Title: Impact of manager's social power on R&D employees' knowledge-sharing behaviour

Authors: Li-Fen Liao

Addresses: Ching Yun University, Department of Information Management, No. 229, Chien_Hsin Rd., Jung-Li, Taoyuan, Taiwan 320, R.O.C.

Abstract: Sharing knowledge within the R&D team is one of the crucial ways to sustain competitive advantage. According to the social power theory, a manager has five types of power to influence the subordinate|s behaviour. This study examines the impact of the manager|s social power on R&D employees| knowledge-sharing behaviour. From the results of our original model, we proposed a revised model which assesses the interrelationship among five social powers. Data gathered from 105 R&D employees were employed to examine the relationship of the manager|s social powers and R&D employees| knowledge-sharing behaviour. The results indicate that the manager|s reward and expert powers have direct effects on knowledge-sharing behaviour, while coercive, legitimate, and reference powers have direct impact on expert power. Therefore, coercive, legitimate, and reference powers have indirect influence on knowledge-sharing behaviour.

Keywords: coercive power; expert power; knowledge sharing; legitimate power; reference power; reward power; social power; R&D; research and development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2008.015990

International Journal of Technology Management, 2008 Vol.41 No.1/2, pp.169 - 182

Published online: 02 Dec 2007 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article