Influence on Willingness of Virtual Community's Knowledge Sharing: Based on Social Capital Theory and Habitual Domain
Despite the fact that Knowledge Sharing (KS) is very important, we found only little discussion about the reasons why people have the willingness to share knowledge at such platform even though there is no immediate benefit to the persons who contribute knowledge in it. The aim of this study is to develop an integrative understanding of the factors that support or inhibit individuals- knowledge sharing intentions in virtual communities and to find whether habit would generate people-s willingness to be involved. We apply Social Capital Theory (SCT), and we also add two dimensions for discussion: member incentive and habitual domain (HD). This research assembles the questionnaire from individuals who have experienced knowledge sharing in virtual communities, and applies survey and Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyze the results from the questionnaires. Finally, results confirm that individuals are willing to share knowledge in virtual communities: (1) if they consider reciprocity, centrality, and have longer tenure in their field, and enjoy helping. (2) if they have the habit of sharing knowledge. This study is useful for the developers of virtual communities to insight into knowledge sharing in cyberspace.
[1] A.C. Inkpen and E.W.K. Tsang, "Social Capital, Networks, and
Knowledge Transfer," Academy of Management Review, vol. 16, no. 1,
pp. 146-165, 2002.
[2] A.L. Comrey, "Factor analytic methods of scale development in
personality and clinicalpsychology," Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, vol.56, pp.754-761, 1988.
[3] A.T. Kankanhalli and C. Y. Bernard and Wei, K.K , "Contributing
Knowledge to Electronic Knowledge Repositories: An Empirical
Investigation," MIS Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 113-143, 2005.
[4] B. Reimus, Knowledge sharing within management consulting firms.
Retrieved from: http://www.kennedyinfo.com/mc/gware.html, 1997.
[5] B. Schneider and Reichers, Organizational Climate and Culture, San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990.
[6] C. Fornell, "A National Customer Satisfaction Barometer: The
Swedish Experience," Journal of Marketing, vol.55, pp.1-21, 1992.
[7] C. Jones and W. S. Hesterly and S. P. Borgatti, "A General Theory of
Network Government: Exchange Conditions and Social Mechanisms,"
Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp.911-945, 1997.
[8] C. O-Dell and C.J. Grayson Jr., "If only we knew what we know:
Identification and transfer of internal best practices," California
Management Review 40, no.3, pp.154-174, 1998.
[9] D. Andrews, "Knowledge Management: Are we addressing the right
issues? ," Managing Partner, vol.4, no.1, pp.23-25, 2001.
[10] D. Constant and L Sproull, and S. Kiesler, "The Kindness of Strangers:
The Usefulness of Electronic Weak Ties for Technical Advice,"
Organization Science, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 119-135, 1996.
[11] D. Krackhardt, The Strength of Strong ties: The important of Philos in
organizations, in Organizations and Networks: Structure, Form, and
Action, N. Nohria and R. Eccles (Eds.), Harvard Business School
Press, Boston, pp.216-239, 1992.
[12] D. R. Berdie, "Reassessing the Value of High Response Rates to Mail
Surveys," Marketing Research, vol.1, no.3, pp.52-64, 1994.
[13] D. Stewart Status Mobility and Status Stability in a Community of
Free Software Developers, paper presented at the Academy of
Management Conference, Seattle, WA, 2003.
[14] D.H. Smith, "Altruism Volunteers, and Volunteerism," Journal of
Marketing Research, vol. 10, no. 1, pp.21-36, 1981.
[15] D.L. Krebs, "Empathy and Altruism," Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, vol.32, no.6, pp.1132-1146, 1975.
[16] E. Rogers and D. Kincaid, Communication Networks: Toward a New
Paradigm for Research, the Free Press, New York, 1981.
[17] E.D. Darr and T.R. Kurtzberg, "An Investigation of Partner Similarity
Dimension son Knowledge Transfer," Organizational Behavior and
Human Decision Process vol.82, no.1, pp.28-44, 2000.
[18] F. Fukuyama, Trust: Social virtues and the creation of prosperity,
London: Management Publication Trust, 1995.
[19] G. H. Litwin and R.A. Stringer, Motivation and organizational climate,
Boston: Harvard University Press, 1968.
[20] G. Loury, "Why Should We Care About Group Inequality?," Social
Philosophy and Policy, vol.5, pp.249-271, 1987.
[21] G. Szulanski, "Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the
transfer of best practice within the firm," Strategic Management
Journal, vol.17, S2, pp.27-44, 1996.
