Factors affecting attitudes and intentions towards knowledge sharing in the Dubai Police Force

Abstract

This study contributes to the limited research base on knowledge sharing in public sector organisations, specifically police forces, and organisations in the Middle East through a case study investigation into the factors that affect knowledge sharing in the Dubai Police Force. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted with staff in key departments in the Dubai Police Force. Informed by the literature and by interviews conducted in a previous phase, the core of the questionnaire was a bank of Likert-style questions covering the dependent variables intention to knowledge share, and attitude towards knowledge sharing, and the independent variables, trust, organisational structure, leadership, reward, time, and information technology. Data was analysed using structured equation modelling, in order to test the measurement model using confirmatory factor analysis, and to test the structural model. The structural model suggests a strong relationship between attitude to knowledge sharing, and intention to share knowledge. Hypotheses regarding the influence of leadership, trust, organisational structure, time, and information technology on attitude to knowledge sharing were upheld. Rewards did not to influence attitude to knowledge sharing. Recommendations are offered for practice and further research.

Introduction

Knowledge sharing is widely recognised to be a central component of successful knowledge management, and one of the central characteristics of a healthy knowledge culture is that knowledge sharing is embedded in the way in which the organisation works. Knowledge sharing is fundamental to generating new ideas and developing new opportunities through the socialisation and learning process of employees (Lin, 2007). However, employees will only share knowledge if they feel that it is their interest to do so. Employees’ willingness to share knowledge can be affected by a range of organisational factors that might be seen as the components of a knowledge sharing culture. Increasing their capacity to manage knowledge is one of the major challenges facing contemporary organisations (Davenport & Prusak, 1998). Accordingly, there has been considerable interest in the factors that may influence knowledge sharing in organisations, coupled with an acknowledgement that these factors may differ, or at the very least differ in their impact, in different organisations and specifically may vary between private and public sector organisations. Accordingly, researchers and practitioners need to examine these factors in the context of specific organisations.

This article contributes to understanding of knowledge sharing in the public sector in the Middle East through a case study based investigation of the factors that affect knowledge sharing in the Dubai Police Force (DPF). Police forces are part of the public sector and the primary mission of any police force is to protect life and property, preserve law and order, and prevent and detect crime (Luen & Al-Hawamdeh, 2001). Accordingly, the management of intelligence and knowledge is a crucial aspect of the work of policing, and police forces need to be proactive in managing both explicit and implicit knowledge, and in developing their competencies in knowledge management and in promoting and facilitating knowledge sharing.

There has been limited previous work on knowledge sharing in police forces, but there is a growing body of work on knowledge management and knowledge sharing in the public sector. Some argue that knowledge sharing is embedded in the public service culture of public sector organisations (Chiem, 2001), but whether or not this is the case there is growing evidence that there are potential barriers and facilitators to knowledge sharing in the public sector, which need to be managed in order to optimise the exploitation of knowledge assets (e.g. Cong et al., 2007, Sandhu et al., 2011). Similarly, whilst there is a body of research on knowledge sharing in Far Eastern cultures and in India (e.g. Fong, 2005, Joseph and Jacob, 2011, Kim and Lee, 2005, Lin, 2008) there has been very little research on Middle Eastern cultures. In particular, in order to implement successful knowledge management and promote knowledge sharing in Arab cultures it is necessary to understand and accommodate the associated cultural values and cultural approaches to organisation (Sabri, 2005, Weir and Hutchings, 2005).

The next section is a summary of previous research on knowledge sharing and the factors that affect it, with specific reference to research in, respectively, the public sector, and the Middle East. The hypotheses and model are developed in the research design section. Next, the methodology is outlined, including the development of the questionnaire, sampling, and data analysis. Data analysis using structural question modelling (SEM) generates a model, which demonstrates the effect of a number of factors on attitude towards knowledge sharing and intention to knowledge share. The findings and discussion sections report on this analysis, present the model, and compare it with findings from previous research. Finally, the paper offers conclusions and recommendations for practice and further research.