Knowledge sharing in knowledge workers: The roles of social exchange theory and the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

This study integrates the social exchange theory and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to examine how trust influences knowledge sharing behavior by knowledge-sharing intention. Data were collected from 314 research and development (R&D) engineers from 52 high-technology firms in Taiwan. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that, at the individual level, trust was positively related to knowledge-sharing intention, which in turn positively predicted the knowledge-sharing behavior of knowledge workers. This work also found that norms moderate the relationship between trust and knowledge-sharing intention. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Keywords:

• trust
• norms
• knowledge-sharing intention
• knowledge-sharing behavior
• Taiwan