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Social loafing in knowledge contribution (namely, knowledge contribution loafing [KCL]) usually happens in group context, especially in the mobile collaboration tasks. KCL shows dynamic features over time. However, most previous studies are based on static assumption, that is, KCL will not change over time. This paper aims to reveal the dynamics of KCL in mobile collaboration and analyze how network centrality influences KCL states considering the current loafing state.

This study is based on empirical study design. Real mobile collaboration behavioral data related to knowledge contribution were collected to investigate the dynamic relationship between network centrality and KCL. In total, 4,127 chat contents were collected through Slack (a mobile collaboration APP). The text data were first analyzed using the text analysis method and then analyzed by a machine learning method called hidden Markov model.

First, the results reveal the inner structure of KCL, showing that it has three states (low, medium and high). Second, it is found that network centrality positively influences individuals involved in medium and high loafing state, while it has a negative influence on individuals with low loafing state.

The limitations are related to the single machine learning method and no subdivision of social network. First, this paper only uses one kind of text classification model (TF-IDF) to divide chat contents, which may not be superior to other classification models. This paper considers the eigenvector centrality, and not further divides the social network into advice network and expressive network.

This study helps companies infer tendency of different KCL and dynamically re-organize a mobile collaborative team for better knowledge contribution.

First, previous studies based on static assumptions regarding KCL as static and the relationship between loafing reducing mechanisms and team members KCL does not change over time. This study relaxes static assumptions and allows KCL to change during the process of collaboration. Second, this study allows the impact of network centrality to be different when members are in different KCL states.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of reward type on knowledge contribution behavior. Individual knowledge contribution, which determines the effectiveness of information systems, benefits the organization at the cost of individual advantage as knowledge is usually considered highly private or even a source of individual prestige. Therefore, organizations provide rewards to compensate for their contributors’ knowledge loss. Surprisingly, some scholars report a positive relationship between reward and knowledge contribution, while others find this relationship to be insignificant or even negative. Based on regulatory focus theory, this study proposes and tests that such inconsistencies result from disparity between reward type and knowledge contribution measures.

A between-group laboratory experiment with 144 undergraduate student is designed and hierarchical regression is applied to test the hypotheses.

An incremental reward (additional reward for attaining outstanding achievements) aroused individual promotion focus, leading to an increase in self-perceived knowledge contribution (self-reported) and knowledge contribution quantity (experiment observers rated), but a decrease in knowledge contribution quality (peer rated). However, a decremental reward (deducted for errors) primed individual prevention focus, leading to an increase in self-perceived knowledge contribution (self-reported) and knowledge contribution quality (peer rated), but a decrease in knowledge contribution quantity (experiment observers rated).

The findings help explain why previous empirical results on the reward-knowledge contribution relationship were inconsistent and add to extant literature by introducing a new theoretical perspective for understanding motivation in knowledge management research.

In light of the recent increase in the scholarly attention given to meaningful engagement with gamified information systems (IS), this research explores the definition and measurement of meaningful engagement as well as its role in predicting employees’ knowledge contributions via gamified knowledge management systems (KMSs).

The authors conducted two empirical studies. Study 1 develops a measure of meaningful engagement and evaluates its validity and reliability. Drawing on the literature on user engagement and work gamification theory, Study 2 places meaningful engagement in a nomological network and assesses the construct’s utility for predicting the quantity and quality of knowledge contributions via a gamified KMS.

The results show that meaningful engagement encompasses five specific dimensions: intense involvement, sense of meaning, self-discovery, pursuit of excellence, and personal expressiveness. The results also indicate that fostering meaningful engagement, which goes beyond hedonic and instrumental engagement, is essential to enhance the quality and quantity of knowledge contribution.

