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This paper aims to develop and validate a scale to measure knowledge-sharing motives at work. It is aimed to construct a scale which is explicitly different from knowledge-sharing behavior and to develop a comprehensive and domain-specific scale for this special kind of work motivation.

The constructed scale was tested in two studies. Survey data (n = 355) were used to perform an exploratory factor analysis. Results were further tested on survey data from the core public sector (n = 314) and the health sector (n = 315). A confirmatory factor analysis confirms the results in both samples. The developed scale was further validated internally and externally.

The analysis underlines that knowledge-sharing motivation and knowledge-sharing behavior are different constructs. The data suggest three dimensions of knowledge-sharing motives: appreciation, growth and altruism and tangible rewards. While it is suggested that the developed scale works in the public as well as the private sector context, it is found that knowledge sharing of public employees is merely driven by “growth and altruism” and “appreciation of coworkers.”

No comprehensive and reproducible scale to measure knowledge-sharing motives, which is different from behavior and domain-specific as well, was available in the literature. Therefore, such a scale has been constructed in this study. Furthermore, this study uses samples from different organizational sectors to deepen the understanding of knowledge sharing in context.

This paper aims to determine whether prosocial motivation acts as a mediator between the individual motivation types of self-determination theory and knowledge sharing.

A partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) based on data collection (N = 303) ) was calculated, using “Smart PLS 3” software.

In respect of the influence of individual motivation types on knowledge sharing, it was found that prosocial motivation provides indirect mediation for external motivation and complementary mediation for introjected motivation, whereas it has no mediation effect on intrinsic and identified motivation.

Future research should consider the use of prosocial motivation as a mediator to reveal indirect effects that, otherwise, are at risk of remaining hidden.

To foster knowledge sharing within organizations, measures should be taken to increase external, introjected and prosocial motivation, as it was found that these types of motivation have a significant positive impact on knowledge sharing.

The current unanswered question – whether or not prosocial motivation acts as a mediator between the motivation types of self-determination theory and knowledge sharing – is examined, thereby providing insights into the hitherto largely unexplored role of prosocial motivation in knowledge-sharing models.

The purpose of this research is to better understand the human aspects of open innovation in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by exploring how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation influence enjoyment in helping others, knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding and consequently firms' open innovation.

We collected data with a survey among CEOs in 140 SMEs and performed confirmatory factor analysis applying structural equation modeling in IBM SPSS AMOS (v. 26).

Results reveal that intrinsic motivation is positively associated with helping behavior and knowledge sharing and negatively associated with knowledge hiding. We also confirm the positive relationship between extrinsic motivation and knowledge sharing. Moreover, we find that knowledge sharing increases and knowledge hiding decreases the firm-level open innovation. Especially in high-tech industry, knowledge sharing is a vital determinant of open innovation.

Responding to the calls for a deeper understanding of the individual-level factors that determine organization-level open innovation, in this research we focus on the human aspect of open innovation in SMEs. Open innovation is a widely recognized and implemented concept among large corporations and facilitates better understanding of new technological and market developments both within and outside of organizations. However, understanding of the microfoundations of open innovation in smaller firms is still limited, but this steam of research is growing rapidly.

This paper aims to add to the understanding of knowledge sharing in online communities through an investigation of the relationship between individual participant’s motivations and management in open source software (OSS) communities. Drawing on a review of literature concerning knowledge sharing in organisations, the factors that motivate participants to share their knowledge in OSS communities, and the management of such communities, it is hypothesised that the quality of management influences the extent to which the motivations of members actually result in knowledge sharing.

To test the hypothesis, quantitative data were collected through an online questionnaire survey of OSS web developers with the aim of gathering respondents’ opinions concerning knowledge sharing, motivations to share knowledge and satisfaction with the management of OSS projects. Factor analysis, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to explore the survey data.

The analysis of the data reveals that the individual participant’s satisfaction with the management of an OSS project is an important factor influencing the extent of their personal contribution to a community.

