2Mechanisms Linking the Determinants and the Occurrence of Inter-personal Knowledge Sharing Behavior

Past research has indicated that the knowledge provider’s altruistic character, trust, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation can stimulate knowledge sharing behaviors among individuals. This study extends previous research by empirically examining mediating processes underlying the relationship between these determinants of knowledge sharing and the occurrence of the behavior of sharing knowledge. Using a dyadic research design, the responses from 474 individuals representing 237 work pairs were analyzed. Results indicated that the influence of knowledge provider’s altruistic character and interpersonal trust on the occurrence of knowledge sharing behavior was indirect through the mediating processes of the knowledge provider’s willingness of sharing knowledge toward the knowledge recipient. The study also showed that the impact of intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation on the occurrence of knowledge sharing behavior was indirect through the mediating processes of the knowledge provider’s willingness of sharing knowledge toward the knowledge recipient as well as the knowledge provider’s capability. 3The issue of knowledge sharing (KS) has gained increasing attentions from organizational scholars for its decisive role in the knowledge management system i