Knowledge-Sharing Leadership: Sharing of Knowledge in Relationship to Leadership

OBJECTIVE
The perspective of this project was that analyzing the relationship between knowledge-sharing and leadership would enable the organization to derive meaning on what leadership practices can support and enhance sharing knowledge.

METHODOLOGY
The study took place in a research and development organization, involving 42 participants engaged in two recognized organizational knowledge-sharing activities, in a best-practices qualitative research framework. In addition to completing a modified version of the LPI (referring to leaders in the organization generally), respondents completed a 23-item Knowledge-Sharing Assessment Tool (modified from O’Dell, Hubert, McDermott, Odem & Hasanali, 2000), and provided demographic data. The typical respondent was a member of the technical staff (74%), between 30-39 years of age (60%), male (77%), with at least a college degree (97%).

KEY FINDINGS
Within this sample population, the rank order of the leadership practices was Enabling, Modeling, Challenging, Encouraging, and Inspiring. Results indicated that “when a respondent scored high on leadership they also tended to score high on knowledge-sharing” (p. 91). Both job title and length of service were also positive related to leadership practices.