Knowledge sharing behaviour of postgraduate students in University of Malaya

Purpose – This research aims to examine the knowledge sharing factors that influence postgraduate students during research. The main objective is to identify the differences in knowledge sharing behaviour among the postgraduate students with the behaviour commonly found in corporate organisations. Design/methodology/approach – This study utilises an exploratory approach to examine these phenomena. Related documents were analysed to get an overview of the factors that have been identified and examined within the study. Survey instrument was used to collect data in order to get a first-hand view of the contributing factors to knowledge sharing amongst postgraduate students. Findings – This study found that the motivating factors for knowledge sharing among postgraduate students differ from what is found in the corporate world, due to the difference in goals of students. Factors such as extrinsic rewards had no impact on the knowledge sharing behaviour of the respondents. In addition, the institutional repositories in the university were examined as an organisational tool to facilitate the exchange and dissemination of knowledge. Within the context of this article, the institutional repositories were found to be insufficient for carrying out knowledge sharing tasks. Research limitations/implications – This study is concerned with examining the knowledge sharing behaviour of graduate students in a higher institution. It highlights the differences in knowledge sharing behaviour of graduate students. This allows educators to plan the graduate research process of an institution with these special factors taken into consideration. Originality/value – This study is of value to the academic community. It is especially useful when trying to align the outputs from the researchers and graduate students with the aims and goals of the institution. This is because it gives a look at the factors that may facilitate knowledge sharing behaviour in graduate students.