[22] H. E. A. Tinsley and D.J. Tinsley, "Uses of factor analysis in
counseling psychology research," Journal of Counseling Psychology,
vol.34, pp.414-424, 1987.
[23] Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, The knowledge-creating company, N.Y.:
Oxford University Press, 1995.
[24] J. Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, London:
Penguin Books, 1965.
[25] J. Nahapiet and S. Ghoshal, "Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and
the Organizational Advantage," Academy of Management Review
vol.23,no.2, pp. 242-266, 1998.
[26] J. S. Donath, Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community, In
Communities in Cyberspace, M. A. Smith and P. Kollock (Eds.),
pp.29-59, Routledge, New York, 1999.
[27] J.R.P. French and B. Raven, The Bases of Social Power, In D.
Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in Social Power, pp. 150-167. Ann Arbor, MI:
Institute for Social Research, 1959.
[28] J.S. Coleman, Foundations of Social Theory, Cambridge, MA: Belnap
Press, 1990.
[29] K. Lakhani and H. J. Von Buren, "How Open Source Software Works:
Free' User-to-User Assistance," Research Policy, vol.32, no.6,
pp.923-943, 2003.
[30] L. Argote, Organization Learning: Creating, Retaining, and
Transferring Knowledge, Norwell, MA: Kluwer, 1999.
[31] L. Argotea, and P. Ingram, "Knowledge Transfer: A Basis for
Competitive Advantage in Firms," Organizational Behavior and
Human Decision Processes, vol.82, no.1, pp.150-169, 2000.
[32] L. Baird and J.C. Henderson, The Knowledge Engine, Barrett-Koehler,
San Francisco, 2001.
[33] L. Hu and P. M. Bentler, "Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance
structureanalysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives,"
Structural Equation Modeling, vol.6, no.1 pp.1 - 55, 1999.
[34] L.C. Anderson and D.W. Gerbing, "Structural equation modelling
inpractice: A review and recommended two step approach,"
Psychological Bulletin. Vol.103, pp.411-423, 1988.
[35] L.T. Ju and H.F. Chumg, "Factors that affect user intention toward
e-learning system - integrating information quality, system quality and
habitual domain with TAM," International Association for
Development of the Information Society, vol.1, pp.415-420, 2007.
[36] M. C. Bolino and W. H. Turnley and J. M. Bloodgood, "Citizenship
behavior and the creation of social capital in organizations," Academy
of Management Review, vol.27, pp.505-522, 2002.
[37] M.A. Smith and P. Kollock, Communities in Cyberspace, London:
Rout ledge, 1999.
[38] M.K. Ahuja and D.F. Galletta and K.M. Carley, "Individual Centrality
and Performance in Virtual R&D Groups: An Empirical Study,"
Management Science, vol. 49, no. 1, pp.21-38, 2003.
[39] M.M. Wasko and S. Faraj, "It is What One Does: Why People
Participate and Help Others in Electronic Communities of Practice,"
Journal of Strategic Information Systems, vol.9, no.2-3, pp.155-173,
2000.
[40] M.M. Wasko and S. Faraj, "Why Should I Share? Examining Social
Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of
Practice," MIS Quarterly, vol.29, no.1, pp. 35, 2005.
[41] N. Lin, "Building a Network Theory of social capital," Connections
vol.22, no.1, pp.28-51, 1999.
[42] P. Blau, Exchange and Power in Social Life, New York: Wiley, 1964.
[43] P. Bourdieu, The form of capital, In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook
of theory and research for the sociology of education: pp.241-258.
New York: Greenwood, 1986.
[44] P. Kollock, The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts, and Public
Goods in Cyberspace, in Communities in Cyberspace, M. A. Smith
and P. Kollock (Eds.), Routledge, New York, pp. 220-239, 1999.
[45] P. S. Adler and S. W. Kwon, "Social capital: Prospects for a new
concept," Academy of Management Review, vol.27, no.1, pp.17-40,
2002.
[46] P.L. Yu and C.I. Chiang, "Decision making, habitual domains and
information technology," informational Journal of Information
Technology and Decision Making, vol.1, no.1, pp.5-26, 2002.
[47] P.L. Yu, "habitual domain," Operations Research Society of America,
vol.39, no.6, p.p. 869-876, 1991.
[48] R. Grant, "Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm," Strategic
Management Journal vol.17, Special Issue, pp. 109-122, 1996.
