從社會交換理論觀點探討團隊成員內隱知識取得與分享之研究

A Study on Tacit Knowledge Acquisition and Sharing among Group Members from a Social Exchange Theory Perspective

楊書成(Shu-Chen Yang)

指導教授 ： 范錚強

國立中央大學/管理學院/資訊管理學系/博士(2006年)

摘要

知識已經逐漸取代了傳統的土地與資金，成為企業最重要的資產。然而，知識本身無法創造價值，必須透過組織成員之間的分享及利用才能產生效益，因此知識分享遂成為企業創造競爭優勢的重要來源。我們通常將知識區分為「內隱知識」和「外顯知識」，前者被視為具有極高價值的無形資產，並和個人或組織的地位及競爭優勢息息相關。然而，一般人由於害怕喪失優勢或沒有適當的獎勵機制，因而不願意向別人分享他的「內隱知識」，包含一些經驗和訣竅。許多學者認為，內隱知識的分享在本質上乃是一種社會互動的過程。因此，本研究透過「社會交換理論」的觀點，探討兩種社會交換關係－「社會資本」和「組織公民行為」，與個人在工作團隊中「內隱知識取得和分享」的關係。此外，由於個人的知識分享行為乃是一種牽涉到他人的社會化行為，而且通常不見得完全能夠由個人所掌控（可能有所阻礙或沒有機會），因此本研究亦利用「計畫行動理論」的基礎來解釋，「社會規範」與「行為控制」對於個人「內隱知識分享意圖及行為」的影響。此外，組織氣氛亦對組織內部成員的行為具有相當程度的影響力，本研究亦探討工作團隊的「團結氣氛」和「公平氣氛」與個人「內隱知識分享意圖及行為」的關係。
綜此，本研究提出一個多層次的研究模型，並透過「多線民」的方法來收集資料，經分析後得到以下四個重要結果。首先，「社會資本」的累積，有助於個人在工作團隊內的「內隱知識取得」，而「組織公民行為」則是和個人在工作團隊內的「內隱知識分享意圖及行為」息息相關。此外，「社會資本」的兩個構面－「情感式信任」及「共享價值」，都會促成個人「組織公民行為」的展現。第二，個人感受到的「工作場所社會接納度」，並不會在「內隱知識取得」與「內隱知識分享意圖」之間產生中介效果。換句話說，本研究的分析結果發現，個人在工作團隊內的「內隱知識取得」，會直接及間接影響其「內隱知識分享意圖」。此外，「工作場所社會接納度」與「組織公民行為」之間亦具有正向的關係。第三，在本研究的兩個社會規範變數中，僅有「描述性規範」會對個人在工作團隊內的「內隱知識分享意圖」造成正面的影響，而「命令式規範」和「內隱知識分享意圖」之間的關係並沒有受到統計上顯著的支持。在行為控制方面，較高的「內部控制」會對造成較高的「內隱知識分享意圖」，而「外部控制」則會調節「內隱知識分享意圖」與「內隱知識分享行為」之間的關係。值得注意的是，在不考慮「外部控制」的調節效果時，個人的「內隱知識分享意圖」並不必然導致其「內隱知識分享行為」。最後，在團隊層次方面，本研究發現僅有「團結氣氛」會正面影響個人在工作團隊中的「內隱知識分享意圖及行為」。本研究的結果，除了有助於知識分享研究的累積之外，更有助於知識管理實務的落實。

關鍵字

意圖與行為的關係 ； 知識取得 ； 多層次模型 ； 組織公民行為 ； 社會資本 ； 社會交換理論 ； 組織氣氛 ； 計畫行為理論 ； 知識分享

並列摘要

While “knowledge” is recognized as an important asset for organizations, its value can only be realized through intensive sharing among organizational members. Knowledge sharing is thus an essential source of organizational advantage. Tacit knowledge differs from explicit knowledge in that tacit knowledge is usually considered as a valuable intangible resource that leads to the formation of competitive advantage for an individual or organization. An individual usually is reluctant to contribute his tacit knowledge due to the potential risk of losing advantage and a lack of proper reward mechanisms. Several researchers suggest that tacit knowledge sharing among employees is a process of social interaction by nature. Based on the social exchange theory, two types of social exchange – social capital and organizational citizenship behavior – are employed to investigate an individual’s tacit knowledge acquisition from and sharing with coworkers within a work group. This study also employs the theory of planned behavior to explicate the effects of social norms and behavioral control on an individual’s tacit knowledge sharing that is inherently certain a kind of interpersonal action and sometimes beyond an individual’s volitional control. Besides, two group-level constructs – affiliation climate and fairness climate – are also hypothesized to have positive effects on an individual’s tacit knowledge sharing intention and behavior.
This study proposes a multilevel research model and collects data through a multi-informant questionnaire design. Analyses are based on data collected from 279 respondents participating in 93 work groups across 58 organizations. Results are presented in four areas as follows. First, tacit knowledge acquisition and tacit knowledge sharing are found to be facilitated by social capital and organizational citizenship behavior respectively. Besides, both dimensions of social capital – affective-based trust and shared value – positively affect organizational citizenship behavior. Second, the mediating effect of workplace social inclusion does not gain support, which is contrary to our hypothesis. That is, tacit knowledge acquisition has both direct and indirect effects on tacit knowledge sharing intention. Besides, workplace social inclusion has positive effect on organizational citizenship behavior. Third, among the variables derived from the Theory of Planned Behavior, descriptive norm positively affect tacit knowledge sharing intention while the relationship between injunctive norm and tacit knowledge sharing intention failed to gain support. Internal control has positive effect on tacit knowledge sharing intention rather than tacit knowledge sharing behavior, while external control positively moderates the relationship between tacit knowledge sharing intention and behavior. It is interesting to note that tacit knowledge sharing intention does not necessarily lead to tacit knowledge sharing behavior unless the moderating effect of external control is taken into account. Finally, the results of cross-level analyses show that affiliation rather than fairness is positively related to tacit knowledge sharing intention and behavior. These findings and their implications are also discussed.

並列關鍵字

Intention-Behavior Relationship ； Knowledge Acquisition ； Knowledge Sharing ； Multilevel Modeling ； OCB ； Climate ； Social Capital ； TPB model ； Social Exchange Theory

參考文獻

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