Knowledge sharing patterns of undergraduate students

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to study the knowledge-sharing patterns of undergraduate students in public and private universities. Design/methodology/approach -A questionnaire survey was conducted on students of both the types of universities in Malaysia. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Findings -Seven important areas have been the focus of this study: the general attitude towards knowledge sharing; preferred sources for study-related tasks; perceived frequency of knowledge sharing for study-related tasks; types of information and knowledge shared; preferred channels for knowledge sharing; factors limiting knowledge sharing; and knowledge sharing motivators. The data collected from 423 undergraduate students suggest that there are differences between the students in the public and private universities when it comes to knowledge sharing patterns.Research limitations/implications -The paper serves more as a descriptive study on the knowledge sharing patterns rather than a correlational study to find the relationship among variables. Practical implications -The findings suggest that group activities should be structured in all curricula in order to encourage sharing among students. Academics are expected to play an important role to encourage their students to share by means of putting emphasis on collaborative learning to reduce competition among students. The management of universities can promote knowledge sharing by understanding the barriers and motivators of knowledge sharing. Originality/value -The paper is among the first to compare the knowledge sharing patterns among private and public undergraduate students in Malaysia.

Beyond grades: developing knowledge sharing in learning communities as a graduate attribute

“…In both organizational and economic senses, group members must be willing and able to share their knowledge with other group members (Pérez-Luño, Cabello Medina, Carmona Lavado, & Cuevas Rodríguez, 2011). Knowledge sharing as a graduate attribute in higher education in turn is an employability skill that can help students succeed in their future careers (Wei, Choy, Chew, & Yen, 2012). Most research on knowledge sharing in communities refers to virtual communities, such as online social networks (Chen & Hung, 2010;Liou et al, 2016), but it also is pertinent to make students aware of the importance of and motives for knowledge sharing in a learning environment that naturally encourages knowledge sharing, namely, curriculumbased LCs.…”

Relationship between Human Resources Management Practices, Transformational Leadership, and Knowledge Sharing on Innovation in Iranian Electronic Industry

“…Applying quantitative approach by famous scholars (e.g. Gumusluoglu and Ilsev, 2009;Wang et al, 2009;Chen and Huang, 2009;Fomg et al, 2011;Wei et al, 2012;Zohoori et al, 2013) has postulated that hypotheses testing can be efficient method to highlight the main influential factors on innovation and knowledge sharing. In the following, the hypotheses of this study will be developed based on the extant research.…”

“…Based on the research of Low and Mohammed (2005), Wang and Noe (2010), and Wei et al (2012), Asgharian et al conducted a research on 18 largest companies in electronics industry of Iran in order to highlight the main factors needed to increase knowledge sharing culture. In this regard, 9 factors were highlighted by 122 managers (top and middle), these are: trust and confidence, leaders' attitudes, performance evaluation, reward, training, recognition, staffing, emphasizing on innovation, and Award.…”

“…Low & Mohammed, 2005;Wang & Noe, 2010;Wei et al, 2012;Asgharian et al, 2013) for increasing knowledge sharing culture. Some of these factors can be observed in either human resource management (HRM) practices or transformational leadership and can also be observed from the outcomes of both factors.…”

“…Low & Mohammed, 2005;Lin, 2007;Wang & Noe, 2010;Wei et al, 2012) have tried to highlight main factors affecting knowledge sharing (culture, behavior, or process). Asgharian et al (2013) conducted an exploratory research on 18 largest companies in electronics industry of Iran in order to highlight the main factors needed to increase knowledge sharing.…”