Ding, Z (2007) Interpersonal trust and willingness to share knowledge among architects: a two-stage triangulation research. PhD thesis, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Abstract
Architectural design is a knowledge-intensive activity. It demands both explicit and tacit knowledge. However, architects are not always willing to share their knowledge with others. What factors, therefore, would encourage architects’ knowledge-sharing behavior? In knowledge management literature, trust is considered as an important factor influencing the knowledge sharing behavior. Given the interest of researchers and practitioners in trust and knowledge sharing in teams, current research aims to expand the understanding of factors that influence trust and the mechanisms through which integrate willingness to share knowledge with a more general theoretical framework. The whole research is divided into two stages: an exploratory study and an explanatory study. In the exploratory study, in-depth interviews and Full Grid Technique are applied to collect data. A triangulation method i.e., a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is employed to analyze the interview data. Factors influencing trust and willingness to share knowledge are identified, and research hypotheses are formulated at the end of exploratory study. The research hypotheses are then tested with structural equation modeling in the second stage i.e., an explanatory study based on a survey. The survey subjects are architects in A-level architectural design institutes in three most well-developed cities of People’s Republic of China i.e. Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao. The results suggest that attitude on work and social interaction between architects in a design team can significantly influence interpersonal trust between team members. Furthermore, social interactions also can significantly influence architect’s willingness to share knowledge. Trust plays a mediating role between architects’ social interaction and their willingness to share knowledge. Moreover, the mediating role of attitude toward knowledge sharing and subjective norms are supported under the framework of theory of reasoned action. In addition, two different epistemological theory frameworks i.e. personal construct theory and theory of reasoned action are integrated in this research. To summarize, the research contributes at three different levels: 1) Measurement level: a new way of developing semantic differential scales is identified; 2) Model level: new models such as mediating model are tested and established; 3) Theory level: two theories of different epistemological paradigms are integrated to fill the cognition-behavior gap.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | measurement; tacit knowledge; trust; personal construct theory; architectural design; knowledge management; China; architect; interview |
| Index terms: | practitioner, cognition, knowledge management, triangulation, architectural design, tacit knowledge, China, interview, personal construct theory, knowledge sharing, survey, qualitative method, exploratory study, Shanghai, structural equation modelling, design team, Beijing, theory of reasoned action, architect, paradigm, social interaction, subjective norm |
| Subjects: | Geography, professional development, design practice, education and knowledge transfer, research methods, statistical analysis, behavioral psychology, social justice, sociology, cognitive psychology, practitioner, profession, data collection methods, research design and methodology, knowledge management, professional practice |
| Topics: | Ethics, Geographical Context, Design Practice, Roles and Professions, Information Management, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here