This research contributes to the literature on gamification by drawing scholarly attention to meaningful engagement as a parsimonious yet powerful construct that complements the notions of hedonic and instrumental engagement with KMSs. Although previous studies have highlighted the significance of meaningful engagement with gamified IS, little effort has been made to develop a scale to measure meaningful engagement. The scale the authors have developed will help researchers precisely measure users’ meaningful engagement and systematically examine its role in gamified systems compared to that of other forms of engagement. The study also has practical implications, as the results can inform future design strategies to enable the successful implementation of gamified KMSs that facilitate knowledge contribution in the workplace.

The development of new constructs is the starting point for theoretical development. This research responds to the call to conceptualize meaningful engagement with gamified IS.

This paper aims to present a model that explains how knowledge contributions of international joint venture (“IJV”) partners can be balanced or imbalanced, which affects each partners’ trust needs, with implications for future partner relationships.

Illustrative examples aid in explaining propositions associated with the knowledge/trust needs balance model. In addition, consideration is given to the trust-building complication of liability of foreignness and the implications balance or imbalance.

In total, 12 illustrative cases are evaluated to determine whether the knowledge contributions of the IJV partners are balanced. Knowledge intensity associated with the venture is assessed to determine the value of the foreign firm partner’s knowledge contribution. Cultural distance between the relevant countries provides a measure of the host country partner’s knowledge contribution. Balance is assessed after factoring in mitigating partner experience. The cases provide examples of four different balance/imbalance situations.

A critical aspect of a successful IJV is knowledge sharing and trust is required for the freest flow of information. It is important for firms entering into IJVs to more fully understand the relationship between the knowledge contributions of IJV partners and trust. When knowledge contributions are more evenly balanced, the relationship between the partners will be stronger.

The paper distinguishes between balance and stability/instability, expands the literature on knowledge intensity and contributes the new concept of trust needs. Balance at the start of an IJV has implications for the future relationship of the partners.

In the hybrid knowledge-sharing platform where paid and nonpaid (“free”) knowledge activities coexist, users’ free knowledge contribution may be influenced by financial factors. From the perspective of opportunity cost, this study investigates the direct effect of how the amount of monetary income from users’ contribution to paid knowledge activities influences their free knowledge contribution behavior in the future. Further, this study aims to verify the interaction effect of financial and nonfinancial factors (i.e. the experience of free knowledge contribution and social recognition) on free knowledge contribution.

Objective data was collected from a hybrid knowledge-sharing platform in China and then analyzed by using zero-inflated negative binomial regression model.

Results show that the amount of monetary income that knowledge suppliers gain from paid knowledge contribution negatively influences their free knowledge contribution. Experience of free knowledge contribution strengthens the negatively main effect, while social recognition has the weakening moderating role.

Although some studies have explored and verified the positive spillover effect of financial incentives on free knowledge contribution, the quantity dimension is ignored. This study examines the hindering influence of the quantity of monetary income from the perspective of opportunity cost. By taking the characteristic of knowledge suppliers and platforms as moderators, this study deepens the understanding of the influence of monetary income on free knowledge contribution in the hybrid knowledge-sharing platform.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of social media affordances, specifically social engagement and social endorsement, on knowledge contribution in online Q&A communities. Building on self-determination theory, this research seeks to tackle the issue of under-provision of knowledge in these communities.

The study employs a sample collected from a popular social Q&A community in China and uses linear panel data models along with multiple robustness checks to test the research model.

The findings reveal that both social engagement and social endorsement have a positive effect on users' knowledge contribution to the online Q&A community. However, the impact of social engagement is mitigated by social endorsement.

This paper makes a valuable contribution to the field by filling the research gap on the role of social engagement behaviors and their interaction with social endorsement in online Q&A communities. The results provide insights into how social media affordances can be leveraged to enhance knowledge contribution in these communities.

Understanding health experts' online free knowledge contribution behavior is vital for promoting health knowledge and improving health literacy. This study focuses on the spillover effects of different monetary incentive levels on health experts' free knowledge contribution behavior.

