Chapter 9: Social Media for Knowledge Sharing in a Higher Education Institution in the Subsaharan African Context

Knowledge sharing is a vital asset to almost all organizations (Chen, Chen, & Kinshuk, 2009; Di Virgilio, 2018a; Yu, Lu, & Liu, 2009). Knowledge sharing is a multilevel phenomenon (Di Virgilio, 2018a; Foss et al,, 2009), and in order to find out how managerial practices facilitate sharing to get organizational level results it is needed to identify what kind of knowledge sharing behaviors influence positively organizational performance, then what motivates individuals to share knowledge in a particular way, and finally, how organization can facilitate that motivatio n and enable individual sharing behavior (Di Virgilio, 2018b; Foss, Husted,& Nichailova, 2010). Knowledge sharing is the process by which knowledge of individuals is converted into a form that can be understood and used by other individuals (Ipe, 2003). Knowledge sharing refers to the task to help others with knowledge, and to collaborate with others to solve problems, develop new ideas, or implement processes (Cummings, 2004). From definition, knowledge sharing can be seen as the willingness act whereby knowledge is capable of being used again or repeatedly in the course of its transfer from one party to another (Lee & Al-Hawamdeh, 2002). Similarly, knowledge sharing is a routine activity that entails guiding the individuals or audience to behave in a specific way of thinking and reasoning, and it requires understanding and consideration of the individuals’ problem situation (McDermott, 1999; Wang & Noe, 2010).