A Cognitive Process of Knowledge Sharing under the Environment of Knowledge Management Systems

Scholars have studied the critical factors that affect the intentions behind knowledge sharing. However, an individual who is satisfied with those factors doesn’t necessarily do so. When he/she considers whether to share or not, he/she usually calculates the losses and gains based on the level of perceived value of knowledge. With inclusion of the perceived value of knowledge, it has been found that there are both positive and negative relations between the perceived value of knowledge and the intention to share the knowledge. In order to resolve these contrary relations, this study proposes a cost-benefit knowledge sharing model that enables the analysis of individuals’ cognitive process. We hypothesize that the contrary relations are due to the characteristics of two distinct types of knowledge: intellectual property and non-property.