Importance of Knowledge Sharing in Higher Education Institutions
Aishath Shina
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, University Brunei Darussalam, Negara Brunei Darussalam
*Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Accepted: 1 June 2020 | Published: 15 June 2020
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Abstract: In this knowledge era, knowledge sharing has been found to be of utmost importance to organizations, especially in Higher Education Institutions where academics are knowledge workers. To keep up with the dynamic new economy where knowledge has become a valuable resource and asset, innovation is essential. This could be achieved by sharing and disseminating the new knowledge its employees create. Though knowledge sharing is one of the fundamental responsibilities of the academics, it is believed that there are academics who like to share their knowledge, and there are academics who don’t. As most of the existing literature focuses on the reasons for knowledge hoarding, the researcher felt that it might inspire academics to share their knowledge when they are aware of the benefits of knowledge sharing. So, this study intends to explore academics perception with a main focus on the importance of sharing knowledge among academics. Semi structured interview questions were used to collect data, a total of 15 academics from five Higher Education Institutions in the Maldives participated. Participants were selected by utilizing purposeful sampling method. The data were analyzed using thematic approach. The emergent themes are presented and supported with existing literature. As knowledge being a valuable resource and asset, it can be augmented if people share their knowledge among each other and learn from each other.
Keywords: Knowledge sharing, Higher Education Institutions, Academics
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1. Introduction
Higher Education Institution’s (HEIs) are of very significant in any society due to the crucial role it plays in the socio-economic development of a country. They comprised of knowledge generators, the academics, whose core responsibility lies in molding and developing the human capital needed for a country. Due to the huge responsibility that is bestowed upon the academics, it is essential for them to be competent enough to best provide the services required for the generation of this knowledge era. The quality of higher education provided mainly depends on the quality and competence of the academics’ working in the sector. For this to happen, it is of utmost important that knowledge sharing be practiced as a norm in the institution. Despite of the benefits of sharing knowledge among academics, individual members of academic institutions tend to prioritize their individualistic achievements than on sharing common visions toward goals and objectives (Dokhtesmati & Bousari, 2013). Little is known about the benefits of sharing knowledge especially at team level and individual level. There is dearth of literature on this aspect globally as well as locally, especially in higher education context (Al-Kurdi, El-Haddadeh, & Eldabi, 2018). Therefore, the main
purpose of this study is to explore academics perception on knowledge sharing with a main focus on the importance of sharing knowledge among academics in HEIs in Maldives.
2. Literature Review
In the present century, the value of knowledge has risen (Agarwal & Islam, 2015), which in turn has made knowledge as one of the most strategically important assets in an organization (Bello & Oyekunle, 2014; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995), especially HEIs as they are in the business of generating and disseminating knowledge (Kim & Ju, 2008; Sohail & Daud, 2009).Since the knowledge markets are becoming competitive day by day, organizations are in dire need of intellectual individuals and are making use of the limited intellectuals in the forefront(Kumar, 2017).
As knowledge is a cognitive product which resides in the mind of individuals, managing knowledge is a challenge for every organization (Kumar, 2017; Antunes & Pinheiro, 2019). If a key employee leaves the organization, he takes his knowledge along with him. In order to avoid the knowledge loss, organizations requires effective knowledge management mechanisms to store the new knowledge in a sustainable way for future use (Amayah, 2013;
Schmitt, Borzillo, & Probst, 2011). A primary knowledge management strategy that has direct effect on knowledge management process is knowledge sharing (Amayah, 2013;
Cabrera & Cabrera, 2005). Walsh and Ungson (1991), in their study to examine the role of organization memory found that knowledge sharing between groups of individuals enables organizations to retain knowledge sustainably. Similarly, Agarwal and Islam (2015) stated that it is essential to make sure that knowledge is retained in the organization through continuous knowledge sharing practices among individuals.
Together with the need and importance of retaining knowledge in the organization, literature reveals that it is also important to retain the individuals who share that knowledge. Fidalgo and Gouveia (2012), in their study to examine the impact of employee turnover found that organizations make huge investments on training and capacity building of employees, and their value to the organization is essentially intangible and not easily replicated. So, in order to retain the key intellectuals in the organization it is essential for the organization to have the ability to capture the knowledge generated and make this widely available to employees (Ongori, 2007).
