Understanding knowledge sharing at organizational and individual levels: empirical investigation in the public sector and social networking site

Abstract

The core concept of knowledge management is that knowledge can be shared; so, knowledge sharing plays a vital role in knowledge management. Huge efforts and investments had been put in knowledge management, including knowledge management system (KMS) which is utilized technology to collect, store, and distribute knowledge. A lack of facilitation on knowledge sharing contributes to the failure of knowledge management. From a resource-based point of view, knowledge is a strategic resource that can be transformed into invaluable asset of organization. Additionally, knowledge is classified into two categories: explicit and implicit (tacit) knowledge. Knowledge sharing analysis can be done at two distinct levels: organizational and individual levels. According to Wang and Noe, knowledge sharing refers to “the provision of task information and know-how to help others and to collaborate with others to solve problems, develop new ideas, or implement policies or procedures.” This dissertation selected two emerging issues in knowledge sharing field for empirical investigation. Firstly, public sector organization is a knowledge-intensive organization with main activity to develop and provide knowledge to the public. Public sector is considered as a multidimensional concept to keep organizations as public, at different degrees from greater to lesser of public. Secondly, social network sites, which are attracting a lot of attention, have become buzzword in social media. It is a web-based collaboration platform for contents sharing such as information, photos, and videos as well as other purposes: social support, knowledge sharing, and interaction. However, there are not many studies focusing on knowledge sharing in social network sites and public sector organizations as a managerial practice in knowledge management. In this dissertation, we examine knowledge sharing at separated levels: organizational and individual levels. The first essay focuses on knowledge sharing in ...