In 2016, Zhihu Live and Zhi Hu were launched as two types of paid knowledge products on Zhihu.com, a hybrid knowledge exchange platform. Focusing on the policy impact of launching Zhihu Live and Zhi Hu, this study uses the difference-in-differences model to analyze the heterogeneous spillover effects of high-yield and low-yield monetary incentives on health experts' free knowledge contribution behavior.

In the short term, the high-yield monetary incentive has positive spillover effects on the quantity and quality of free knowledge contribution while the low-yield monetary incentive generates opposite effects. In the long term, the effects of the high-yield monetary incentive remain significantly positive. The effect of the low-yield monetary incentive on the quantity of free knowledge contribution remains significantly negative, but its effect on the quality of free knowledge contribution is not significant.

This study combines theories of reciprocity and resource limitation to study the spillover effects of different monetary incentive levels on health experts' online behavior. The short-term and long-term effects of different monetary incentive levels on health experts' online behavior are also explored.

This paper aims to investigate how to promote two types of knowledge contribution tasks. The authors focus on the role of supervisor and coworker support on motivation, and their effects on two different contribution tasks. Motivating employees to contribute knowledge is quite challenging. While previous studies have tried to understand how to promote knowledge contribution, few have differentiated between knowledge contribution tasks.

Information technology support was chosen as the context of this study, and data were collected from system administrators within a Fortune 500 company via a web-based survey.

Results show the differential effects of two forms of motivation on different contribution tasks, and supervisor support is positively associated with intrinsic motivation. Specifically, while intrinsic motivation is positively associated with challenging knowledge contribution, external motivation is positively related to mundane knowledge contribution and negatively related to challenging knowledge contribution.

This study contributes to the current literature by providing a deeper theoretical understanding of knowledge contribution tasks, and contributes to practice by offering suggestions on how to better motivate employees within organizations and promote different knowledge contribution tasks.

This research investigates the detailed mechanisms of how gamification affordances influence intrinsic and internalized extrinsic motivation and ultimately improve the quality and quantity of knowledge contribution.

Survey responses from 154 users of Stack Overflow in Portuguese were analyzed by the partial least squares–structural equation modeling approach to validate the research model.

Challenge and goal setting influence individuals to reach the flow state, which increases the quantity of knowledge contribution. Rewards enhance the quality of knowledge contribution through perceived self-worth. Social comparison increases perceived reputation, but its impact does not ultimately lead to knowledge contribution.

The current study differentiated types of motivation and dimensions of knowledge contribution when exploring the effects of gamification affordances. This perspective was proven helpful to understand the various gamification affordances' influence on knowledge contribution.

The purpose of this paper is to find a way to encourage community members to actively create content and contribute knowledge through the study of the relationship between virtual community awareness, commitment and knowledge contribution, so as to make virtual community revitalize and provide a better platform for enterprises to carry out network marketing.

This study establishes a theoretical model that member knowledge contribution’s prepositive impact in virtual community. SOVC is an independent variable, commitment is a mediating variable and knowledge contribution is a dependent variable. Through 139 valid questionnaires from MI community, relationships among sense of virtual community (SOVC), commitment and knowledge contribution are deeply discussed.

Empirical results show that, as three dimensions of SOVC, membership, influence and immersion can all drive commitment and knowledge contribution in different degrees. In the two-dimensional division of commitment, only affective commitment can drive knowledge contribution. Affective commitment and calculative commitment can play a mediating role in the impact of SOVC on knowledge contribution.

Empirical research that the academia has done on important issues such as the impact of SOVC and commitment on knowledge contribution is deficient. Furthermore, those researches which have explored the mediating effect of commitment in the impact of SOVC on knowledge contribution remain merely on theoretical deduction level, and empirical studies based on Chinese background are also rare. In China, MI community is the typical representative of virtual community that runs successfully, and choosing it to conduct research can not only provide representatives on sample but also duplicate on the result popularity. Thus, this paper chooses MI community as the empirical object to explore the relationships among SOVC, commitment and knowledge contribution.