WBRC webinar: Knowledge sharing on online platforms within organisations

Knowledge sharing on online platforms within organisations: An interactionist examination from a generalised exchange perspective

This webinar is open to Leeds University Business School staff and students. 

Please register here to attend. 

Abstract:

Organisations are increasingly introducing online platforms to facilitate knowledge sharing within the organisation. Nevertheless, not all employees actively participate in knowledge sharing on these online platforms. This study aims to identify situational and dispositional determinants that jointly predict employees’ knowledge sharing behaviour on online platforms. To guide our investigation, we draw on social exchange theory, and the idea of generalised exchange, which research has found plays a pivotal role in facilitating interactions on online platforms. Under a social exchange framework, employees’ knowledge-sharing behaviours are determined by the exchange partners (i.e., the requester), the focal employee (i.e., the actor) and the work situation (i.e., the exchange context). Following this, we propose that an employee is likely to share her/his knowledge on online platforms when 1) the request is from those who previously worked in the same office (i.e., past collocation history), 2) the employee is in favour of generalised exchange (generalised exchange orientation), and 3) the employee needs to use a wide variety of knowledge to complete their jobs (i.e., knowledge variety). Using a longitudinal data set spanning six months among 100 users on an in-house online platform of a professional service firm, we find support for the three-way interaction hypothesis. This study identifies who is likely to engage in knowledge sharing on online platforms and when s/he is likely to do so. We discuss implications on knowledge sharing on in-house online platforms.

About the speaker:

Chia-Huei Wu is Professor in Organisational Psychology at the University of Leeds. His research interests include proactivity at work, work and personality development, and subjective well-being. Chia-Huei has published his work in leading journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Journal of Management, among others. He is the author of the book, Employee proactivity in organisations: An attachment perspective, and currently serves as an associate editor for Journal of Management.

This webinar is part of the WBRC research webinar series, where scholars are invited to share their research in organisational behaviour.