Negotiate, reciprocate, or cooperate? The impact of exchange modes on inter-employee knowledge sharing

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of exchange modes – negotiated, reciprocal, generalized, and productive – on inter-employee knowledge sharing.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the affect theory of social exchange, a theoretical model was developed and empirically tested using a survey of 691 employees from 15 North American credit unions.

Findings

The negotiated mode of knowledge exchange, i.e. when a knowledge contributor explicitly establishes reciprocation conditions with a recipient, develops negative knowledge sharing attitude. The reciprocal mode, i.e. when a knowledge donor assumes that a receiver will reciprocate, has no effect on knowledge sharing attitude. The generalized exchange form, i.e. when a knowledge contributor believes that other organizational members may reciprocate, is weakly related to knowledge sharing attitude. The productive exchange mode, i.e. when a knowledge provider assumes he or she is a responsible citizen within a cooperative enterprise, strongly facilitates the development of knowledge sharing attitude, which, in turn, leads to knowledge sharing intentions.

Practical implications

To facilitate inter-employee knowledge sharing, managers should focus on the development of positive knowledge sharing culture when all employees believe they contribute to a common good instead of expecting reciprocal benefits.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to apply the affect theory of social exchange to study knowledge sharing.

Citation

Serenko, A. and Bontis, N. (2016), "Negotiate, reciprocate, or cooperate? The impact of exchange modes on inter-employee knowledge sharing", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 687-712. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-10-2015-0394