Investigating Tacit Knowledge Acquisition and Sharing from the Perspective of Social Relationships-A Multilevel Model

Abstract

Several researchers have frequently regarded tacit knowledge sharing among employees as a process of social interaction. This study employs the perspective of social relationship for investigating an employee's tacit knowledge acquisition and sharing within a workgroup. We propose a multilevel research model that includes both individual- and group-level variables and collect data through a multi-informant questionnaire design. Analyses are based on data collected from 279 respondents participating in 93 work groups across 58 organizations in Taiwan. The results are presented in terms of four aspects as follows. First, tacit knowledge acquisition is found to be facilitated by relational embeddedness. Second, tacit knowledge acquisition has both direct and indirect effects on the tacit knowledge sharing intention. Third, descriptive norms and self efficacy have a positive effect on tacit knowledge sharing intention. Finally, the results of cross-level analyses indicate that an affiliation climate rather than a fairness climate is positively related to tacit knowledge sharing intention.