Sharing knowledge not only benefits the organization, it also has team level impacts. Review of the literature shows sharing knowledge among colleagues stimulates mutual learning, which encourages team performance (Henttonen, Kianto, & Ritala, 2016; Huang, 2013;
Srivastava, Bartol, & Locke, 2006). Thus, this reciprocity of continuous learning has become critical for a team to operate effectively and to compete in international markets(Tynjala, 2008). In organizational context, learning is not limited to learning from own experiences, but also from the experiences that is shared by the colleagues (Wang & Wang, 2012).
Especially in HEIs, there is a need for mutual reciprocity since the pool of academics’
expertise vary in disciplines and there is always something that could be learnt from using others strengths. However, studies done by Wasko and Faraj (2005), Chen and Hung (2010), and Hung, Lai, & Chou (2015), concluded that mutual reciprocity did not have a positive effect on knowledge sharing.
Knowledge sharing impacts at individual level too. From an Islamic perspective, knowledge is an Amanah – a god given bounty to its mankind (Bakir & Yaakub, 2011) which should be taken great care of. Islam encourages to share knowledge and it is considered as an obligatory act and if performed well, will be rewarded in the hereafter (Samsudin & Islam, 2015).
In the current era, sharing knowledge among colleagues may become one of the most effective and efficient approaches in facilitating individual and organization to be up to date or to enhance knowledge, skills and competency (Ru-Chu Shih, 2011). It is essential to determine how this process could be carried out, in order to maximize the available knowledge. Moreover, Lin (2007), stated that knowledge sharing is fundamental to generate new knowledge and develop opportunities to grow beyond by engaging in social interactions and learning process among employees.
Knowledge sharing among employees is widely known as a major source that enhances personal development of individuals, for instance; enhances autonomy, self fulfilment and also skill development (Ahmad & Karim, 2019). It is evident from the literature that utilization of collective know-how and expert’s opinion in the knowledge sharing process enhances efficiency at accomplishing tasks ultimately contributing to employee’s overall performance (Reychav & Weisberg, 2010).
3. Methodology
This qualitative study explored academics perception on knowledge sharing with a main focus on the importance of sharing knowledge among academics in HEIs in Maldives.
Purposive sampling strategy was employed to select participants for the study. Participants were recruited using two criteria: (1) full time staff; (2) staff with a minimum of three years’
work experience in the current institution. A total of 15 participants including deans, senior lecturers and lectures from five most experienced and well established HEIs were selected.
Participants from both sexes were included, this was to avoid gender disparity.
Data were collected via semi-structured interviews which Merriam (2009)described as “one which allows the researcher to respond to the situation at hand, to the emerging worldviews of the respondent, and to new ideas on the topic” (p.90). In-person interviews were conducted in the designated institutions of the respective academics. Before the interview, each participant was given a consent form and an information sheet which outlines the objective of the research, the criteria for participants, research procedures and participants rights. During the process of the interviews, the researcher probed for further information, elaboration or clarification of responses as deemed appropriate. All the interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded.
Data was analysed using the six-steps of thematic analysis process proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006).Next, the transcripts were shared with a colleague and analysed independently, and then discussed together. This process was conducted to ensure consistency of the findings and to increase the validity of the results (Creswell, 2014).Furthermore, the transcripts were sent to interviewees for confirmation and to get approval from the 15 participants to use their personal quotes in this study.
4. Discussion and Conclusion
One major theme and two sub-themes emerged from the data. The sub-themes are first described and then supported by verbatim quotations from the participants, linked to the literature and presented in the following section. The table 1 shows a summary of the emergent theme, sub-themes and codes. The sub-themes are discussed below.
Table 1: List of theme, sub-themes and codes
Benefits of Knowledge Sharing
Benefits of knowledge sharing was found to be the only theme that emerged from the data on why academics share their knowledge. Three sub-themes emerged from the main theme including organisational level, team level and individual level.
Organizational level
It is witnessed that knowledge sharing among academics contributes to the organization in numerous ways. Among those, the following academics expressed the importance of sharing knowledge for the purpose of preserving knowledge which would ultimately assist the organization to make scarce expertise widely available to the entire organization even though the staff leaves the organization. By doing so, the loss of know-how from the organization can be reduced.
Knowledge sharing is important as it is a way in which we could preserve knowledge that is shared and that could be re-used by the members in the institution even if the staff leaves (Senior Lecturer B, HEI B).
