Faculty of Information and Communication Studies Philippines

UPOU LIBRARY

KNOWLEDGE SHARING AS COMMUNICATION: AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF COMMUNICATION AND

KNOWLEDGE SHARING PRACTICES IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING

DOLORES DORONILA- BORRAS

Faculty of Information and Communication Studies University of the Philippines

OPEN UNIVERSITY

Collage, Laguna Philippines

2016

©2016

By

Dolores Doronila- Borras

ABSTRACT

BORRAS, DOLORES DORONILA. University of the Philippines Open University. Los Bancs, Lagune, July 2016. Knowledge Sharing as

Communication: An Empirical Examination of Communication and Knowledge Sharing Practices in an Académie Setting.

Major Professer: Dr. Melinda F.Lumanta

This study investigated the relationships between communication practices

and Knowledge Sharing process (KS). The overriding purpose of this

research is to come up with a unique picture of the Knowledge Sharing (KS)

in the academe looking into its Communication Practices.

Specifically, this study aimed: (1) to identify dimensions of communication

from communication practices as generated through exploratory factor

analysis and develop scales for measuring communication practices in an académie setting, (2) to examine how communication practices are related to Knowledge sharing practice in the target académie setting and (3) to identify predictors of KS from the identified communication dimensions.

The samples were 209 teaching and non-teaching personnel from a private

Catholic académie institution in Batangas. The respondents completed a

survey questionnaire from past studies.

A conceptual framework was designed to guide the study. Exploratory Factor

Analysis was used to examine the underlying factor structure of a set of observable communication practices in the academe. This resulted to four

factor loadings which led to the formulation of four pairs of hypothèses. A

combined analysis using Pearson corrélation with two-tailed tests of

significance and régression analyses were utilized in this research.

The structural dimension of social capital which refers to the climate factors,

relational dimension of trust and reciprocity and leader-member exchange theory explain the prevalence of supportive communication in the setting.

The results suggest that upward, horizontal and downward supportive

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communication are the pervading communication dimensions présent in the academe. An unexpected relationship was noted on Communication Load

and KS. issues of being "overload" proved not to be a concern among

respondents of the study and was suspected to be due to impression management, communication capacity and proficiency and organizational citizenship of the personnel. Implications for stratégie and leadership management and research were forwarded as recommandations.

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