –The results show the following: flock leadership influences knowledge content quality;
knowledge content quality influencesperceived usefulness of KMS; perceived usefulness of KMS influences
KMS use for sharingand retrieval; and knowledge content quality and perceivedusefulness of KMS mediates
the link betweenflock leadership and KMS use for sharing and retrieval.
Originality/value –Existing research considered KMSthrough a narrow lens, without consideration of
the social context (collective capacities) that surrounds knowledge workers. Thisstudy responds to call for
research concerning the motion that says technical and adaptive capacity are the underlying norm that
configuresflock behaviors. Implications for researchand practice are discussed.
Keywords Knowledge sharing, Flock leadership, Knowledge management, Knowledge retrieval,
Perceived usefulness
Paper type Research paper
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or
not-for-profit sectors.
VJIKMS
48,4
470
Received31 August 2017
Revised17 May 2018
Accepted20 September 2018
VINEJournal of Information and
KnowledgeManagement Systems
Vol.48 No. 4, 2018
pp. 470-490
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5891
DOI 10.1108/VJIKMS-08-2017-0054
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2059-5891.htm
1. Introduction
To build sustainable competence in the workplace, organizations are required to make
knowledge available to the right workers at the right time; to achieve this, organizations
must have a system that documents all experiential knowledge. The process of
documenting, retrievingand usage of knowledge within a corporate organization to achieve
the optimal result is referred to as Knowledge management systems (KMS). In essence,
leadership style has a colossal effect on organizational KMS initiatives for creating,
transferring, storage and application of knowledge; because leadership should encompass
clear communication about the expectation of the employees toward organization’s
objectives (Ribiereand Sitar, 2003).
According to medieval histories, King Arthur is a legendary British leader who fought,
and defended Britain against the Saxon invaders in the late fifth and early sixth centuries
AD. He was known to sit in a round/oval table with his knight as a sign of equality. Sitting
in a round/oval table enhancedtheir war plans and strategies; this is because all the knights,
no matter their rank are free to speak-up. Flock refers to a large group of things, animals,
people and/or employees. Flock leadership is a structure for comprehending and inspiring
evolving collective behavior in human organizing context. Connection between individuals
enact convergent and divergent ways of responding, perceiving reality, and collective
capacities (Will, 2016). Thus, collective movement patterns emerge from localized
interactions between neighboring individuals, not from the orchestrated design of a leader
or central authority.
At the individual-level of analysis flock leadership was conceptualize as bi-dimensional:
technical capacity (exploitation) and adaptive capacity (exploration). Technical capacity is
an additive collective learning process that revives the extant ways of perceiving and
responding to reality. Technical flocks reflect exploitative learning that emphasis on
expanding the contemporary competencies, technologies, and standards. In congruence to
exploitative innovation, technical capacity requires efficiency and convergent thinking;
serves to “broaden existing knowledge and skills, improve established designs, expand
existing products, methodsand services, and increase the efficiency of existing methods and
services”(Jansenet al.,2006;Will,2016).
On the other hand, adaptive capacity as a collective learning process replaces the extant
ways of perceiving and responding to reality. Adaptive flock reflects exploratory learning
that subsumes enquiring new process alternatives (Jansen et al., 2006;Will, 2016). Adaptive
flocks are proficient at the process of discovery. Henceforth, collective capabilities of
knowledge workers can be exploredthrough flock leadership, as it represents a novel way of
conceptualizing and modeling interactive dynamics in complex systems (i.e. health-care
organizations), and of linking distinct collective behaviors (i.e. nurses, physicians, patients
and therapist) to specific normcompositions (Will, 2016).
Abstract discussions highlighted that knowledge management tools were crucial in
augmenting task performance (Trindade et al., 2012), and that KMS is emerging as a
powerful source of competitive advantage and plays an important role in managing
organizational knowledge (Kuo and Lee, 2011). Damodaran and Olphert (2000) elaborated
the relationship between KMS, knowledgesharing and retrieving culture. Le and Lei (2018)
study show that leader-disclosure, leader-reliance, among members-disclosure, and among
members-reliance were key determinant for collecting and donating knowledge; this
explains why knowledge intensive team work can influence team knowledge acquisition
and sharing (Chuang, et al.,2013). In the context of this study, KMS use for knowledge
retrieval and sharing. A study by Donate and Pablo (2015) noted even though KMS is
important for innovation and work performance,knowledge-oriented leadership encourages
Knowledge
content quality
471
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