From Insights to Impact
A recent study examines how knowledge sharing shapes employee innovative behavior within the pharmaceutical logistics industry, a sector where operational precision, regulatory pressure, and rapid market changes make continuous innovation essential. The research focuses on five behavioral and psychological factors that influence knowledge exchange: subjective norms, face concern, reciprocal benefit, psychological ownership, and execution cost. These factors are evaluated for their impact on two distinct types of knowledge sharing, common knowledge sharing and key knowledge sharing.
Drawing on survey data from more than five hundred employees across several Chinese pharmaceutical logistics companies, the study provides nuanced insights into how these drivers operate. Subjective norms, meaning the expectations and social cues employees perceive from colleagues and leadership, significantly enhance both common and key knowledge sharing. Reciprocal benefit, the belief that sharing knowledge will lead to mutual gain, also strengthens both types of sharing. Face concern, rooted in the desire to maintain social harmony and avoid embarrassment, primarily encourages the sharing of common knowledge, which is generally seen as safer and less sensitive.
Psychological ownership, the sense that one has personal stakes in certain knowledge or tasks, supports the sharing of key knowledge but does little to motivate the sharing of more routine information. Execution cost, which reflects the effort required to share knowledge, reduces both common and key knowledge sharing when employees feel overloaded or unsupported.
Importantly, the study finds that both forms of knowledge sharing positively influence innovative behavior, although key knowledge sharing has a stronger effect. This suggests that employees are more willing to share everyday knowledge, while valuable or sensitive knowledge requires intentional incentives. To cultivate innovation, organizations should build accessible knowledge sharing platforms, reward meaningful contributions, and foster a culture that values openness, collaboration, and long term capability building.
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