UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business ------------------------------ Ta Tran Trung KNOWLEDGE SHARING INTENTION AMONG EMPLOYEES IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES: A CASE IN HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business ------------------------------ Ta Tran Trung KNOWLEDGE SHARING INTENTION AMONG EMPLOYEES IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES: A CASE IN HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SUPERVISOR: Dr. TRAN PHUONG THAO Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Tran Phuong Thao for het patient attitude, valuable comment, helpful advice and continuous encouragement during the time of research and writing this research work. My grateful thanks are also extended to my friends, my lecturers and Research Committee for their valuable time as their insightful comments and meaningful suggestions were contributed significantly for my completion of this research.
3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATION WORDS CEO: Chief Executive Officer CFA: Confirmatory Factor Analysis EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis GDP: Gross Domestic Product ITC: Information and communication technology SEM: Structural Equation Modeling SMEs: Small and medium sized enterprises TRA: The Theory of Reasoned Action VND: Vietnamese Dong 4 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1 A summary of prior studies on knowledge sharing. 16 Table 2 Measurement Scale. 19 Table 3 Descriptive statistics. 21 Table 4 Means and Cronbach alpha of items after deleting items results.
25 Table 5 Pattern matrix. 27 Table 6 KMO and Bartlett's Test. 28 Table 7 SEM Hypothesis testing results. 32 Table 8 Multi-group analysis results.
34 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Multi-group analysis model. 33 5 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Literature review and hypothesis development.
6 Social Exchange Theory. 6 Theory of Reasoned Action. Related review and hypothesis. Sampling and methods.
Data analysis and results. Exploratory Factor Analysis. Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Multi-group analysis results (The moderating effect results).
Conclusions and implications. Limitations and directions for future research. Questionnaire English version. Bảng câu hỏi khảo sát (Questionnaire Vietnamese version).
Cronbach’s alpha results. 59 KMO and Bartlett's Test. Multi-group analysis results. 70 6 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Abstract Knowledge is a valuable asset, a creativity, innovation, and potential contribution for the development of business.
That is the reason why knowledge sharing is researched to find out the way to promote knowledge sharing, to take advantage of this core competency. A survey with a convenience sample of about 450 SMEs employees in Ho Chi Minh City was conducted with 18 variables and 429 observations valid samples in order to assess an overview of the opinions of all employees in SMEs on intend to share knowledge. The data were analyzed by Reliability Analysis, EFA, CFA, SEM method and the results indicated factors Image, Subjective norms and Rewards have positive influence on the intention to share knowledge and Individual culture has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between both Image and Subjective norms toward intention to share knowledge. Based on the finding of the research, the organization should respect and listen to the opinions of the employees and create the awareness of knowledge sharing as a must.
As majority of prior researches on enterprise knowledge sharing focus mainly on the public sector, large private companies, these new findings can be investigated in further research, because sharing knowledge in SMEs is still a new concept in developing country as Vietnam. Keywords knowledge sharing intention, small and medium sized enterprises, Subjective norms, Image, Rewards, Intention to share knowledge, Individual culture. 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Introduction Managing knowledge effectively is believed to be crucial to the achievement of the organization, specifically in those companies that want to maintain their dominance through creativity (Dieng, 2000).
As more companies try to increase benefit by widen their knowledge assets, a lot of enterprises have considered knowledge sharing as part of their strategy. It is believed that knowledge sharing has been concerned by many academics and professionals globally. Zakaria, Amelinckx and Wilemon (2004) confirm that the role of knowledge sharing within a team should be emphasized. Blair (2002) believes that when employees in the organization gain a lot of knowledge in their organization, the organization has something far more valuable than data and information.
Many prior studies show that collaboration and knowledge sharing are important factors that organization should applied so as to attain continued competitive advantage (Tapscott & Williams, 2006). Cyril Eze, Guan Gan Goh, Yih Goh and Ling Tan (2013) state that a number of SMEs are manipulate knowledge management program to keep up with or stay ahead of their competitors as a business leader. In Vietnamese organizations, it is easy to see that the tendency to approach new things in knowledge has evolved since the "Doi Moi" era to adapt to the globalized economy. Although the sharing of knowledge is often seen as something new and meaningful in the context of Vietnam (Dong, Gia Liem, & Grossman, 2010), Dong et al., (2010) reveal that this is in fact only strongly empower individuals to access organizational knowledge 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com instead of sharing their knowledge to other members.
Beside the practicality of knowledge sharing in companies, there are existing elements restraint knowledge sharing culture, including the lack of organizational structures, unfriendly sharing working environment, and denominational segregation (Davenport & Prusak, 1998; as cited in Hendriks, 1999). Additionally, the fact is that SME enterprises occupy most of the companies in Vietnam and contribute most of the domestic work (Swierczek & Ha, 2003; Dan, 2008). In general, the ineffective knowledge sharing system can make employees in a company unable to improve their knowledge and transfer their experience to other members. On the other hand, a rich and effective knowledge sharing system can help employees save time and effort to solve problems that arise in the workplace.
