The Influence of Psychological Safety and Confidence in Knowledge on Employee Knowledge Sharing

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Siemsen, Enno; Roth, Aleda V.; Balasubramanian, Sridhar; Anand, Gopesh
• 署名单位: University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Clemson University; University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• 刊物名称: M&SOM-MANUFACTURING & SERVICE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1523-4614
• DOI: 10.1287/msom.1080.0233
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 429-447
• 关键词: PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY; knowledge sharing; operational choices; auxiliary network theory

摘要

This research empirically examines the influence of psychological safety on knowledge sharing among coworkers in manufacturing and service operations contexts. Reconciling conflicting findings in the literature, we demonstrate that whereas psychological safety is an important antecedent of knowledge sharing, the relationship between psychological safety and knowledge sharing is moderated by the level of confidence that employees have in what they know. The greater this confidence, the lesser is the importance of psychological safety in facilitating knowledge sharing. Linking this result to social network theory, we find that psychological safety increases with the frequency of communication among coworkers and that the confidence of employees in their knowledge is related to the codifiability of the knowledge involved. We further investigate direct and indirect antecedents of psychological safety. This research offers insights into actions that managers can take to enhance psychological safety and, consequently, motivate their employees to share knowledge.