Developing an instrument for measuring knowledge sharing attitudes

External pressures frequently compel firms who might otherwise be natural competitors to work together. For example, technical problems often need to be solved in order to create high-quality products. Recognition that the solution requires more than the capacities of an individual firm may, their lead to collaboration (Stohl & Walker, 2002). Knowledge sharing among firms, departments or most often, among peers within an organization, provides better solutions to increasing development and production costs, decreasing research-to-market times and escalating problem and product complexity. A knowledge sharing strategy can significantly benefit firms (Stohl & Walker, 2002). However individuals with valuable specialized knowledge within the firm may perceive attempts to promote knowledge sharing as a threat to their personal competitive advantage. In this paper we first investigate the issues for firms wishing to cultivate a positive attitude to knowledge sharing amongst personnel. We then present a statistically validated pilot study that examines the requisite conditions for such positive knowledge-sharing attitudes to emerge