FRAMEWORK OF INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATORS OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND THE ROLE OF PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES – A CASE OF PETRONAS TRAINING INSTITUTES

• Main Author: AMIN, AAMIR
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/2765/1/Final_draft_1.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/2765/

Knowledge Management initiatives cannot be successful unless knowledge sharing is ubiquitous in the organization. As individual is the primary source of knowledge, a prevalent knowledge sharing is inconceivable without individual’s motivation to share his knowledge. Hence it becomes imperative to understand what motivates individuals to share their valuable knowledge. Intrinsic and extrinsic are the two fundamental kinds of motivation and without understanding the combine effect of them, it is not possible to fully comprehend individual’s knowledge sharing motivation. Currently, there is a lack of research work which attempts to understand knowledge sharing from both motivational perspectives. Apart from extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, individual differences are one of the most challenging issues facing modern day managers. The literary work in this area is also considered scarce. Hence the aim of this study is to provide a framework of extrinsic and intrinsic motivators of knowledge sharing and to analyze individual differences in knowledge sharing based on demographic variables. For this purpose, a framework is proposed which incorporates extrinsic rewards, Organization Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and demographic variables in the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). The study has used training institutes of Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), namely PERMATA, ALAM and INSTEP, as a case. PETRONAS, one of the largest Oil and Gas Company in Malaysia, has embarked upon Knowledge Management initiatives. To make these initiatives successful, the organization is keen to undertake timely and veracious measures to flourish knowledge sharing in all the divisions of the organization. One of the major reasons to choose PETRONAS training institutes is the usage and involvement of IT in these training institutes. The trainers and facilitators at these training institutes, who are the target respondents of the study, use IT tools for knowledge sharing, provide IT training and share their IT related knowledge with each other. This study also measures knowledge sharing using IT tools as well as sharing IT related knowledge. The proposed framework will overcome the research gaps in the literature by reanalyzing the impact of extrinsic rewards, OCB and demographic variables on knowledge sharing. To test six major and in total nineteen hypotheses, the questionnaire method was used to gather data from the trainers and facilitators at PETRONAS training institutes. The data was analyzed by using multi-regression technique. The results have shown that intrinsic motivation, represented by OCB in this study, is one of the strongest motivating factors for knowledge sharing behavior, whereas the effect of extrinsic motivation, represented by extrinsic rewards, on individual’s knowledge sharing intention is moderate. The results have also shown that individuals differ in manifesting their knowledge sharing intention into behavior based on their gender and education level, whereas there is no difference among individuals with different experience level in manifesting their knowledge sharing intention into behavior. The study will help to understand individual’s knowledge sharing motivation from intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivational perspectives and at the same time individual differences in knowledge sharing behavior. The study will also help the theorists and practitioners, especially at training institutes of PETRONAS, to develop strategies to foster knowledge sharing in their respective organizations. Keywords: Knowledge sharing, Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), extrinsic rewards, Organization Citizenship Behavior (OCB), Demographic variables