Key Factors Influencing Individual Knowledge Capability in KIFs

Authors: Salman Iqbal

Abstract:

Knowledge management (KM) literature has mainly focused on the antecedents of KM. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of specific human resource management (HRM) practices on employee knowledge sharing and its outcome as individual knowledge capability. Based on previous literature, a model is proposed for the study and hypotheses are formulated. The cross-sectional dataset comes from a sample of 19 knowledge intensive firms (KIFs). This study has run an item parceling technique followed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on the latent constructs of the research model. Employees’ collaboration and their interpersonal trust can help to improve their knowledge sharing behaviour and knowledge capability within organisations. This study suggests that in future, by using a larger sample, better statistical insight is possible. The findings of this study are beneficial for scholars, policy makers and practitioners. The empirical results of this study are entirely based on employees’ perceptions and make a significant research contribution, given there is a dearth of empirical research focusing on the subcontinent.

Keywords: Employees’ collaboration, individual knowledge capability, knowledge sharing, monetary rewards, structural equation modelling.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1125409

References:

[1] Nonaka, I., Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
[2] Wiig, K. M. (1997). Knowledge management: an introduction and perspective. Journal of Knowledge Management, 1(1), 6-14.
[3] Baumard, P. (1999). Tacit knowledge in organizations, London: Sage Publications Ltd.
[4] Nahapiet, J., Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. The Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242-266.
[5] Scarbrough, H. (2003). Knowledge management, HRM and the innovation process. International Journal of Manpower, 24(5), 501-516.
[6] Wang, S., Noe, R. (2010). Knowledge sharing: A review and directions for future research. Human Resource Management Review, 20(2), 115-131
[7] Iqbal, S., Toulson, P., Tweed D., (2015). Employees as performers in knowledge intensive firms: role of knowledge sharing, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 36 (7), pp.1072 - 1094
[8] Cabrera, A., Cabrera, E. F. (2002). Knowledge-sharing Dilemmas. Organization Studies, 23(5), 687-710.
[9] Sveiby, K. (1997). The New Organizational Wealth: Managing and Measuring Intangible Assets. San Francisco, CA: Berret-Koehler.
[10] Riege, A. (2005). Three-dozen knowledge-sharing barriers managers must consider. Journal of Knowledge Management, 9(3), 18-35.
[11] Lin., S., Yi-Shih Lo., L. (2015). Mechanisms to motivate knowledge sharing: integrating the reward systems and social network perspectives, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 19 (2), pp.212 - 235
[12] Venkitachalam, K., Bosua, R., (2014). Roles enabling the mobilization of organizational knowledge, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 18 (2), pp.396 - 410
[13] Kuhnert, K. W., Lewis, P. (1987). Transactional and transformational leadership: A constructive developmental analysis. Academy of Management Review, 12, 648–657.
[14] Song, D. (2009). The tacit Knowledge-sharing strategy analysis in the Project Work. International Business Research, 2(1), 83.
[15] Anderson, J. C., Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological bulletin, 103(3), 411.
[16] Bagozzi, R. P., Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), 74-94.
[17] Bandalos, D. L. (2002). The effects of item parcelling on goodness-of-fit and parameter estimate bias in structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(1), 78-102.
[18] Bryne, B. (2010). Structural equation modeling with Amos: Basic concepts,applications and programming (2nd ed.). Ottawa, Canada: Routledge.
[19] Ryu, S., Ho, S. H., Han, I. (2003). Knowledge sharing behavior of physicians in hospitals. Expert Systems with Applications, 25(1), 113-122.
[20] Matzler, K., Renzl, B. (2006). The relationship between interpersonal trust, employee satisfaction, and employee loyalty. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, 17(10), 1261-1271.
[21] Bock, G. W., Kim, Y. G. (2002). Breaking the myths of rewards: An exploratory study of attitudes about knowledge sharing. Information Resources Management Journal, 15(2), 14-21.
[22] Macky, K. (2012). High performance work systems and the instrumental employee. Paper presented at the HRINZ research forum.
[23] Swart, J., Kinnie, N. (2009). Organisational learning, knowledge assets and HR practices in professional service firms. Human Resource Management Journal, 20(1), 64-79.