Knowledge management enablers, knowledge sharing and research collaboration: a study of knowledge management at research universities in Malaysia

Universities need to be aware of the impact of knowledge management (KM) in order tobecome world-class academic institutions. This research fills an unexplored gap in regardsto the impact of KM enablers (i.e. trust, knowledge self-efficacy, reciprocal benefits, topmanagement support, organizational rewards, organizational culture, KM systeminfrastructure and KM system quality, openness in communication, and face-to-face (F2F)interactive communication) on knowledge sharing (KS) that supports research collaborationby faculty members. No prior research has focused on the impact of KM enablers thatinfluence research university members to share knowledge. A self-administeredquestionnaire was employed on members of five research universities in Malaysia to collectdata; subsequently, 421 usable responses were analysed using partial least squares pathmodelling. KS by members was influenced by trust, organizational rewards, organizationalculture, KM system quality, openness in communication, and F2F interactivecommunication; in addition, research collaboration was strongly influenced by KS. TheKM–KS–collaboration model shows a KM influence of individual–organizational–technological–communication constructs that encourages KS by members to supportresearch collaboration.