Journal Article

Academics Knowledege Sharing Attitudes, Intentions and Behaviors

معروف، ليلى, خليل، عمر, خليل، نادية

2020

Overview

Purpose: In a higher education institute (HEI), knowledge sharing (KS) practices and the factors that could influence them are imperative to KS enhancement efforts. This study aimed to answer two main questions: (1) To what extent do academics at a major Middle Eastern HEI hold favorable KS attitudes, practice KS, and intend to continue sharing knowledge in the future? (2) What influence do the individual characteristics of gender, age, academic field, academic rank, experience in the HEI, and education level have on academics' KS attitudes, intentions, and behaviors? Study design/methodology/approach: The present study is a single case study where Kuwait University (KU), a comprehensive public Middle Eastern university, is the research setting. A single item (question) was used to measure each of the individual characteristics, and multi-item measures were used to measure KS attitude, intention, and behavior. An English-Arabic data collection survey was developed for data collection from full-time academics at KU. Sample and data: A convenience sample, including 207 complete responses (14.5% of the total population of academics), was collected. The data set was then analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) procedures to answer the two research questions. Results: Academics in the sample were found to hold favorable KS attitudes, intend to share knowledge in the future, and practice significant KS via organizational and personal channels. Furthermore, gender, age, academic field, academic rank, experience, and education level were found to have varying main and interaction effects on KS attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Originality/value: This study provides novel evidence on academics' KS attitudes, intentions, and behaviors along with the effect of individual characteristics on these KS-related factors in a HEI operating in the Middle East. It also reveals that the influence of an individual characteristic is often contingent on its interactions with the other characteristics, and therefore, the main effect of that characteristic should be carefully interpreted. Research limitations/implications: The results of this study must be carefully construed since they are based on a single case study and were derived from a one¬time, cross-sectional data set. Yet, these results add to the developing body of knowledge on global KS practices and the effect of individual characteristics on KS attitude, intention, and behavior. They also provide a proper foundation for policy formulation aiming at fostering KS effectiveness in the investigated HEI and similar HEIs.

• Publisher: جامعة الكويت - مجلس النشر العلمي
• Subject: إدارة المعرفة / مؤسسات التعليم العالي / هيئة التدريس