Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.7838/jsebs.2012.17.2.023

The Effects of Individual and Social Factors on the Knowledge Sharing Activities of the Virtual Community of Practice  

Lee, Jae-Hong (서울대학교 경영대학)
Kim, Eun-Jung (대한민국 공군본부)
Ahn, Joong-Ho (서울대학교 경영전문대학)
Publication Information
The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies / v.17, no.2, 2012 , pp. 23-38 More about this Journal
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to find factors affecting knowledge sharing activities which have two aspects-quantity and quality. We surveyed the members of a virtual community of practice called "UPOW.com". It is dedicated to sharing knowledge about job related problems, questions, experience of educational official. This study derived factors from social cognitive theory and social capital theory. The findings of the study can be summarized as follows; first, quality of shared knowledge and quantity of knowledge sharing both have positive effect on knowledge utilization. Second, individual factors and social relations have positive effect on quantity of knowledge sharing. However, individual factors' effects on quantity of knowledge sharing are not significant. These results have academic implications to find factors affecting both side of knowledge sharing. Also these finding will give an insight to develop virtual community of practice for an organization's sustained competitiveness.
Keywords
Virtual Community of Practice; Knowledge Sharing Activities; Individual Factors; Social Relations;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Tsai, W. and Ghoshal, S., "Social capital and value creation : an empirical study of intrafirm networks," Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 464-476, 1998.   DOI   ScienceOn
2 Tsai, W., "Social structure of 'coopetition' within a multiunit organization : coordination and intraorganizational knowledge sharing," Organization Science, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 179-190, 2002.   DOI   ScienceOn
3 Venkatesh, R. and Speier, C., "Computer technology training in the workplace : a longitudinal investigation of the effect of mood," Organizational Behavior and Human decision, 1999.   DOI   ScienceOn
4 Wasko, M. M. and Faraj, S., "Why should I share? Examining social capital and knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 35-58, 2005.   DOI
5 Wasko, M. M. and Faraj, S., "It is What One Does : Why People Participate and Help Others in Electronic Communities of Practice," Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Vol. 9, pp. 155-173, 2000.   DOI   ScienceOn
6 Wellman, B., Quan-Haase, A., Witte, J., and Hampton, K., "Does the Internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? social networks, participation, and community commitment," American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 437-456, 2001.
7 Wenger E., McDermott RA., and Snyder W., "Cultivating Communities of Practice," Boston, MA : Harvard Business School Press; 2002.
8 Wenger, E. C. and Snyder, W. M., "Communities of Practice : The Organizational Frontier," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. 139-145, 2000.
9 Fornell, C. and Larcker, D. F., "Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error," Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 39-50, 1981.   DOI   ScienceOn
10 Hendriks, P. H., "Envisioning knowledge-based systems impacts : a groupware facilitated simulation approach," Expert Systems With Applications, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 143-154, 1998.   DOI
11 Hsu, M. H., Ju, T., Yen, C. H., and Chang, C. M., "Knowledge sharing behavior in virtual communities : The relationship between trust, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations," Human Computer Studies, Vol. 65, pp. 153-169, 2007.   DOI   ScienceOn
12 Igbaria, M. and Iivari, J., "The effects of self-efficacy on computer usage," Omega, Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 587-605, 1995.   DOI   ScienceOn
13 Kankanhalli, A., Tan, B. Y., and Wei, K.-K., "Contributing knowledge to electronic knowledge repositories : an empirical investigation," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 113-143, 2005.   DOI
14 Lave, J. and Wenger, E. Situated learning : Legitimate peripheral participation Cambridge Univ Pr, 1991.
15 Lin, H. F., "Effects of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on employee knowledge sharing intentions," Journal of Information Science, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 135-149, 2007.   DOI
16 Nahapiet, J. and Ghoshal, S., "Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage," Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 242-266, 1998.
17 Purvis R., Sambamurthy, V., and Zmud, R., "The assimilation of knowledge platforms in organizations : an empirical investigation," Organization Science, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 117-135, 2001.   DOI   ScienceOn
18 Srinivasan, A., Song, X., Richards, A., Sinkowitz-Cochran, R., Cardo, D., and Rand, C., "A survey of knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of house staff physicians from various specialties concerning antimicrobial use and resistance," Arch Intern Med., Vol. 164, pp. 1451-1456, 2004.   DOI
19 Bock, G. W., Zmud, R., Kim, T. G., and Lee, J. N., "Behavioral Intention formation knowledge sharing : Examining roles of extrinsic motivators, socialpsychological forces, and organizational climate," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 87-111, 2005.   DOI
20 Bandura, A., "Social foundations of thought and action : A social cognitive theory," New York : Freeman, 1986.
21 Bock, G. W. and Kim, Y. G., "Breaking the myths of rewards : an exploratory study of attitudes about knowledge sharing," Information Resource Management Journal, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 14-21, 2002.
22 Chen, C. J. and Hung, S. W., "To give or to receive? Factors influencing members' knowledge sharing and community promotion in professional virtual communities," Information and Management, Vol. 47, pp. 226-236, 2010.   DOI   ScienceOn
23 Davis, F. D., Bagozzi, R. P., and Warshaw, P. R., "Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation to use computers in the workplace," Journal of the American Academy of Business, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 1111-1132, 1992.