What Motivates Experts to Share? A Prospective Test of the Model of Knowledge-Sharing Motivation

Knowledge sharing is an employee behavior, critical to organizational success in knowledge-intensive work environments. This study set out to empirically test the model of knowledge-sharing motivation designed and presented in this journal by Gagne (2009). The model combines two established behavioral theories, the theory of planned behavior and self-determination theory, and connects various human resource practices to it. This prospective survey study ( n = 200) in a large expert organization employed structural equation modeling. The results mainly supported the proposed model, with attitudes, autonomous motivation, and sharing norms predicting knowledge-sharing intentions ( R-2 = .69), which predicted knowledge-sharing behavior ( R-2 = .42). We also identified potential ways to modify the model to better suit typical knowledge-sharing contexts. Implications for practice, with the emphasis on how our findings can benefit and be used by human resource management, are discussed. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.