……there are very few people who are engaged in the kind of work that we are doing in this place which is most focussed on technology and about learning, I believe it is very important, because this is very limited, I mean in terms of expertise wise, there are limited number of people in the Maldives, this is a challenge that we have, we don’t have access to the very limited knowledge that we have in the Maldives (Dean A, HEI A).
Theme Sub-themes Codes
Benefits of Knowledge Sharing
Organizational level Knowledge retention
Staff retention
Maintaining competitive position
Team level
Individual level
Mutual reciprocity
Amanah-personal obligation
Keeping up to date
Personal development
Moreover, academics believed that knowledge sharing among academics is a means in which the organization could retain its’ staff. One of the Senior Lecturer’s further elaborated that it is also a process of mutual benefits in which the staff develops professionally contributing to the growth of the institution.
Knowledge sharing is of utmost important to the organization as it is one way in which the institution could retain the staff. In this way they will develop professionally, ultimately contributing to the institutional growth (Senior Lecturer D, HEI D).
Similarly, knowledge sharing also facilitates the organization to sustain its competitive edge.
Organizations engage in this process to create organization specific knowledge which are maintained systematically and disseminated as and when needed to advance and maintain the competitive position (Dean C, HEI C).
Hence, from the above excerpts it was proved that knowledge sharing among academics is crucial due to the various contributions to the parent organization. For instance, to retain knowledge, for staff retention and for sustainable competitive position. So, it is essential for the institution to put special emphasis on managing the knowledge that is being generated by its academics or else the institution might be at a disadvantage in terms of effectiveness and competitiveness.Similar findings on the benefits of knowledge sharing at organizational level were highlighted by Agarwal and Islam (2015), Amayah (2013), Antunes and Pinheiro (2019), Kumar (2017), Ongori (2007) and Walsh and Ungson (1991).
Team level
Essentially, knowledge sharing is of utmost important at team level, and this was affirmed by quiet a number of academics, especially among the group of lecturers who took part in this study. Since, academics are specialized in different areas, their expertise will differ from person to person. So, expected reciprocity in sharing knowledge among each other is one way in which mutual learning could occur as expressed by the academics in the following excerpt, Knowledge sharing is very important, because specially when we talk about the context in an institution like this, different academics are trained in different areas, so it is really important to share what we find out and what we read and the knowledge we gain, it is really important to share with others, because not everybody is doing the same work, so everybody won’t be getting the same opportunity, I mean to work in different areas, so it is important to share the knowledge we gain through an area with the other colleagues as well as beyond that (Lecturer B, HEI B).
Similar thoughts were expressed by Lecturer D and Lecturer B. They stated that academics are not knowledge experts. Those experts with a particular knowledge should help the team members by sharing their expertise so that new knowledge will be gained by the academics.
This reciprocity enhances the knowledge of individuals.
It’s very important to share knowledge, because everyone will not know everything, so, in that case you might know in some part much more than I know, so I have to get from you what I need, so that we will know many things that we did not know before ( Lecturer D, HEI D).
Is it really important to share materials, to share knowledge that I have to pass it to others, my colleagues and get from them in return. It also enriches my knowledge, because there are many things that I don’t know that I can learn from others and also many things that I could let others know from myself, so I think it is very important that we share knowledge with others and get knowledge from others as well (Lecturer B, HEI B).
Above excerpts proved that knowledge sharing at team level, especially reciprocity in knowledge sharing is of utmost importance in order for the growth of individuals. Learning takes place at different levels such as organization level, individual and team level.
Participants in this study have emphasized on the importance of learning from each other due to the lack of knowledge that a human possess. For this to happen, academics should be willing to share what they know with the members in the institutions. Despite of the studies by Wasko and Faraj (2005), Chen and Hung (2010), and Hung, Lai and Chou (2015) which opposed that expected reciprocity is a significant factor in knowledge sharing, the findings of this study is similar to findings highlighted by Henttonen, Kianto, & Ritala, (2016), Huang (2013), Srivastava, Bartol, & Locke (2006) and Wang and Wang (2012). They concluded that mutual reciprocity has a positive effect on knowledge sharing.
