Technology and Knowledge Sharing. The Moderating Effect of Trust, Psychological Safety and Autonomy

Master's Thesis from the year 2023 in the subject Psychology - Industrial and organizational psychology, grade: 2.0, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, language: English, abstract: This study examines the relationship between employees' perception of knowledge management systems (KMS) and their knowledge sharing behavior (KS) within a book company. It focuses on how trust, psychological safety, and autonomy moderate this relationship. The study involved 194 employees from various organizational levels and departments who completed an online survey.
Findings indicate that employees' perception of KMS, organizational trust, and autonomy significantly relate to KS behavior, whereas psychological safety does not. Trust and psychological safety were found to moderate the relationship between perception of KMS and KS behavior, emphasizing the significance of interpersonal factors in effective KMS implementation. This moderation effect was particularly strong among individuals with low levels of trust and psychological safety. The study provides evidence that promoting positive and trustful relationships is crucial in translating a favorable perception of KMS into actual knowledge sharing behavior, in addition to improving and adapting KMS.