Definitions of Knowledge Sharing

The literature review highlights that Knowledge sharing as a concept is often used interchangeably or used to mean same with other concepts. For example, some authors have gone to the extent of using such a term interchangeably with knowledge flows (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000; Schulz, 2001). While others described KS as knowledge exchange (e.g, Cabrera et al., 2006; Wang and Noe, 2010; Nguyen and Mohamed, 2011), whereas other researchers used to mean as knowledge conversion (Gold et al., 2001, Liao and Wu, 2010, Allameh et al., 2012) However, a number of studies have also utilised the concept of dissemination to explain knowledge sharing (i.e. Bhatt, 2001, Gowen et al., 2009, Mehrabani and Shajari, 2012), also as Knowledge sharing such as (Allee, 1997, Bock et al., 2005, Cui et al., 2005, Hsu et al., 2007; Massa and Tsesta, 2009, Huang and Li, 2009, Ling and Nasurdin, 2010, Awang et al., 2011, Andreeva and Kianto, 2011, Ferraresi et al., 2012; Howell and Annansingh, 2013), and others argued that the term of Knowledge transfer is sometimes

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taken to be synonymous with knowledge sharing in the literature. (e.g. Yahya and Goh, 2002; Yang, 2007; Uriarte, 2008; Massa and Tsesta, 2009).

However, the two terms are different (Wang and Noe, 2010). In an attempt to distinguish between the two concepts, some authors (e.g., Argote and Ingram, 2000; Boyd et al., 2007; Kang et al., 2008; Rhodes et al., 2008; Wang and Noe, 2010; Berggren et al., 2011) argued that Knowledge transfer tends to be associated with the application of existing knowledge from one context to another. This implies that the owner is the main source of knowledge and the transfer of knowledge takes place in one direction, from owner to recipient. Knowledge sharing, on the other hand, is a broader concept that comprises the interaction, absorption, and creation of new knowledge, which postulates that KS happens in two directions, and among at least two participants (Boyd et al., 2007). The motivation behind presenting this review is to develop a clearer understanding by distinguishing knowledge sharing from other concepts. Therefore the current study use the term “knowledge sharing” when discussing this research.

Knowledge sharing, as a concept, has been the subject of debate and study over many years and yet there is no more agreed definition. Most researchers who study Knowledge sharing have a preferred meaning, related to their area of study. For example, some of the definitions describe KS as a process from one individual, group or organisation to another (Davenport, 1997, McDermott, 1999, Darr and Kurtzbery, 2000, Bartol and Srivastava, 2002, Argote et al., 2003, Ipe, 2003, Hooff and Ridder, 2004, Abdullah et al., 2009, Masrek et al., 2011). Another view about knowledge sharing given by several researchers (e.g., Bock et al., 2005; Lin, 2007; Xiong and Deng, 2008; Sohail and Daud, 2009), which defined knowledge sharing as a culture or behaviour may occur formally among members in a workplace or informally among employees through social interaction. On the other hand, other authors defined knowledge sharing as activities (e.g., Garvin, 1993; Dyer and Nobeoka, 2000; Lee, 2001;

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Bartol and Srivastava, 2002; Lee et al., 2010; Jahani et al., 2011; Hitam and Mahamad, 2012; Kim et al., 2013). The table (2.5) summarises the possible definitions of the multiple views on knowledge sharing drawn from the literature.

Table 2.5: Definitions of knowledge sharing from the Extant Literature

Authors Year Definitions

Von Krogh 2000 KS defined as being essentially a process of capturing a person and

organisation’s expertise wherever it resides and distributing it to wherever it can help produce the biggest returns for the individual and organisation.

Dyer and Nobeoka

2000 KS defined as the activities that help communities of people to work together, facilitating the exchange of their knowledge, enhancing organisational learning capacity, and increasing their ability to achieve individual and organisational goals.

Darr and Kurtzbery

2000 KS is the process of helping people to acquire knowledge by learning from others’ experiences.

Bartol and Srivastava

2002 KS as the sharing of organisational ly relevant information, ideas, suggestions, and expertise with one another.

Ipe 2003 KS as the action of individuals in making knowledge available to others within the

organisation.

Argote et al. 2003 KS is the process by which one unit is affected by the experience of another”

Hooff and Ridder

2004 KS is the process by which knowledge is exchanged and created at the same time.

Bock et al. 2005 KS refers to the behaviour of individuals in sharing their knowledge with each

other within an organisation

Kim and Lee 2006 KS define as the ability of employees to share their work-related experience,

expertise, know-how, and contextual information with other employees through informal and formal interactions within or across teams or work units.

Lin 2007 KS is a culture of social interaction that includes the exchange of knowledge,

experiences, and skills among employees.

Xiong and Deng

2008 KS refers to the exchange and communication of knowledge and information

between members.

Sohail and Daud

2009 KS represents the exchange and sharing of the events, thoughts, and experiences

of people.

Abdullah et al.

2009 KS as a process where the individual exchanges his/her knowledge and ideas

through discussions or other forms of social interaction in order to create new knowledge or ideas.

Islam et al. 2010 KS is the process of social exchange that occurs between individuals, from

individuals to organisations, and from organisation to organisation.

Wang and Noe

2010 KS refers to the provision of task information and know-how to help others and to

collaborate with others to solve problems, develop ideas, or implement policies or procedures.

Lee et al. 2010 KS refers to the interaction of tacit and explicit knowledge that is relevant to the

task in hand.

Masrek et al. 2011 KS is described as a process by which individuals mutually exchange their tacit

and explicit knowledge and jointly generate new knowledge.

Jahani et al. 2011 KS includes the activities by which knowledge is transferred from one person,

group, or organisation to another.

Hitam and Mahamad

2012 KS is the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and skills among members through

various departments in the organisation.

Kim et al. 2013 KS is the activity by which information, skills, and insights are exchanged among

organisational members.

Zhang et al. 2014 KS is defined as individuals sharing work relevant experiences and information

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