Impact of organizational support on organizational intention to facilitate knowledge sharing

Abstract

Knowledge sharing can be viewed as an organizational innovation that has the potential to generate new ideas and develop new business opportunities through socialization and learning process of knowledge workers. Moreover, numerous scholars have proposed that interpersonal trust is an important facilitator of knowledge sharing. This study aims to develop a research model examining how organizational support influences the intention to facilitate knowledge sharing through organizational perceptions of innovation characteristics (perceived relative advantage and compatibility) and interpersonal trust. Data from a survey of senior executives in Taiwan were used to test the proposed research model. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the validity of the measurement model, and the structural model also was analyzed to test the associations hypothesized in the research model. The results showed that organizational support is positively associated with organizational perceptions of innovation characteristics (perceived relative advantage and compatibility) and interpersonal trust, which in turn are positively related to organizational intention to facilitate knowledge sharing. Implications for organizations are also discussed.