Integrating organizational and motivation-based perspectives to investigate employees' knowledge sharing behaviors. Empirical evidence from innovative manufacturing companies

Starting from some decades ago, companies have been forced to rethink their organizational forms, due to the increasing strategic value incorporated in the intangible assets, particularly in the knowledge resources. Consequently, they have adopted organizational structures likely to support intra-organizational knowledge sharing processes. However, as knowledge is rooted in individuals’ minds, it is also important to understand what motivates them to share it. This research integrates new organizational forms and individuals’ motivation literature while attempting to understand how individual motivation and integrative mechanisms affect employees’ knowledge sharing behaviors. We investigate the influence of the dynamic relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on employees’ knowledge sharing as well as whether extrinsic motivation affects the role played by integrative mechanisms on knowledge sharing. The paper concludes by discussing its limitations and the directions for future research.