Exploratory Assessment of Knowledge Sharing Practices in Ethiopian Higher Academic Institutions

Abstract

Today knowledge management and knowledge sharing have been appeared as one of the most important areas in knowledge management practices and established as a basic resource for the organization's competitive advantage all across the world. Therefore, to be competent, organizations need to manage and utilize knowledge for increasing the probability of success. Knowledge sharing is the major component of knowledge management because having knowledge is meaningless unless it is shared and allowed it to be used by others. The aim of this study was to assess and explore the existing knowledge sharing practices among the staff of the academic institutions/universities. In addition, the study identified the level/ extent of knowledge sharing practices, existing barriers that hinder knowledge sharing practices and technologies facilitate the sharing of knowledge. This study applied the descriptive research design for a cross-sectional survey to describe the phenomenon and mixed (i.e. qualitative & quantitative) research approach for the knowledge exploration from the collected data. The findings of the study revealed that Universities academic staffs were not satisfied with the existing knowledge sharing practices. In addition, no motivational scheme was observed for knowledge sharing and also individual, organizational and technological factors were significantly found to be hampering to share their knowledge.

Keywords: Knowledge Management (KM), Knowledge Sharing (KS), Knowledge Sharing Practices (KSP), Community of Practice (CoP)