Social Networks at Work, Interpersonal Trust and Knowledge Sharing Behaviour

This research aims to demonstrate that interpersonal trust plays a mediating role between social networks at work and the knowledge sharing behaviour in Tunisian High Technology firms. Although the direct link between social networks and knowledge sharing has been reported in the extant research, we believe that such a relationship would benefit from the integration of the role of interpersonal trust as an intermediary mechanism. In line with McAllister (1995), we study two forms of interpersonal trust: cognitive trust (based on skills) and affective trust (based on socio-emotional exchanges). A structural model is used to test the research hypotheses. The survey results partially support our theoretical assumptions. They show that only the quality of interactions in a social network influences positively and significantly both forms of trust. On another level, only the affective trust influences the knowledge sharing behaviour. Finally, the results suggest that affective trust mediates the relationship between the quality of interaction and knowledge sharing behaviour. A discussion is initiated on the basis of these results and implications, both theoretical and managerial, are presented. Adapted from the source document.