Academics’ Knowledge Sharing Intentions and Behaviours: The Influence of Espoused Culture, Social Norm, and Attitude

Knowledge sharing (KS) is a social phenomenon, and whether or not academics practise KS depends mostly on their individual and social characteristics. Although KS is informed by culture, the external validity of the empirical results of most of the research investigating the influence of culture, defined and operationalised at the macro (national or organisational) level, on KS is problematic since the cultural orientation of individuals in a particular society or organisation may not be homogeneous. This study adopted a Theory of Reasoned Action-based model to analyze the influence of espoused individualism–collectivism (IC), espoused uncertainty avoidance (UCA), social norm (SN), and attitude (ATT) on academics’ KS intentions and behaviours. The results are derived using a data set from a large public Arabian University. SN, ATT, and intention positively influence KS behaviour. Collectivism positively influences SN, ATT, intention, and behaviour. Unexpectedly, uncertainty tolerance positively influences ATT and intention. These results provide significant statistical support for the explanatory power of the model. They also put forward empirically based evidence that adds much-needed nuance to the current discourse on KS intention and behaviour and informs policies and strategies that enhance KS in the academe.