Meta-analysis of Antecedents of Knowledge Sharing in Iranian Organizations

Abstract

In the knowledge-based era, achieving sustainable competitive advantages by organizations requires providing the prerequisites for members of organizations to be able to share their knowledge effectively. In this regard, the present study has quantitatively analyzed the quantitative studies conducted about the facilitators of knowledge sharing in Iranian organizations. This is an applied, quantitative and descriptive research. Its information sources consist of the quantitative researches published in Iranian scientific journals in the last ten years that have examined the factors affecting knowledge sharing. The sampling was performed according to the required criteria of meta-analysis and 21 studies were analyzed based on these selection criteria. Data analysis was performed by meta-analysis method through comprehensive meta-analysis software. Findings showed that all of the 25 studied prerequisites of knowledge sharing had a significant effect size and were classified into three categories with high, medium and low effect size. Among them, social capital, transformational leadership, organizational pessimism and psychological capital had the greatest effect size, in descending order. Accordingly, providing the prerequisites for effective knowledge sharing in organizations requires a comprehensive perspective in which hard and soft factors are considered simultaneously. For effectively improving these antecedents, prioritizing them based on their role and impact will achieve more merits.

Keywords

• knowledge
• knowledge management
• knowledge sharing
• meta-analysis