Little attention has been devoted to understanding the impact of management in OSS communities. Focused on OSS developers specialising in web development, the findings of this paper offer an important original contribution to understanding the connections between individual members’ satisfaction with management and their motivations to contribute to an OSS project. The findings reveal that motivations to share knowledge in online communities are influenced by the quality of management. Consequently, the findings suggest that appropriate management can enhance knowledge sharing in OSS projects and online communities, and organisations more generally.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between employee motivation and intention for knowledge sharing behaviour. Inter-generational differences (generations X and Y only) were assumed to moderate in the relationship between intention and knowledge sharing behaviour of non-academic staff of higher learning institutions. This research also aims to test the role of behavioural intention as mediation between motivation and knowledge sharing behaviour.

This research tested a conceptual framework derived from widely accepted theories. This study was carried out on non-academic staff working at the different higher learning institutions in Malaysia. Respondents from private and public higher learning institutions in Peninsular Malaysia were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. This research also applied confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to examine the proposed hypothesis of this inquiry.

Results indicate that non-academic staff knowledge sharing behaviour was significantly mediated by intention between motivation and knowledge sharing behaviour relationship. More specifically, inter-generational differences (generations X and Y) play a significant moderation role between intention and knowledge sharing behaviour.

The generalizability of this cross-sectional study can be strengthened by adopting a longitudinal approach in the next phase of the study.

The results of this research highlighted that the higher learning institutions need to institutionalize knowledge sharing behaviour among their non-academic staff (executive and non-executive) by facilitating knowledge sharing-oriented work environment.

This paper has attempted to furnish a comprehensive understanding of knowledge sharing behaviour among the non-academic staff of higher learning institutions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between behavior-oriented knowledge sharing and innovative behavior and the moderating effects of collectivism on the aforementioned relationship. It also assesses the impact of epistemic motivation and pro-social motivation on behavior-oriented knowledge sharing.

Focusing on Chinese context, the study conducts a questionnaire survey to test the research model. Linear regression analysis is used to examine the main effects of the independent variables, and the multi-level linear regression model is used to evaluate the moderating effects of the controlled variables.

The findings reveal that epistemic motivation stimulates individual-oriented knowledge sharing and pro-social motivation stimulates organization-oriented knowledge sharing. Organization-oriented knowledge sharing impacts more than individual-oriented knowledge sharing on innovative behavior. Moreover, collectivism is shown to positively moderate the relationship between behavior-oriented knowledge sharing and innovative behavior.

The study provides evidence that motivation should be significantly considered when sharing knowledge. Managers should prioritize the promotion of employees’ epistemic and pro-social motivation. The study also suggests that encouraging collectivism should be an important objective, as it moderates the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovative behavior positively.

The study emphasized how individual-oriented and organization-oriented knowledge sharing impacts innovative behavior differently and how collectivism moderates that relationship. It also illustrates how epistemic and pro-social motivation affects behavior-oriented knowledge sharing. The study contributes to a stream of research that links knowledge sharing and innovative behavior.

Several studies have explored the relationships among the multiple dimensions of knowledge governance mechanisms (KGMs) and knowledge sharing. However, knowledge governance issues and knowledge transfer processes remain under-researched. The empirical results of the relationships among KGMs, motivations to share knowledge and knowledge sharing behavior remain inconsistent. This paper aims at re-examining the mediating effects of knowledge sharing motivations and knowledge sharing opportunities on the relationship between KGMs and knowledge sharing behavior of repatriates at multinational corporations.

Survey data were collected from 140 repatriates from 66 multinational companies that operated in five different geographic locations. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the research model.

The empirical results indicate the mediating roles of knowledge sharing motivation and opportunity in the relationship between KGMs and the knowledge sharing behavior of repatriates. Two sets of KGMs – formal and informal mechanisms – have significant influence on knowledge sharing motivation and opportunity.

This investigation focuses on the functions of KGMs that facilitate the knowledge sharing behavior of repatriates. The contextual effects of task-level, firm-level, and external environmental characteristics on knowledge sharing may need further studies to substantiate.

