Feedback-Seeking Behavior and Knowledge Sharing at Work

Abstract

Using 263 data from R&D employees in 29 Taiwanese manufacturing organizations, this study examined how employees use one proactive behavior, feedback seeking, as a strategy to determine their willingness of knowledge sharing. As hypothesized, employees’ personal traits toward learning or performance goal orientation, value perception toward feedback-seeking and seeking frequency have a positive effect on their willingness of knowledge sharing, whereas their cost perception toward feedback seeking has a negative effect. These results shed light on the importance of employees’ self-regulatory behaviors in the knowledge sharing process and show that feedback seeking is not only a strategy for facilitating individual adaptation, but also an individual resource for helping individuals to achieve learning and performance outcomes.