Title: Team personality composition, affective ties and knowledge sharing: a team-level analysis

Authors: Bi-Fen Hsu, Wei-Li Wu, Ryh-Song Yeh

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, No. 123, Sec. 3, Dasyue Rd., Douliou City, Yunlin County 640, Taiwan. ' Department of International Business Management, Ching Yun University, No. 229, Chien-Hsin Rd., Jung-Li, Taiwan. ' Department of International Business, Yuan Ze University, No. 135, Yuan-Tung Road, Chung-Li, 32003, Taiwan

Abstract: As knowledge has become the most valuable asset for organizations in the knowledge economy age, the related issue of knowledge management has attracted increasing attention. In particular, the concept of knowledge sharing, a necessary process for organisations seeking fruitful knowledge transfer and creation can help organisations gain and sustain a competitive advantage. In this study, we investigate the issue of knowledge sharing based on the input-process-output (IPO) model at the team level. Fifty-three teams composed of 205 employees participated in this exploration of the relationships among team personality composition (based on a five-factor personality model), team process (affective ties) and team outcomes (knowledge sharing). With respect to team personality composition, higher team mean levels of conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience and extroversion corresponded with higher levels of knowledge sharing. Agreeableness and extroversion also were associated with knowledge sharing through intra-team affective ties.

Keywords: team personalities; team composition; affective ties; knowledge sharing; knowledge management; knowledge transfer; knowledge creation; five-factor model; personality modelling; team process; team outcomes; conscientiousness; agreeableness; openness to experience; extroversion.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2011.038597

International Journal of Technology Management, 2011 Vol.53 No.2/3/4, pp.331 - 351

Published online: 06 Apr 2013 *

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