Individual level
In the process of knowledge sharing, individual acts as a knowledge generator and knowledge receiver. Likewise, knowledge sharing was found to be crucial at individual level due to the various benefits the indvidual acquires from this process. Firstly, Maldives being a 100 percent Muslim country, perceptions of the participants were influenced by their religious perspective too. Some viewed knowledge as an “Amanah”. In Islam, this means that knowledge is considered as a God-given bounty to the mankind. It should be shared with others without keeping it to oneself as explained by the following Dean,
Knowledge is an Amanah that is bestowed upon us, and as Muslims that knowledge does not belong to us, it should be shared, and you get the satisfaction when you fulfil the Amanah, and you also know how much knowledge you gained when you share your knowledge with others( Dean B, HEI B).
Agreeing with the above statement, Senior Lecturer E added on,
….our religion Islam encourages us to share knowledge, so we have to gain the knowledge as well as spread the knowledge as much as we can so that we can grow beyond ( Senior Lecturer E, HEI E).
The above narratives revealed that sharing knowledge is vital as it is considered as an obligation for muslims.Likewise, “keeping upto date” or “being updated”, was found to be another benefit of sharing knowledge at individual level.In this regards, the following Dean eloborated on the importance of being updated with the latest knowledge as it not only fosters growth but diversifies the knowledge of an individual as well.
I strongly believe that knowledge should be shared among academics as it fosters growth. It will enable an individual to keep up with the most recent updates regarding a specific discipline or even diversification of knowledge (Dean D, HEI D).
In line with Dean D, Dean E who was from technology background, expressed that being updated with the latest knowledge will help to speed up the work process.Hence, the person will be well informed with the latest findings and information which keeps on changing every second.
Knowledge sharing is vital, because in our field, new technology is created in every second, so keeping up to date is tremendous thing, and it will speed up certain things (Dean E, HEI E).
The more updated the indivdual’s knowledge become, the more knowledgable the person becomes. Thus, contributing to the individual’s personal growth. Personal growth was found to be the other benefit of sharing knowledge at individual level. This view was expressed by the following academics,
I personally believe that knowledge sharing is very important for the personal growth, especially the emerging new discipline, like technology (Dean A, HEI A).
Agreeing on the view of Dean A, Dean C and Senior Lecturer B added,
We have to be knowledgeable, for example, research and publication, contribution to the community, and so not just teaching, so there are number of areas we have to know and it is important to share knowledge, because then only we can develop our own personal capacity. We have to continuously improve ourselves, that means of course interacting with others, reading and of course doing lot of things, because what we know today might not be applicable tomorrow (Dean C, HEI C).
Knowledge sharing is a way in which we grow personally by increasing the knowledge that we already have. It is a way in which we learn and progress (Senior Lecturer B, HEI B).
The above narratives revealed that knowledge sharing plays an important role at individual level. This is the most crucial level, where the process is being originated. However, this has been found as the most challenging task for most of the organizations (Ipe, 2003). According to the participants of this study, firstly, in Islam, it is obligatory to seek and share knowledge, where the person will be rewarded in the hereafter (Samsudin & Islam, 2015;Bakir &
Yaakub, 2011).
Secondly, as academics’, it is very essential for them to be well equipped with the latest knowledge in order to be competent in the profession, especially in this knowledge era (Ru- Chu Shih, 2011).Being updated with the latest information , academics become more knowledgeable and confident in their respective area of expertise, and this fosters personal growth. These findings of this study are consistent with the findings done in other contexts that identified that knowledge should be shared as it updates the person and at the same time fosters personal growth (Reychav & Weisberg, 2010).
The current study explored the academics perception on knowledge sharing with a main focus on the importance of sharing knowledge among academics in HEIs in Maldives.
According to the findings, sharing knowledge among academics is found to be of importance at three levels, namely; organizational level, team and individual level. Findings of this study revealed that knowledge retention, staff retention and sustaining competitive position as important contributors of knowledge sharing at organizational level. Mutual reciprocity was found to be a key aspect at team level knowledge sharing. Individual benefits include sharing
knowledge for the fulfilment of obligation, being updated with the latest knowledge and for personal development. Therefore, it is crucial for HEIs to facilitate and support knowledge sharing practices within the institutions in order to survive and gain competitive advantage.
At the same time, it is expected that the institutions capitalize the knowledge that is generated by its academics and gain efficient value by turning it into knowledge management capabilities. The findings of this study have added insights into the knowledge sharing literature on HEI context.
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