Witherspoon, Bergner, Cockrell and Stone (2013) believe that the future success of the organization will depend on sharing knowledge and this will be a vital strategy in the new era. It is understood that an organization will create a better working environment for development and innovation as it builds a better and more effective knowledge sharing system. In addition, Desouza and Awazu (2006) state that common knowledge of employees of SMEs is deep and broad, and it can actively support small business in knowledge sharing. Prior studies also indicate some of the factors that impact the knowledge sharing intension such as company rewards, reciprocity, ICT use, knowledge self-efficacy and top management support (Chang, Hsu, Shiau, & Tsai, 2015; Dong et al., 2010; Kanzler, Niedergassel, & Leker, 2012; Tohidinia & Mosakhani, 2010).
However, as given by Tohidinia and Mosakhani (2010) almost studies take into account 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com determinants of knowledge sharing intention in a specific group of people or a whole population. Notably, studies by Fathi, Eze and Goh (2011) and also Chong, Chong and Wong (2007) indicate that the majority of prior researches on enterprise knowledge sharing focus on the public sector, large private companies, while very few focus on knowledge management conducted in SMEs. Additionally, according to Yu (2014), individual culture in different countries may affect the knowledge sharing intention, but there are not many studies investigating the influence of this factor on knowledge sharing intention. In SMEs the knowledge management model which is basically based upon knowledge sharing – through constant and open communication (often SME strength) – the making explicit of often buried or tacit knowledge held by all employees (Gray, 2006).
Gold, Malhotra and Segars (2001) emphasize that knowledge infrastructures such as technology, structure and culture along with knowledge acquisition, conversion, application and protection are essential organizational capabilities for higher organizational performance. Therefore, SMEs need to identify the influence of personal culture on the sharing of knowledge to bring more valuable benefits to their organization. It is believed that large firm with large customer base tent to perceive a Knowledge management system more useful and have a better chance to apply Knowledge management system to build sustain competitive advantage. Besides, SMEs are known of lacking of knowledge management practices even though they have a strong communication links and social networks in the organization.
It is said that knowledge sharing especially tacit knowledge, is highly and actively interacted in SMEs. As more 4 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com and more researches are interested in exploring this tacit knowledge sharing which is very valuable and difficult to codify, SMEs could benefit from this advantage compared to bigger organizations. While there are many documents indicate some examples of research related to knowledge sharing, previous studies show that there is not much study on the intention to share knowledge in developing economies like Vietnam. With a relatively large population, Vietnam has a thriving economy, always focused on strengthening global trade relations.
With these factors, the economy is considered as the most remarkable economy in Southeast Asia (Doan Ngoc & Nguyen, 2013). With these factors, the economy is considered as the most remarkable economy in Southeast Asia (Doan Ngoc & Nguyen, 2013). The role of SMEs in Vietnam is widely accepted as the main driving force for the national economy (Molnar, Nguyen, Homolka, & Macdonald, 2011). According to statistics from the Ministry of Justice, there is a strong growth of Vietnamese SMEs over the past few years, accounting for 97% of the total number of domestic enterprises.
In addition, there are many important roles and benefits of SMEs, such as creating jobs, increasing income for workers, encouraging social capital for investment and development, reducing poverty in the local area. SMEs generate more than half of new jobs; using up to 51% of the workforce and contributing up to 40% of GDP (Phan, Nguyen, Mai, & Le, 2015). Therefore, by investigating the importance of knowledge sharing for SMEs in Vietnam, the study could help to improve the knowledge 5 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com sharing culture of SMEs, thereby contributing significantly to the development of business in Vietnam. Dong et al.
(2010) argues that Vietnam is still at the beginning of its own preparations for full participation in the knowledge economy. Even though a lot of research papers have been implemented to produce research on knowledge management and innovation strategies, research based on the context of the Asia Pacific region is still in the development stage. Additionally, as argue by Dong et al. (2010), many prior studies take into account large companies instead of SMEs.
Thus, the findings of this study could be embedded in Vietnamese contexts to find the practical ways for enterprises to implement successfully and fill the gap of studying the moderating role of individual culture in the relationship between factors and knowledge sharing intention in order to contribute to the development of SMEs in Vietnam. Literature review and hypothesis development 2. Foundational theory Social Exchange Theory Social exchange theory is a social psychological and sociological perspective that describes social change and stability as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties. Social exchange theory posits that human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives.
In other words, this theory believe that people rely on the costs and benefits related to forming relationships, 6 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com rather than just relying on emotions. It is applicable not only in the relationship between individuals together, but also be applied in the relationship between colleagues at work and other relationships George and Homans (1961) develope Social exchange theory.