Knowledge as an Intellectual Property: The Effect of Knowledge Sharing and Encouragement by Others on Information Systems Use in the Workplace

Organizations invest in Information Systems (IS) to help achieve strategic goals and to disseminate knowledge in order to enhance employee productivity. Most individuals consider knowledge as their intellectual property. However, sharing the knowledge about using IS and encouraging others to use IS has received limited attention in research. This study examined employees’ knowledge sharing (collegial and technical knowledge), encouragement by others to share knowledge, and their role in predicting computer self-efficacy (CSE) and IS usage. This study included 256 participants from five different organizations. Web-based instrument was used based on prior measures from literature, and an expert panel review was done. We conducted a confirmatory data analysis using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS®. Our results indicate that encouragement by others does significantly impact knowledge sharing. We also found that while technical knowledge sharing had a significantly positive influence on CSE, collegial knowledge sharing had a negative influence on CSE.