Determinants of knowledge sharing intention in organization: A social capital perspective

Knowledge sharing is an important process in organization knowledge management. However individuals tend to hoard knowledge for knowledge means power, especially in knowledge-based economy. Intention model indicate that intention of a behavior can effectively explain the behavior. The aim of this study is to deepen our understanding of the factors that increase or lessen employees' tendencies to engage in knowledge-sharing behaviors. We develop a theory framework upon both the Theory of Planned Behavior and social capital theory. This model predicts that individuals' behavioral belief, structural dimension of social capital and relational dimension of social capital variables have direct effects on knowledge sharing intention. To test the proposed model, we conducted a field study and collected data from 539 managers and technologist from knowledge-intensive organizations in Guangdong, China. The results indicated that social capital variables (i.e., trust, norms) and individuals' behavioral beliefs (i.e., sense of self worth, expectation of rewards) were strong predictors of individuals' knowledge sharing intention. But the hypothesis of influence of social networks configuration-depth of relation-has not been supported.