Motivating Knowledge Sharing Behavior from the Perspective of the Convertibility of Economic Benefits

Past research has extensively studied individuals’ knowledge-sharing behavior. Identifying the effective mechanisms that motivate individuals to share their valuable knowledge has become an important issue and a major challenge for researchers and practitioners. Past studies fail to consider the readiness of conversion of motivational mechanism to economic benefits of knowledge sharing on knowledge sharing behavior. This study develops a theoretical model of the convertibility of economic benefits that integrates the calculative-based mechanism (CBM) modified from organizational reward systems and the relational-based mechanism (RBM) founded on social interaction to explain knowledge sharing behavior. The research will be conducted by a field study in collaboration with a district hospital to secure the survey data. The objective of this study is to help answer the following research questions. 1. How does the CBM, which incorporates the construct of organizational reward systems, facilitate knowledge sharing behavior? 2. How does the RBM, which incorporates the construct of deposits, withdrawals, and relationship account balance, facilitate knowledge sharing behavior? 3. Against the benchmark of the CBM, does the addition of the RBM give a better explanation of individual knowledge sharing behavior?