Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Claire Gubbins et al
“my thing with [engineers] is <strong>the</strong>y keep things close to <strong>the</strong>ir hearts, like ‘this is my thing
and I’m not going to show anyone how to fix this because I won’t have a job tomorrow if I
show someone else how to fix this’.. I always get that impression from <strong>the</strong>m ‘I won’t tell
you what I’m doing because <strong>the</strong>n you’ll be able to do it tomorrow’. They’ll give <strong>the</strong>
information to each o<strong>the</strong>r but when I’m doing that overview meeting <strong>the</strong>y keep
<strong>the</strong>mselves to <strong>the</strong>mselves. I get that impression that <strong>the</strong>y don’t want to pass on that
knowledge. I think it’s because <strong>the</strong>y think <strong>the</strong>y might not have a job tomorrow if <strong>the</strong>y
hand it over. I get that impression, although it’s not that anybody has ever said it.”
(Engineer Team Leader 1)
Source Attributes: Potential explanations for <strong>the</strong> expressed perceptions that knowledge is retained for
benefit suggest that in some cases it may be more to do with individual attributes than hoarding for
personal power benefits. These attributes include <strong>the</strong> individual’s beliefs about <strong>the</strong> learning process
and willingness to engage with those outside <strong>of</strong> personal friendship networks. Some respondents are
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> opinion that <strong>the</strong> best way to learn is by figuring it out yourself ra<strong>the</strong>r than being told. O<strong>the</strong>r
respondents believe that some are <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> opinion that as <strong>the</strong>y had to learn <strong>the</strong> hard way <strong>the</strong>n so
should all o<strong>the</strong>rs.
“I find myself that if you learn <strong>the</strong> hard route, <strong>the</strong> more pain you go through in learning
something, you’re never going to forget it…..Its a lot better to learn it yourself by doing it
yourself in a way, its more real. It’s like a person can talk to you forever but you won’t
take it in until you experience it. …. <strong>the</strong> fatal mistake is to tell him everything. He must
work it out himself and must learn it himself, no point in just telling a fella. That’s <strong>the</strong>
problem here, is that it’s a lot better to teach a person how to fish than to give <strong>the</strong>m a
fish” (Engineer 5)
The second explanation related to personal friendship networks and perceptions that knowledge is
shared only between those whom were/are already friends.
“I think you have shift favourites in that you have some guy that would have worked with
some o<strong>the</strong>r guy on a particular shift so <strong>the</strong> next time he comes in on shift he will work
with him again. (Engineer 5)
The fifth key influencer is also a potential explanation for that on knowledge as personal power,
namely recognition. This is driven by individual’s motivations as well as by <strong>the</strong> organisations reward
mechanism, <strong>the</strong> latter <strong>of</strong> which is outside <strong>the</strong> scope <strong>of</strong> this paper. Engineers seek recognition or
‘brownie points’ from management for being <strong>the</strong> ‘expert’, for applying <strong>the</strong>ir knowledge to a machine
breakdown in an efficient manner or in <strong>the</strong>ir ability to deal with complex problems. In some cases
<strong>the</strong>se experts are also asked to design and/or deliver training programmes for o<strong>the</strong>rs which adds a
new dimension to <strong>the</strong>ir role, potentially allows for overtime and again is a form <strong>of</strong> recognition for <strong>the</strong>ir
knowledge.
4. Conclusion
Carbera et al., (2006) found that KM system level variables such as perceived availability <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
system and perceived quality were <strong>the</strong> least predictive variables <strong>of</strong> knowledge sharing (lesser than
individual and organisational level variables). Knowledge sharing requires dissemination mediums
however this is not <strong>the</strong> only requirement; psychological and organisational factors need to be
appropriately managed.
In summary, a number <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> findings outlined are worthy <strong>of</strong> discussion. The attributes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> seeker
and <strong>the</strong> source and specifically his/her personal, interpersonal and meta-competencies that facilitate
<strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> knowledge seeking such as personal drive and confidence in his/her social skills,
knowledge <strong>of</strong> task and in how o<strong>the</strong>rs perceive his/her knowledge are found to be important. Individual
level factors <strong>of</strong> this nature are important for both <strong>the</strong> knowledge seeker and <strong>the</strong> knowledge source
during <strong>the</strong> knowledge capture process. Endres et al.,(2007) discuss <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> self-efficacy in tacit
knowledge sharing which is a concept which represents <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong> this study well. Endres et al.,
(2007) suggest that individuals require self-efficacy or a personal belief in <strong>the</strong>ir ability to perform a
task in order to be motivated to do it. Self-efficacy is argued to increase under four conditions;
enactive mastery, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion and physiological arousal (Gist & Mitchell,
1992). In <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> tacit knowledge Endres et al., (2007) propose that <strong>the</strong>se conditions should be
enabled respectively through; individuals having <strong>the</strong> opportunity to successful engage in tacit
knowledge seeking and capture, viewing/modelling o<strong>the</strong>rs engage successfully in seeking and
capture and receiving praise/encouragement from o<strong>the</strong>rs in efforts to do this task. Higher self-efficacy
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