[49] R. L. Brown and H. Holmes, "The use of a factor-analytic procedure
for assessing the validity of an employee safety climate model,"
Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol.18, no.6, pp.455-470, 1986.
[50] R. M. Grant, "The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive
Advantage," 1990.
[51] R. P. McDonald and M.R. Ho, "Principles and practice in reporting
structualequational analysis," Psychological Methods, Vol.7, pp.64-82,
2002.
[52] R. Ruggles, "The state of the notion: Knowledge management in
practice," California Management Review, vol.40, no.3, pp.80-89,
1998.
[53] R. S. Burt, Structural Holes: The social structure of competition,
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1992.
[54] R.D. Putnam, "Bowling alone: America-s declining social capital,"
Journal of Democracy, vol.6, pp. 65-78, 1995.
[55] S. J. Chan and P. L.Yu, "Stable habitual domains: existence and
implications," Journal of mathematical analysis and applications,
vol.110, no.2, pp.469-482, 1985.
[56] S. L. Javenpaa and D.S. Staples, "The Use of Collaborative Electronic
Media for Information Sharing: An Exploratory Study of
Determinates," Journal of Strategic Information Systems vol.9, pp.
129-154, 2000.
[57] S. Shumker and A. Brownell, "Toward a Theory of Social Support:
Closing Conceptual Gaps," Journal of Social Issues, vol.40, no.4,
pp.11-36, 1984.
[58] S.G. Jones, The Internet and Its Social Landscape, In Virtual Culture,
edited by S. G. Jones. London: Sage, 1997.
[59] T. H. Davenport and L. Prusak, Working Knowledge, Harvard
Business School Press, Boston, 1998.
[60] T. Kostova and K. Roth, "Social capital in multinational corporations
and a micro-macro model of its formation," Academy of Management
Review, vol.28, no.2, pp.297-317, 2003.
[61] T.H. Davenport, "Some Principles of Knowledge Management,"
White Paper, 1997.
[62] W. Tsai and S. Ghoshal, "Social capital and value creation: The role of
intra-firm networks," Academy of Management Journal, vol.41, no.4,
pp.464-476, 1998
[1] A.C. Inkpen and E.W.K. Tsang, "Social Capital, Networks, and
Knowledge Transfer," Academy of Management Review, vol. 16, no. 1,
pp. 146-165, 2002.
[2] A.L. Comrey, "Factor analytic methods of scale development in
personality and clinicalpsychology," Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, vol.56, pp.754-761, 1988.
[3] A.T. Kankanhalli and C. Y. Bernard and Wei, K.K , "Contributing
Knowledge to Electronic Knowledge Repositories: An Empirical
Investigation," MIS Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 113-143, 2005.
[4] B. Reimus, Knowledge sharing within management consulting firms.
Retrieved from: http://www.kennedyinfo.com/mc/gware.html, 1997.
[5] B. Schneider and Reichers, Organizational Climate and Culture, San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990.
[6] C. Fornell, "A National Customer Satisfaction Barometer: The
Swedish Experience," Journal of Marketing, vol.55, pp.1-21, 1992.
[7] C. Jones and W. S. Hesterly and S. P. Borgatti, "A General Theory of
Network Government: Exchange Conditions and Social Mechanisms,"
Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp.911-945, 1997.
[8] C. O-Dell and C.J. Grayson Jr., "If only we knew what we know:
Identification and transfer of internal best practices," California
Management Review 40, no.3, pp.154-174, 1998.
[9] D. Andrews, "Knowledge Management: Are we addressing the right
issues? ," Managing Partner, vol.4, no.1, pp.23-25, 2001.
[10] D. Constant and L Sproull, and S. Kiesler, "The Kindness of Strangers:
The Usefulness of Electronic Weak Ties for Technical Advice,"
Organization Science, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 119-135, 1996.
[11] D. Krackhardt, The Strength of Strong ties: The important of Philos in
organizations, in Organizations and Networks: Structure, Form, and
Action, N. Nohria and R. Eccles (Eds.), Harvard Business School
Press, Boston, pp.216-239, 1992.
[12] D. R. Berdie, "Reassessing the Value of High Response Rates to Mail
Surveys," Marketing Research, vol.1, no.3, pp.52-64, 1994.
[13] D. Stewart Status Mobility and Status Stability in a Community of
Free Software Developers, paper presented at the Academy of
Management Conference, Seattle, WA, 2003.
[14] D.H. Smith, "Altruism Volunteers, and Volunteerism," Journal of
Marketing Research, vol. 10, no. 1, pp.21-36, 1981.
