Motivating Knowledge Sharing in Diverse Organizational Contexts: An Argument for Reopening the Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Debate

In an effort to assess the generalizability of factors that influence the disposition of knowledge sharing within organizations, this paper replicates a previous study that provided support for intrinsic motivators playing a dominant role in organizational science literature but applies it to a different community. A recent survey of 156 U.S. and Canadian law enforcement, forensic, and information assurance professionals discovered differences in the findings between the community examined in the earlier study and this one and suggest that there is merit in reopening the discussion between intrinsic and extrinsic motivators and the role they play in an organization. Examination of these two studies further suggests that the impact of motivators, both intrinsic and extrinsic, varies with the context of the knowledge management system to which they are applied. This paper then concludes with suggestions on direction of future research.