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single university was for all respondents to suggest that there are no any incentives for
knowledge sharing. Other responses were distributed, for instance, two respondents from
same university mentioned a similar incentive, one mentioned another incentive and another
one suggested there is no incentive at all. The next section makes a few suggestions on how
the reward system can be improved. The terms “reward” and “compensation” are used
interchangeably within the following discussion to mean any benefit a person receives,
attributed to his or her knowledge contribution.
4.2.2. Measures to improve the rewarding system.
As suggested in section 4.1.2 knowledge sharing needs to be recognised by staff as part of
their job and incorporated in their job description. Nermien Al-Ali suggests that if employees
do not perceive knowledge sharing to be part of their job for which they are compensated,
they will not do it. Time for sharing and collaboration should be well accepted as part of the
job, and the job description should specify how it should be exercised. It should be very clear
as to what time is devoted to sharing activities and how the contribution will be noted and
rewarded, See Al-Ali (2003). Tanzania public university libraries need to specify the time and
tools meant to facilitate knowledge sharing and make them known to staff.
Such rewards like financial compensation and recognition do not last long because they are
not documented anywhere; as a matter of fact they are easily forgotten. Tanzania public
university libraries need to find a way to present the acknowledgment of knowledge shared in
such a way that, the next generation can read about these kind of success and feel the
inspiration to follow past examples or even to do something bigger. One way to achieve this
is through reflecting past achievements in employees‟ performance reviews and appraisal
systems. Once there is evidence for future reference reflecting the names of the knowledge
sharers, what they shared and how it helped the success of the organisation, other people are
likely to be motivated to share. Best practices success stories can indeed be a motivation once
they are celebrated.
The design of the reward systems should start by identifying the previous existing ones.
Assessment should be made to identify their achievement and how they can best fit the
current situation. In Tanzania public university libraries for instance, it may start by assessing
the impact that promotion and recognition have on knowledge sharing as both seem to score
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