This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Burgess, D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

What Motivates Employees to Transfer Knowledge Outside Their Work Unit?

University of Minnesota

Although intrafirm knowledge transfer is linked with higher productivity and organizational survival, information sharing across units remains a challenge. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, motivations predictive of employees' decisions to share and seek knowledge beyond their work group were examined in the present study. Results of a quantitative survey (N = 480) found that employees who perceived greater organizational rewards for sharing spent more hours sharing knowledge beyond their immediate work group. In contrast, employees who perceived knowledge as a means of achieving upward organizational mobility were less likely to share and somewhat more likely to seek information. In addition, employees were less motivated to share and seek knowledge beyond their work group to the extent that they believed that reciprocity norms governed information exchange and to the extent they identified more strongly with their subunit relative to the organization. Practical implications and directions for future research are explored in the concluding discussion of the article.

Key Words: knowledge management • knowledge transfer • motivation • functional approach • interunit communication

Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 42, No. 4, 324-348 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0021943605279485


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?