[15] D.L. Krebs, "Empathy and Altruism," Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, vol.32, no.6, pp.1132-1146, 1975.
[16] E. Rogers and D. Kincaid, Communication Networks: Toward a New
Paradigm for Research, the Free Press, New York, 1981.
[17] E.D. Darr and T.R. Kurtzberg, "An Investigation of Partner Similarity
Dimension son Knowledge Transfer," Organizational Behavior and
Human Decision Process vol.82, no.1, pp.28-44, 2000.
[18] F. Fukuyama, Trust: Social virtues and the creation of prosperity,
London: Management Publication Trust, 1995.
[19] G. H. Litwin and R.A. Stringer, Motivation and organizational climate,
Boston: Harvard University Press, 1968.
[20] G. Loury, "Why Should We Care About Group Inequality?," Social
Philosophy and Policy, vol.5, pp.249-271, 1987.
[21] G. Szulanski, "Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the
transfer of best practice within the firm," Strategic Management
Journal, vol.17, S2, pp.27-44, 1996.
[22] H. E. A. Tinsley and D.J. Tinsley, "Uses of factor analysis in
counseling psychology research," Journal of Counseling Psychology,
vol.34, pp.414-424, 1987.
[23] Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, The knowledge-creating company, N.Y.:
Oxford University Press, 1995.
[24] J. Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, London:
Penguin Books, 1965.
[25] J. Nahapiet and S. Ghoshal, "Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and
the Organizational Advantage," Academy of Management Review
vol.23,no.2, pp. 242-266, 1998.
[26] J. S. Donath, Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community, In
Communities in Cyberspace, M. A. Smith and P. Kollock (Eds.),
pp.29-59, Routledge, New York, 1999.
[27] J.R.P. French and B. Raven, The Bases of Social Power, In D.
Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in Social Power, pp. 150-167. Ann Arbor, MI:
Institute for Social Research, 1959.
[28] J.S. Coleman, Foundations of Social Theory, Cambridge, MA: Belnap
Press, 1990.
[29] K. Lakhani and H. J. Von Buren, "How Open Source Software Works:
Free' User-to-User Assistance," Research Policy, vol.32, no.6,
pp.923-943, 2003.
[30] L. Argote, Organization Learning: Creating, Retaining, and
Transferring Knowledge, Norwell, MA: Kluwer, 1999.
[31] L. Argotea, and P. Ingram, "Knowledge Transfer: A Basis for
Competitive Advantage in Firms," Organizational Behavior and
Human Decision Processes, vol.82, no.1, pp.150-169, 2000.
[32] L. Baird and J.C. Henderson, The Knowledge Engine, Barrett-Koehler,
San Francisco, 2001.
[33] L. Hu and P. M. Bentler, "Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance
structureanalysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives,"
Structural Equation Modeling, vol.6, no.1 pp.1 - 55, 1999.
[34] L.C. Anderson and D.W. Gerbing, "Structural equation modelling
inpractice: A review and recommended two step approach,"
Psychological Bulletin. Vol.103, pp.411-423, 1988.
[35] L.T. Ju and H.F. Chumg, "Factors that affect user intention toward
e-learning system - integrating information quality, system quality and
habitual domain with TAM," International Association for
Development of the Information Society, vol.1, pp.415-420, 2007.
[36] M. C. Bolino and W. H. Turnley and J. M. Bloodgood, "Citizenship
behavior and the creation of social capital in organizations," Academy
of Management Review, vol.27, pp.505-522, 2002.
[37] M.A. Smith and P. Kollock, Communities in Cyberspace, London:
Rout ledge, 1999.
[38] M.K. Ahuja and D.F. Galletta and K.M. Carley, "Individual Centrality
and Performance in Virtual R&D Groups: An Empirical Study,"
Management Science, vol. 49, no. 1, pp.21-38, 2003.
[39] M.M. Wasko and S. Faraj, "It is What One Does: Why People
Participate and Help Others in Electronic Communities of Practice,"
Journal of Strategic Information Systems, vol.9, no.2-3, pp.155-173,
2000.
[40] M.M. Wasko and S. Faraj, "Why Should I Share? Examining Social
Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of
Practice," MIS Quarterly, vol.29, no.1, pp. 35, 2005.
[41] N. Lin, "Building a Network Theory of social capital," Connections
vol.22, no.1, pp.28-51, 1999.
[42] P. Blau, Exchange and Power in Social Life, New York: Wiley, 1964.
