Creating incentives for knowledge sharing: combining context and signaling

Abstract

Incentives to encourage knowledge sharing have received considerable attention from the research community. However, consensus on the influence of incentives on sharing levels and what are the critical success factors is yet to emerge. This causes challenges for both knowledge management researchers and practitioners, as the effects of incentive systems cannot be predicted consistently. Hence, this article aims to discuss the critical factors for creating incentive systems to encourage sharing. To improve the prediction accuracy for such systems, a new framework is proposed. The proposed framework is a combination of sociological and economical approaches, which covers both the influence incentives and the relational factors that govern the behaviour of individuals in any given relationship. Analysis of a case study base on the proposed framework is then compared to two alternative frameworks approaches to incentive design. The comparison between the predictions made by the three theories shows that the prediction power and that the critical factors for designing incentives varies significantly. Therefore, when managers design new incentive structures to encourage knowledge sharing, they need to consider which theory captures their hidden assumptions and the presented situation's foundations most accurately. Finally future research directions are suggested based on the predictions made with the framework are proposed.