Knowledge Sharing Success for Sustaining Organizational Competitive Advantage

The knowledge-based view of organisational behaviour emphasizes the importance of knowledge for organizations to retain their competitive advantage. Thus, the success of knowledge sharing is vital because, if successful, it results in shared intellectual capital. Knowledge sharing success, to a great extent, lies in the employees' capability to share knowledge. It is important that this knowledge sharing capability is translated into success through appropriate HRM practices. Knowledge sharing capability is therefore an important factor to consider when designing human resource management (HRM) practices that help to facilitate successful knowledge sharing behaviours among employees. 270 knowledge workers of knowledge-based organisations were surveyed about their perceptions of knowledge sharing capability, and knowledge sharing success. Our study confirms that knowledge sharing capability is important for knowledge sharing success, suggesting its significant role in the design of knowledge-driven HRM practices. This has important implications for HRM delivery in Malaysian and global knowledge based organisations, as the lack of employee's sharing capability on the success of knowledge sharing may lead to an inability of the organization to remain competitive. Implications for HRM practices and future research directions are discussed in detail. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.