Examining individual intention to share knowledge with people from other tribes

Abstract

While extensive studies have been conducted to understand the factors that influence individual intentions to share knowledge, a review of the literature shows that these studies did not consider the effect of the individual sentiment of the knowledge sharer in the act of sharing knowledge. Individuals coming from different tribes might have sentiments against each other, which could influence their communication and social interaction and thus affect knowledge sharing. This study collected data from lecturers in ten polytechnic institutions in Ghana using a questionnaire and analyzed the data using the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. The findings show that attitude, subjective norm, equal status, cooperativeness, identification, top management, and immediate superior have a significant influence on individuals’ intention to share knowledge with people from other tribes. Contrastingly, common goal, institutional support, and friendliness do not influence individuals’ attitude to share knowledge with people from other tribes.

Keywords

• multitribalism
• knowledge sharing
• intention
• theory of reasoned action
• attitude
• subjective norm
• equal status