[43] P. Bourdieu, The form of capital, In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook
of theory and research for the sociology of education: pp.241-258.
New York: Greenwood, 1986.
[44] P. Kollock, The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts, and Public
Goods in Cyberspace, in Communities in Cyberspace, M. A. Smith
and P. Kollock (Eds.), Routledge, New York, pp. 220-239, 1999.
[45] P. S. Adler and S. W. Kwon, "Social capital: Prospects for a new
concept," Academy of Management Review, vol.27, no.1, pp.17-40,
2002.
[46] P.L. Yu and C.I. Chiang, "Decision making, habitual domains and
information technology," informational Journal of Information
Technology and Decision Making, vol.1, no.1, pp.5-26, 2002.
[47] P.L. Yu, "habitual domain," Operations Research Society of America,
vol.39, no.6, p.p. 869-876, 1991.
[48] R. Grant, "Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm," Strategic
Management Journal vol.17, Special Issue, pp. 109-122, 1996.
[49] R. L. Brown and H. Holmes, "The use of a factor-analytic procedure
for assessing the validity of an employee safety climate model,"
Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol.18, no.6, pp.455-470, 1986.
[50] R. M. Grant, "The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive
Advantage," 1990.
[51] R. P. McDonald and M.R. Ho, "Principles and practice in reporting
structualequational analysis," Psychological Methods, Vol.7, pp.64-82,
2002.
[52] R. Ruggles, "The state of the notion: Knowledge management in
practice," California Management Review, vol.40, no.3, pp.80-89,
1998.
[53] R. S. Burt, Structural Holes: The social structure of competition,
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1992.
[54] R.D. Putnam, "Bowling alone: America-s declining social capital,"
Journal of Democracy, vol.6, pp. 65-78, 1995.
[55] S. J. Chan and P. L.Yu, "Stable habitual domains: existence and
implications," Journal of mathematical analysis and applications,
vol.110, no.2, pp.469-482, 1985.
[56] S. L. Javenpaa and D.S. Staples, "The Use of Collaborative Electronic
Media for Information Sharing: An Exploratory Study of
Determinates," Journal of Strategic Information Systems vol.9, pp.
129-154, 2000.
[57] S. Shumker and A. Brownell, "Toward a Theory of Social Support:
Closing Conceptual Gaps," Journal of Social Issues, vol.40, no.4,
pp.11-36, 1984.
[58] S.G. Jones, The Internet and Its Social Landscape, In Virtual Culture,
edited by S. G. Jones. London: Sage, 1997.
[59] T. H. Davenport and L. Prusak, Working Knowledge, Harvard
Business School Press, Boston, 1998.
[60] T. Kostova and K. Roth, "Social capital in multinational corporations
and a micro-macro model of its formation," Academy of Management
Review, vol.28, no.2, pp.297-317, 2003.
[61] T.H. Davenport, "Some Principles of Knowledge Management,"
White Paper, 1997.
[62] W. Tsai and S. Ghoshal, "Social capital and value creation: The role of
intra-firm networks," Academy of Management Journal, vol.41, no.4,
pp.464-476, 1998
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:64493", author = "Szu-Yuan Sun and Teresa L. Ju and Hao-Fan Chumg and Chang-Yao Wu and Pei-Ju Chao", title = "Influence on Willingness of Virtual Community's Knowledge Sharing: Based on Social Capital Theory and Habitual Domain", abstract = "Despite the fact that Knowledge Sharing (KS) is very important, we found only little discussion about the reasons why people have the willingness to share knowledge at such platform even though there is no immediate benefit to the persons who contribute knowledge in it. The aim of this study is to develop an integrative understanding of the factors that support or inhibit individuals- knowledge sharing intentions in virtual communities and to find whether habit would generate people-s willingness to be involved. We apply Social Capital Theory (SCT), and we also add two dimensions for discussion: member incentive and habitual domain (HD). This research assembles the questionnaire from individuals who have experienced knowledge sharing in virtual communities, and applies survey and Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyze the results from the questionnaires. Finally, results confirm that individuals are willing to share knowledge in virtual communities: (1) if they consider reciprocity, centrality, and have longer tenure in their field, and enjoy helping. (2) if they have the habit of sharing knowledge. This study is useful for the developers of virtual communities to insight into knowledge sharing in cyberspace.
", keywords = "Habitual domains, knowledge sharing, social capital theory, virtual community.", volume = "3", number = "5", pages = "571-8", }
