Motivations of employees’ knowledge sharing behaviors: A self-determination perspective

• Self-determination theory is adopted as the theoretical base.
• A model for explaining employees’ knowledge sharing behaviors was developed.
• Soft reward was a key factor influencing knowledge sharing behaviors.
• Hard reward was a key motivational factor in addition to soft reward.
• Soft reward positively influenced the two altruism-related constructs.

Prior studies on knowledge-sharing motivations mostly concentrate on discussing motivation in terms of level or amount, and thus, discussions regarding the quality of motivations, in terms of their levels of autonomy, are scarce. Additionally, while researchers have addressed the significant relationships among different types of motivations, there is still controversy concerning these relationships in a knowledge-sharing context. With reference to self-determination theory, this study examines a model that depicts the influence of various types of motivations on employees’ knowledge sharing behaviors (KSBs). Based on the data collected from 259 employees in 34 organizations, hard reward, soft reward, and altruism for organizational benefits are significant influencing factors of KSBs, while altruism for personal satisfaction is not. Additionally, soft reward has a significant positive effect on both altruism for organizational benefits and altruism for personal satisfaction. The theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.