Knowledge Sharing: Influences of Trust, Commitment and Cost

Purpose – This paper’s aim is to examine the influence of perceived cost of sharing knowledge and
affective trust in colleagues on the relationship between affective commitment and knowledge sharing.
Design/methodology/approach – The methodology used was a survey of 496 employees from 15
organizations across ten industries.
Findings – Affective trust in colleagues moderates the relationship between affective commitment and
knowledge sharing and the relationship between cost of knowledge sharing and knowledge sharing.
Research limitations/implications – Future researchers should operationalize the perceived cost of
knowledge sharing construct to include other potential group barriers; for instance, politics and
organizational barriers, management commitment and lack of trust.
Practical implications – The findings of this study suggest that employees who value social
relationships and social resources tend to view knowledge as a collectively owned commodity. As such,
their knowledge sharing behavior reflects the model of reciprocal social exchanges.
Social implications – The results of this study indicate that an organizational culture that encourages
affect-based trust between colleagues will facilitate knowledge sharing.
Originality/value – The paper bridges the gap between the literature on knowledge sharing, perceived
cost of knowledge sharing, affective organizational commitment and trust in a single model.