Influence of Behavioral Intentions, Affective Trust and Affective Commitment on Knowledge Sharing Behavior

Abstract

This article describes how with the growing importance of knowledge in today's competitive environment, it becomes vital for organizations to unfold all the strategies for implementation of a successful knowledge management system. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of knowledge sharing intention (KSI) and affective trust (AT) on knowledge sharing (KS) behaviour of employees. Additionally, the mediating influence of affective commitment (AC) of the employees in this relationship is also studied. This study uses data from a sample of 246 managers in Indian private sector firms and employs Structural Equation Modelling approach to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings of this study show that contrary to the results of prior research, BI does not affect KS behaviour directly. Rather, it acts indirectly through AC, which is necessary for increasing employees' loyalty and willingness to share their knowledge. Moreover, the results indicated that AT has an indirect influence on employees' KS behaviour via KSI. Implications and limitations and future scope of the study have also been discussed.