Knowledge Sharing Among Healthcare Practitioners: Identifying the Psychological and Motivational Facilitating Factors.

Su-Ying Wu,Ming-Hsuan Hsiao,Wei-Tsong Wang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.736277

Abstract

There exists a lack of an understanding of how to facilitate knowledge sharing (KS) behaviors in healthcare organizations. This study is among the first to specifically address this issue through synthesizing psychological ownership (PO), self-determination theory, and psychological empowerment (PE) theory. This study developed a research model that described the impact of the psychological and motivational facilitating factors, including autonomous motivation, user PE, and PO on knowledge sharing intention (KSI) and knowledge sharing behavior (KSB). Data collected from 343 healthcare professionals were analyzed using the technique of partial least squares (PLS) to validate the research model. The results indicated that user PE, organization-based PO, and autonomous motivation all had significant direct/indirect positive effects on KSI and KSB as we hypothesized. Surprisingly, knowledge-based PO had a significant positive effect on KSI, which contradicted our original hypothesis. The implications for theory and for practice, limitations, and future research directions are discussed accordingly.

Highlights

Knowledge has long been recognized as the primary source of organizational growth and sustainable competitive advantage (Alsharo et al, 2017; Stenius et al, 2017; Li and Kang, 2019; Mc Evoy et al, 2019)
The measurement was represented by a compound relative autonomy index (RAI) that encompasses motivation on a controlled-to-autonomous continuum, rather than using proxies such as altruism or financial rewards. This construct can clearly reflect the relative autonomy associated with individual behavioral motivation (Cockrell and Stone, 2010) and makes it possible to better understand the overall effects of autonomy on employe knowledge sharing behavior (KSB). These results demonstrated that autonomous motivation can facilitate appropriate employe behavior (e.g., KSB) and endorse self-determination theory (SDT) perspectives that effectively interpret the direct impact of motivation on behavior (Deci and Ryan, 2000) and contributes to investigations of conceptualized autonomous motivation in the medical field, which is a relatively less studied context related to knowledge sharing (KS)
This study provides empirical evidence by integrating the psychological empowerment (PE) and psychological ownership (PO) approaches with the SDT, with a focus on KS in healthcare organizations, which has not been heavily studied

Summary

Introduction

Knowledge has long been recognized as the primary source of organizational growth and sustainable competitive advantage (Alsharo et al, 2017; Stenius et al, 2017; Li and Kang, 2019; Mc Evoy et al, 2019). Organizations often face challenges and competition in uncertain environments in order to stand out in a highly competitive industry, relying heavily on how effectively critical knowledge is being shared among employes (Curtis and Taylor, 2018; Al-Kurdi et al, 2020). Prior studies have indicated that efficient knowledge sharing (KS) plays a key role in the success of knowledge management (KM) initiatives (Al-Kurdi et al, 2020). It may offer organizations the leverage they need for developing competitive advantages (Wu and Lee, 2017; Hameed et al, 2019; Hao et al, 2019).

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Discussion

Conclusion