Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Kim A. Critchlow

Abstract

Millions of American employees are eligible to retire through 2026, which may contribute to lowered organizational performance stemming from the resultant void in knowledge. Increasing knowledge sharing (KS) among organizational members may improve employee efficiency and company performance, and therefore may be of value to wholesale distribution leaders. Although researchers have suggested that sense of self-worth, subjective norms, and attitudes influence employees' inclinations to share knowledge, researchers have not analyzed the relationships between a subset of predictor variables and KS intentions in wholesale distribution organizations. The purpose of this correlational study, grounded in the theory of planned behavior, was to assess the relationship between employees' sense of self-worth, subjective norms, attitudes, and personal intentions to share knowledge with other organizational members. A purposive sample of 82 employees from Northeastern United States wholesale distribution organizations involved in enterprise resource planning implementations completed a survey to examine the propensity for KS. The analysis of the data using multiple linear regression indicated the model was adequate to predict employees' KS intentions. The results of the study further indicated that subjective norms and attitudes were significantly related to personal inclinations to share knowledge. These findings may hold positive social change implications as astute knowledge management can provide for greater employee job security and a more financially secure community. These findings may also be of value to leaders in proactively implementing KS strategies of retiring and other employees in the quest for continued business growth and performance.

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