Modelling the Relationships between Knowledge Sharing, Organisational Citizenship, Job Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment among School Teachers in Botswana

Abstract

This study argues that knowledge sharing behaviour is a kind of organisational citizenship behaviour as such: (i) the two variables should be strongly positively correlated and (ii) strong predictors of organisational citizenship behaviour should also strongly predict knowledge sharing behaviour. Since the organisational behaviour literature identifies job satisfaction and organisational commitment as robust predictors of organisational citizenship behaviour, the study investigated the interrelationships among knowledge sharing behaviour, organisational citizenship behaviour, job satisfaction, and organisational commitment. Empirical data were sourced fromsecondary school teachers in a number of schools in and around Gaborone, Botswana. Knowledge sharing behaviour and organisational citizenship behaviour were significantly positively correlated; organisational commitment was a significant predictor of organisational citizenship behaviour; and job satisfaction and organisational commitment were significantly positively correlated. Contrary to expectations, however, both job satisfaction and organisational commitment were unrelated to knowledge sharing behaviour. While it would be premature to conclude on the strength of the evidence presented in this paper that knowledge sharing behaviour indeed is a kind of organisational citizenship behaviour, the positive correlation between the two suggests that the role of organisational citizenship behaviour in organisational knowledge sharing is worth investigating further.