Knowledge sharing among academics in higher education institutions in China / Zhenyu Fan

Zhenyu , Fan (2024) Knowledge sharing among academics in higher education institutions in China / Zhenyu Fan. PhD thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

Knowledge sharing brings tremendous benefits to higher education institutions in terms of enhanced teaching, research, and innovation performance. However, extensive knowledge sharing remains the exception rather than the rule, which hampers the performance of higher education institutions. In recent years, universities in China are facing unprecedented competition from within and globally, hence, an in-depth understanding of the influencing factors of knowledge sharing is crucial to fostering knowledge sharing among academics for enhanced competitiveness. Existing literature on knowledge sharing in the higher education context is scarce, especially in China, with less qualitative efforts observed. In addition, various influencing factors of knowledge sharing were not thoroughly investigated. Moreover, prior studies did not employ the full framework of the theory of planned behavior with key variables or relationships neglected. In light of the research gaps, this study adopted the full framework of the theory of planned behavior and augmented it with individual, organizational, and technological factors as antecedents of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control toward knowledge sharing intention and behavior. This study adopted a mixed methods approach. In the first stage, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 academics in China, and the initial conceptual framework was modified accordingly. During the second stage, an online questionnaire was employed to collect data for testing the hypotheses. 532 valid responses were gathered from academics in 20 top HEIs in three geographic regions in China using multistage sampling. Partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis supported 21 out of 26 hypotheses. In terms of individual factors, loss of knowledge power, time and effort, expected association, reputation and image, enjoyment in helping others, and self-development showed significant effects on attitude toward knowledge sharing whereas the effects of extrinsic rewards and knowledge self-efficacy were not significant. As for organizational factors, affiliation, trust, competition, individualism, and leadership support had significant effects on subjective norm while innovativeness and collaboration showed no significant effects. Regarding technological factors, use of IT tools and perceived usefulness significantly impacted perceived behavioral control whereas perceived ease of use exerted no significant impact. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control significantly contributed to knowledge sharing intention while both intention and perceived behavioral control are positively correlated with knowledge sharing behavior. In addition, the mediating role of intention was also confirmed. From the theoretical perspective, the study filled four research gaps by (1) adding research on knowledge sharing in Chinese higher education; (2) incorporating a wide range of individual, organizational, and technological factors into a single conceptual framework and empirically verified their effects; (3) employing the full framework of the theory of planned behavior, further verifying the robustness of the theory in explaining knowledge sharing behavior; (4) conducting semi-structured interviews which revealed additional factors that have not been fully investigated by prior studies. From the practical perspective, the findings offer guidance for managers in higher education in strategy design to successfully manage organizational knowledge for enhanced competitiveness, further contributing to China’s aspiration to be competitive in higher education globally.

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