Journal article
Encouraging knowledge contribution in IT support: Social context and the differential effects of motivation type
Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol.19(2), pp.315-333
2015
Abstract
Purpose
– This paper aims to investigate how to promote two types of knowledge contribution tasks. The authors focus on the role of supervisor and coworker support on motivation, and their effects on two different contribution tasks. Motivating employees to contribute knowledge is quite challenging. While previous studies have tried to understand how to promote knowledge contribution, few have differentiated between knowledge contribution tasks.
Design/methodology/approach
– Information technology support was chosen as the context of this study, and data were collected from system administrators within a Fortune 500 company via a web-based survey.
Findings
– Results show the differential effects of two forms of motivation on different contribution tasks, and supervisor support is positively associated with intrinsic motivation. Specifically, while intrinsic motivation is positively associated with challenging knowledge contribution, external motivation is positively related to mundane knowledge contribution and negatively related to challenging knowledge contribution.
Originality/value
– This study contributes to the current literature by providing a deeper theoretical understanding of knowledge contribution tasks, and contributes to practice by offering suggestions on how to better motivate employees within organizations and promote different knowledge contribution tasks.
Details
- Title
- Encouraging knowledge contribution in IT support: Social context and the differential effects of motivation type
- Authors/Creators
- X. Wang (Author/Creator) - Dongbei University of Finance and EconomicsP.F. Clay (Author/Creator) - Fort Lewis CollegeN. Forsgren (Author/Creator) - Utah State University
- Publication Details
- Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol.19(2), pp.315-333
- Publisher
- Emerald Group Publishing Limited
- Identifiers
- 991005546003207891
- Copyright
- © 2015 Emerald Group Publishing Limited
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Murdoch University
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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Source: InCites
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Citation topics
- 6 Social Sciences
- 6.3 Management
- 6.3.2 Innovation Strategies
- Web Of Science research areas
- Information Science & Library Science
- Management
- ESI research areas
- Social Sciences, general