Role of Knowledge Sharing in Organizational Performance with Mediating Factors of Motivation Trust and Affective Commitment: Educational Sector Perspective

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate the role of practice of knowledge sharing among employees of education sector of Pakistan in organizational performance and examine the mediating relationship of motivation, trust and affective commitment between knowledge sharing and organizational performance in light of predominantly the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Knowledge sharing significantly influences the employees’ performance. Previous studies found that trust does not impact Knowledge Sharing and Affective Commitment. This study has revealed that trust does not mediate significantly between Knowledge sharing and organizational performance as well. The sample for this study consisted of middle management level employees of public and private universities of Pakistan. Knowing that often the managers are reluctant to participate in research studies due to their tight schedule and lack of available time, thus it was decided to choose the convenience sampling technique for collection of data. Data was collected through an online survey using a questionnaire. Using SPSS software, data analysis process including determination of data reliability through Cronbach’s Alfa score calculation was undertaken. Since through Shapiro-Wilk normality distribution test, it was concluded that all the constructs are significantly different from normal distribution. Hence, using Spearman’s correlation method linkage between variables was established prior investigating causal relationship through regression analysis. The results showed a great extent of knowledge sharing practice effectiveness towards organizational performance and proved that employees’ knowledge sharing behaviour significantly influences motivation, affective commitment and to some extent trust as well. Subject variables can be termed getting influenced by attitude, subjective norms, and organizational culture as per theories on the subject and results are not contrary to the theories.