The Effects of Relation Models on Knowledge Sharing: An Empirical Study of IS Project Team

Abstract

This study suggested that the mechanism behind knowledge sharing (KS) is constructed based on the combination of the four fundamental relation models which coexist with different degree among members in the group. These four relation models of knowledge sharing are Communal Sharing (CS), Authority Ranking (AR), Equality Matching (EM), and Market Pricing (MP). Therefore this study based on four relation models to investigate how the social capital influences each relation model. Further this study also investigated the impact of each relation model on the effectiveness of knowledge sharing. 233 MIS project team members were surveyed and structural equation model analysis was conducted to test the research model. The results showed that (1) trust, identification, and norm have positive influence on the communal sharing (CS) model. (2) Obligation has positive influence on the Authority Ranking (AR) model. (3) Trust and identification have positive influence on the Equality Matching (EM) model. (4) Trust, identification, and obligation have positive influence on the Market Pricing (MP) model. We also found that trust and identification have positive influence on the effectiveness of knowledge sharing. Furthermore, CS, among the four relation models, was found to have the highest positive influence on the effectiveness of KS, followed by EM and MP sequentially, while no significant relation between AR and the effectiveness of KS was found in our observations.