The Role of Expected Reciprocity in Knowledge Sharing

Review Of Relevant Literature

Expected reciprocity in sharing organizational knowledge has received moderate attention in knowledge sharing literature (Chen & Hung, 2010; Cho et al., 2007; Di Gangi et al., 2012; Kankanhalli et al., 2005; Lin, H., 2007; Lin, Lee, & Wang, 2009; Wasko & Faraj, 2005; Zhang et al., 2009). Only three studies investigated direct effects of expected reciprocity on knowledge sharing (Chen & Hung, 2010; Lin, H., 2009; Lin et al., 2009; Wasko & Faraj, 2005), while four studied the interaction of expected reciprocity with individual, group and organizational variables to affect knowledge sharing (Cho et al., 2007; Di Gangi et al., 2012; Kankanhalli et al., 2005; Kang et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2009). Despite the theoretical proposition that receiving reciprocal knowledge should motivate knowledge sharing, these studies reveal mixed findings.