This study argues that even when employees are encouraged and rewarded by extrinsic and intrinsic motivations to share knowledge, effective knowledge sharing would not necessarily be guaranteed. This paper offers a conceptual framework where knowledge sharing motivations and opportunities simultaneously play the mediating roles in a successful knowledge sharing. The framework associates KGMs with knowledge sharing behavior and echoes the growing acknowledgement of the need for additional research on micro-foundations of knowledge sharing to complement the macro research.

Knowledge about competitive environments is a determinant factor for the success of a firm, as it may allow it to anticipate threats and opportunities in its market. This study aims to explore variables that enable or prevent an employee’s intrinsic motivation to share knowledge. It studies the collection and sharing of information that may be a signal of future competitive moves in competitive intelligence (CI) processes.

Canonical correlation was used by utilizing survey data from a company. The study was based on the self-determination theory relating intrinsic motivation to behavior.

The study confirms the importance of different aspects motivating knowledge sharing behavior, such as information system’s support, top management support and information feed-back.

The study is limited to one company, respecting the limitations of a case study, but external validation was impossible to test. Findings showed a strong correlation of some variables with intrinsic motivation and are coherent with other studies in the knowledge sharing field.

Firms introducing knowledge sharing processes should pay attention to the importance of information system support. The relationship with people involved is also important, as in supporting their collaborations and giving feed-back to contributions. Sustaining intrinsic motivation seems a fundamental aspect to the process’ success.

The study indicates the relation of different variables of motivation with motivation. It explores knowledge sharing in a CI process, an important process in firms nowadays. It shows important aspects that ensure continuity of knowledge sharing as informational feed-back and top management support. Canonical correlation was also used, a technique not frequently explored and useful to study correlation among groups of variables.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on knowledge sharing and the moderating effects of individual demographics, organizational context and cultural context in that relationship.

This study conducted a meta-analysis of 44 studies involving 14,023 participants to examine the direct and moderating effects of motivation on knowledge sharing.

Results revealed that both extrinsic and intrinsic motivational factors were associated with higher levels of knowledge sharing, while the effect was stronger for intrinsic motivation. Moreover, results revealed that substantial variance was explained by moderating variables. Further investigation revealed that individual characteristics (age, gender), organizational context (organizational setting vs. open system, IT infrastructure) and cultural context (collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, performance orientation, power distance) moderated the motivation and knowledge sharing relationship.

As a meta-analysis, this study is confined to variables that have been frequently analyzed in prior research. Future research could further increase our understanding of different types of knowledge sharing and various boundary conditions.

Organizations should provide customized incentive systems to specific target groups to align motivation and knowledge sharing. Multinational organizations may consider different motivation schemes across countries to better suit cultural differences.

Despite a growing number of studies highlighting the important role of motivation in predicting knowledge sharing, the evidence is mixed. Based on a meta-analysis, this study identified true relationships and identified moderating effects that help explain prior mixed results.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways to encourage members in QQ knowledge-communication groups to persistently share knowledge in terms of contexts and autonomous motivations.

Based on self-determination theory, three important contextual factors of QQ knowledge-communication groups were selected as exogenous variables and three typical autonomous motivations as mediating variables to construct a knowledge-sharing model. Internet questionnaire surveys and data collection were conducted to test proposed hypotheses by means of structural equation modeling with AMOS.

Reciprocity, learning, and altruism have significant positive influence on persistent sharing willingness, and the degree to which each factor influences persistent sharing willingness differs considerably. Autonomy support, perceived usefulness, and relatedness support have no significantly direct influence on persistent sharing willingness, but they indirectly influence the persistent sharing behaviors by the mediating effect of different autonomous motivations.

This study contributes theoretically and practically. First, the results suggest that a particular motivation in different contexts has a different degree of autonomy. In addition, explanations are offered for the phenomenon that suggest that controlled motivations directly affect autonomous motivations. It was found that the contextual factors of competence support and relatedness support also have influence on different autonomous motivations, and hence encourage knowledge-sharing behaviors. Specific suggestions for QQ group managers and information seekers are proposed.