The influence of team members’ motivation and leaders’ behaviour on scientific knowledge sharing in universities
| Author | José Luis Ballesteros-Rodríguez,Natalia García-Carbonell,Fernando Martín-Alcázar,Gonzalo Sánchez-Gardey,Petra De Saá-Pérez |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852320921220 |
| Published date | 01 June 2022 |
| Date | 01 June 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The influence of team
members’ motivation
and leaders’ behaviour on
scientific knowledge
sharing in universities
Jos
e Luis Ballesteros-Rodr
ıguez
University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Petra De Saa
´-P
erez
University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Natalia Garc
ıa-Carbonell
University of Ca
´diz, Spain
Fernando Mart
ın-Alca
´zar
University of Ca
´diz, Spain
Gonzalo Sa
´nchez-Gardey
University of Ca
´diz, Spain
Abstract
This article aims to analyse the influence of team members’ motivation and leaders’
behaviour on knowledge sharing among the academics of a research project team. To
that end, a study of 678 academic researchers belonging to project teams linked to
several Spanish universities was conducted. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to
analyse the data, and the results reveal that leaders with a knowledge-oriented style
have a positive influence on the knowledge shared among the members of their
research team. Nevertheless, and contrary to expectations, the results also show
Corresponding author:
Jos
e Luis Ballesteros-Rodr
ıguez, Departamento Econom
ıa y Direcci
on de Empresas, Universidad de Las
Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain.
Email: joseluis.ballesteros@ulpgc.es
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
!The Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0020852320921220
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
2022, Vol. 88(2) 320–336
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
that academics’ extrinsic motivation has a negative effect on knowledge sharing, while
intrinsic motivation has no effect. The findings are similar when considering the scien-
tific field. This article makes an important contribution to the knowledge management
literature in the particular context of academic research. It reveals the importance of a
knowledge-oriented leadership style as a key determinant of knowledge sharing within
research teams.
Keywords
human resources management, knowledge sharing, leadership, motivation, research
teams
Introduction
Knowledge sharing becomes an essential issue in the mission of universities as it is
expected that academics share their knowledge with other colleagues and students
in order to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in society (Hernaus et al.,
2019). Therefore, ‘providing information and know-how with the purpose of help-
ing others and collaborating with others to solve problems, develop new ideas or
implement policies and processes’ (Wang and Noe, 2010: 117) is crucial in today’s
university, where collaboration and networking are fundamental for the inter-
change of ideas and information (Kyvik, 2013).
The transition that has taken place in universities, from individual research
towards team research, has not only highlighted collaboration among researchers,
but also changed the way in which knowledge should be managed. Given this new
academic context, knowledge management cannot be seen as a one-time activity or
limited to the use of technological tools, but should be institutionalized as a con-
tinuous process in order to achieve the universities’ goals. In this sense, participa-
tion in research teams can motivate academics to learn, articulate and share
knowledge with other team members in order to create new knowledge (Nonaka
and Takeuchi, 1995; Pezzoni et al., 2012). Research teams are an ideal structure for
knowledge sharing because they can be considered as the Ba postulated by Nonaka
and Toyama (2005), where knowledge is created, exchanged and used, and team
members can easily access the knowledge of others and expand their cognitive
abilities (Carmeli et al., 2013; Wang and Noe, 2010). Collaboration between
researchers is increasingly necessary to achieve more publications, as well as to
access external financing (Kyvik, 2013). However, university teachers have a long
tradition of working in solitude and their involvement in collaborative learning
processes depends mainly on how team leaders encourage and facilitate such activ-
ities (Koeslag-Kreunen et al., 2018). Moreover, the complexity of scientific prob-
lems, as well as the diversity of people, has changed the way in which university
research is organized and managed (Boardman and Ponomariov, 2014). In this
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Ballesteros-Rodr
ıguez et al.
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