Effects of workplace spirituality and trust mediated by perceived risk towards knowledge sharing behaviour

Purpose - This research paper aims to provide an empirical examination to explain the relationship between trust, workplace spirituality, perceived risk and knowledge sharing behaviour among the non-academic staff of private higher learning institutions. Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative methodology was adopted to examine the proposed relationship between trust, workplace spirituality, perceived risk and knowledge sharing behaviour. The study used survey data from 240 non-academic staff of private higher learning institutions in Malaysia. This research applied confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to test the stated hypotheses of the proposed conceptual framework. Findings - The empirical findings indicate that workplace spirituality has a significant positive influence on knowledge sharing behaviour, whereas trust is found to have a positive effect, mediated by perceived risk, on the knowledge sharing behaviour among the non-academic staff of private higher learning institutions. Research limitations/implications - The study was limited to private higher learning institutions in Malaysia, and used a cross-sectional research design. Further investigations into the moderating effect of socio-demographic variables are necessary. Practical implications - The results of this survey provide constructive information towards understanding the extent of knowledge sharing predictors at the individual and non-academic staff levels in the context of private higher learning institutions in Malaysia. Thus, this empirical study serves as a baseline research for this unexplored scope as it provides new information in this field. Originality/value - Previous studies have not tested the function of trust and workplace spirituality from the perspective of non-academic staff employed in private higher learning institutions.